How is Phoenix viewed and treated by the white people she meets in "A Worn Path"?

Although the young
hunter, a white man, helps Phoenix to right herself after she falls over, he calls her
"Granny" repeatedly rather than ma'am or some other title that would show appropriate
deference to her age. We often hear the adage that we ought to respect our elders, but he does
not do so because she is black and he is white. He also tells her "Now you go on home,
Granny!" as though she is a child to be told what to do. He even points his gun at her,
asking if she is scared by it. Not only is this disrespectful, but it is also cruel. One might
assume that he would never treat an old white woman this way.

Later, the
attendant in the doctor's office doesn't say hello or ask how she can help Phoenix. Instead, the
woman simply says, "A charity case, I suppose." The woman has no patience with
Phoenix, a very old woman, at all, ordering her to "Speak up" and even asking,
"Are you deaf?" Again, Phoenix is spoken to as if she...