I live in an independent apartment building with a manager who is about 15 years younger than me. I am will be 72 on 4-25-2016. Abuse??? One of the delegates running for Senator Rodgers job, since she retired, came to our building to campaign. After he made his introduction, he asked if there were any questions and I put up my hand. The manager told me to let her go first and then added: "Don't be rolling your eyes at me!" This was not the first time she has made a derogatory remark to me. I have ignored the others. I didn't have a mirror so I don't know what I did, but I was angry. She doesn't vote in our city because she lives in another. He came to talk to his constituents in the building. In 2013 I wrote a petition about no sidewalks on Highway #20, where we have to walk to get to fast food restaurants, drug stores for medicine, banks, etc. for those of us who don't have cars. I got over 200 signatures with help from one of the local restaurants. That is what the manager talked to him about, as if we couldn't talk on our own behalf. Everytime we get politicians or doctors to talk to us, she has to put in her unnecessary '2 cents'. She doesn't bother the men or European Americans, but us 'po Black folks' catch 'hell' if she is in one of her moods, and she is a Black American, but disrepectful. A lot of people move, but I love my apartment and I can't afford to move. Am I being overly sensitive or is she guilty of 'verbal abuse'? ( I mailed the petition to those who could help and got answers we hope will make a difference.) Thank you all and stay 'Blessed'.
If the Building Manager gave free rein to everyone who wanted to speak at the meeting, the meeting could go on for hours and hours, and maybe the Delegate's time was limited. A better approached would have been if the residents wrote out their questions on cards, thus identical questionable could be batched together. At these Question & Answer rallies, some residents could ramble on forever going off in many detours before getting back to the original subject [I am not saying you do this but to show this does happen].
And don't forget - women can be nasty to each other regardless of race. So maybe it's more of a "woman thing" than a racial issue.
And, more importantly, these people apparently are politicians. Some of them haven't yet learned the meaning of politeness or courtesy - just listen to the presidential debates. Some of them are like snakes hissing at their prey.