Counter Racism with Kindness and the Love of Jesus

My name is Vanessa Louque.

I lived in Dallas Texas for many years in my life.

I worked very hard all my life to support myself and my family. I have been in the workforce since I have been 14 years old. 

In my early years in Dallas, I was a young Hispanic mother raising four baby boys and pregnant with my fifth blessing (a girl). I was working at a computer store in the early 2000s where I was in sales. I had several experiences where people did not want to allow me to help them because back in those days a woman in IT was unheard of.

Customers assumed that I did not know technology because I was a woman, and I would constantly get asked for the computer guy to help them where in most cases I was the most knowledgeable person in the store. The worst part is because I was Hispanic many people were discriminative against me and would only work with people who looked more like them. I have even had circumstances at work or while shopping with my children while pregnant where I’ve been asked if my children all had the same father. My response to them is “we are a good Catholic family and that’s why we have so many little blessings.” Unfortunately, I also had many of my teammates assume I would never make it into the IT world again as I was the only female and I was Latina.

I was also blessed to have many supporters. I recall a memorable situation where a man came in and asked for our best computer guy, so I passed him off because I was being polite. As I passed him off my dear friend Dennis told the customer that if he was looking for the best computer “person” he was not the guy and told the customer that he should work with me because I was the smartest and I was quite fun to work with. The man had a moment and I believe that God softened his heart and allowed me to work with him. After that, he came back and would only work with me at each visit. PEOPLE HAVE HOPE! The way I was treated because I was a woman and because of my race did not stop me from my goals; it motivated me.

I was out to prove a Hispanic female can make it in any business so I went on to become a manager. When I interviewed, I had lots of support and also lots of people doubt me. It was not because I was not qualified. I was a Hispanic woman attempting to get a job where out of 120 managers there were only five women and a handful of Latinos and African Americans. 

I ended up getting that job and I was extremely successful. I made it to the ranks of general manager and ended up managing those who doubted and taunted me. I did not mistreat them at all. I treated them with love and fairness, and they warmed up after a while.

Throughout my life, I have had to prove myself. I have worked for a few of the most successful companies such as Microsoft, Cox and currently Hewlett Packard. I have been awarded many honors for my dedication to my community and performance and I am a part of many groups that support and celebrate several races, such as African Americans and Hispanics in the IT group. 

As the years have gone by, I notice that Hispanic women in my industry are now celebrated, but racism and sexism are still alive and well. It still happens and, in many areas, it can be tougher than ever. How I handle it is I just don’t look at those folks in a hateful way. I do my best to be kind and love them as Jesus taught us. Maybe they were not taught to love their brother and sister so I got to be better and love them even if they hate me and maybe I will soften their hearts.

One thing that we need to keep in mind is racism and hate do not only stem from one race to another. It can come from the same races, unfortunately. In 2017 my son was murdered by another Puerto Rican. In the beginning, I thought first how can someone just take another 

life? Then later it came to mind our people are killing each other and this is common among minorities. 

God has given me the strength through his love to forgive that young man because as Jesus said he does not know what he has done. His poor heart is tarnished.

The moral of the story is this: So many people will hate me, they will taunt me, maybe even spit on me but my job as a Christian is to pray for them and still love them. This is what Christ did and we need to model him.

Louque, a native of Chicago, is a resident of Gramercy, mother of five and a parishioner at Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Gramery.