I am grateful for personal growth! via /r/gratitude

I live in the south where bigotry runs rampid as some sort of joke, like it's cool. I was raised to be a bigot and into adulthood I began changing my mind about people I have never met. I only carried kindness in my heat and continued to make jokes to fit in. Recently I decided I don't have to fit in I have to be on the correct side for humanity. I now call people out as the make a comment that dehumanizes others. Today some coworkers were making jokes that were racist and said" let's stop because this guy doesn't like it when we are racist." I felt so much pride that I finally was seen as a person who is not ok with bigotry. I said " If this is the thing you think of when you speak racism then I am doing a good job!" And I am doing a good job. Not only am I no longer that person, everyone knows it.