How I set back race relations ten years in one class

A few years back I took a History of Africa class. It was really a great class. I loved the fact that I was the only white male in my class and basically was called on every other class to explain the thinking of an entire race. Really it was very comfortable. I handled myself rather well and the class was rather eye opening. Of course that was until a single event happened that changed my standing in that class and set race relations back 10 years.

In our lecture the professor was telling a story about an area of Africa that was under British control. One of the tribes that were oppressed by the British had a member that went to his elders and told them an amazing story. Basically he told a story about how he was out in the desert and found an oasis with water that if they bathed in it they would be indestructible to the bullets of the British (while they were outnumbered the technology of the British was so overwhelming it made it hard for the tribes to rise up against them). So the leaders decided that they would attack the British after bathing all their tribesmen in this mystical water.

Needless to say when they went to attack the British they got destroyed. It was really a massacre, one of the most lopsided military losses ever. When he started talking about how lopsided it was I cracked up laughing. Needless to say that didn’t go over well in the room. In fact the most common facial reaction was this:

So there I was, having to explain why the hell I was laughing. I told them my reasoning. “After like the first five guys got shot wouldn’t you have questioned the strength of this mystical water? Wouldn’t you turn to your buddy and be like uh, I think we need to reconsider the plan of attack here?”

Silence filled the room. I felt like I was a comedian dying on stage. There was no way that I was going to get out of this. Of course I am dumb and I continued to talk.

“Seriously you don’t find it funny that they were seeing guys getting their heads blown off and didn’t shit themselves? I know I would have been high tailing it back to the huts.”

Again nothing except more of this:

So let me try it for a third time…

“No really I mean isn’t it ironic. If that guy that told them about the water made it out a live wouldn’t he feel like a douche bag? Uh…”

The professor moved on as I sat their rest of the class feeling the holes that people were putting through me while staring at me. I don’t think I participated in a discussion the rest of the year. From that day forward I was “that white boy”… Way to go me.