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Walking While Black

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Re: Walking While Black

#51

Post by bonesss »

rrdharan wrote: post #8
pthreads wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I second that. Also, as a bonus it was through this article that I found out about lithub.

Same. I’m also cynically surprised GitHub hasn’t sued them for trademark infringement...

They'd have to prove marketplace confusion -- that an ordinary consumer might buy some LitHub services and believe them to be GitHub services.

If GitLabs changed their name to 'GitHlub', they'd be too close. But a shipping company named GIT-HUB might be totally ok if their logos and ads were distinct.

Re: Walking While Black

#53

Post by [deleted] »

superkuh wrote: post #31

This was a wonderfully written piece and a lot of it rings true to me even as a white as you can be person in a smallish state university town in the midwest. But maybe being 6'2" with a big unkempt hobo beard is almost as scary as being black. I too love walking the streets at night. And I too have to not be myself and behave in very conscious ways to avoid being hassled and detained by the police. Police just assum…

[deleted]

Re: Walking While Black

#54

Post by DoreenMichele »

michaelgrafl wrote: post #41
superkuh wrote: post #31

This was a wonderfully written piece and a lot of it rings true to me even as a white as you can be person in a smallish state university town in the midwest. But maybe being 6'2" with a big unkempt hobo beard is almost as scary as being black. I too love walking the streets at night. And I too have to not be myself and behave in very conscious ways to avoid being hassled and detained by the police. Police just assum…

I used to take lots of walks at night before I had a full time job and children. I live in Austria and it seems bizarre to me that police officers would check you out just for walking around at night. I never had such an experience whether I was living in Vienna or my small hometown. What I did see was black men having to show their ID at subway stations, which to me was a very unsettling thing, because it was pretty…

Is taking walks maybe an uncommon thing in the USA?

In many places, yes. But part of the article takes place in New York, where it isn't.

I have lived without a car for over a decade. Almost everyone immediately assumes that I am simply poor and can't afford a car. This happens to also be true, but I wanted to live without a car for a long time, I'm an environmental studies major and I have terrible eyesight problems. I always hated driving.

In over ten years, only one person ever asked why I gave up my car. Everyone else just assumes they know and assumes it is poverty.

In the US, almost everyone drives everywhere to the point of ridiculosity. I gave up my car while living in an apartment complex where people drove their trash to the dumpster and drove to the mailbox. I lived within a 15 minute walk of three shopping centers. Initially, no one walked. The streets were all deserted.

After I gave up my car and began walking everywhere, walking caught on. But before that, people drove their kids to the pool in the apartment complex and really crazy stuff like that.

Re: Walking While Black

#55

Post by DoreenMichele »

alex_young wrote: post #45
superkuh wrote: post #31

This was a wonderfully written piece and a lot of it rings true to me even as a white as you can be person in a smallish state university town in the midwest. But maybe being 6'2" with a big unkempt hobo beard is almost as scary as being black. I too love walking the streets at night. And I too have to not be myself and behave in very conscious ways to avoid being hassled and detained by the police. Police just assum…

Just another anecdote, but mine is a fully different experience. As a 6'1 white male, I find that I can walk most anywhere without fear. I often find that I need to reassess my privileged notion that this is normal when conversing with friends who are shorter, darker or female. They describe a world much like the author of this piece does. That's not to say I've never had trouble on the street. Years ago I was assaul…

I often find that I need to reassess my privileged notion that this is normal when conversing with friends who are shorter, darker or female.

I'm about 5'8" and female.* Except for the phenomenon I mentioned in another comment of being hassled for Walking While Homeless, I feel fairly comfortable walking almost any time, almost anywhere.

I don't have an explanation for that. But it makes me wonder about what all factors into the equation, both from the perspective of how others react and from the perspective of how people experience such things.

* And white, which I didn't state because the default assumption is that if you don't state your race/color, then you are white. But I am adding it as a footnote because I am finding myself uncomfortable with reinforcing an essentially racist cultural practice.

Re: Walking While Black

#56

Post by LandR »

What are peoples thoughts on a guy walking behind a woman. Not intentionally, just it's late and you end up walking up behind a woman on a darkish street.

I always feel I either need to slow right down, so i'm not closing the gap (don't want to speed up as that might seem really dodgy..) Or just cross the road entirely.

I feel we're in this weird place where every guy is perceived as a potential threat, so I understand that I should cross the road or just hang right back from her, but then that makes me feel bad because I'm not a threat to anyone and why should I have to cross the road or change my pace. I just want to get home too.

Re: Walking While Black

#57

Post by Vinnl »

LandR wrote: post #56

What are peoples thoughts on a guy walking behind a woman. Not intentionally, just it's late and you end up walking up behind a woman on a darkish street. I always feel I either need to slow right down, so i'm not closing the gap (don't want to speed up as that might seem really dodgy..) Or just cross the road entirely. I feel we're in this weird place where every guy is perceived as a potential threat, so I understa…

Yep, I guess that's similar to what's described in the article, although on a vastly different scale - it's a concern to me, but not that often.

Interestingly, this was exacerbated when I was walking with crutches. Even though I was even less of a danger, the ticking sound of the crutches did feel like I was sounding more threatening.

Re: Walking While Black

#58

Post by simonh »

acjohnson55 wrote: post #42
the_greyd wrote: post #32

I would identify as how the author describes, someone who's slightly nervous at the sight of a black male walking towards him at night. I try to suppress this feeling, and try to act normal, at which point I'm really overthinking. And I'm sorry. I am sorry that this has happened to you and to black people in general, how as a society we have fucked up so much. I am suddenly reminded of the book "The Lathe of Heaven",…

Thank you for saying this. The fact is, as a black male, I sometimes feel prejudice against black males while walking at night. And I'm someone who is affected by that very same prejudice. I see all the same media as anyone else, which constantly portrays black men as a menace to society. Is a random black man actually more dangerous than a non-black man, in real life? I have my doubts. But for argument's sake, let's…

In the area where I live there aren't very many coloured people. When I (rarely) walk at night I find myself estimating the social category of people. If I see a young man in sweat pants and a baseball cap, I think 'possible Chav' (low class white person here in the UK) and I'm wary. Low income young men are more likely to be a possible source of trouble.

I think in the UK and US since black people are far more likely to be in a low income category than not, race becomes a proxy for that.

Funnily enough, when I see a black person in the street at night here I'm more likely to have a positive attitude. Most of the coloured people living round here do so because they are quite successful. Also because there aren't many black people, such a person is perhaps more likely to feel out of place or potentially feel threatened or need help.

Re: Walking While Black

#59

Post by toomanybeersies »

superkuh wrote: post #31

This was a wonderfully written piece and a lot of it rings true to me even as a white as you can be person in a smallish state university town in the midwest. But maybe being 6'2" with a big unkempt hobo beard is almost as scary as being black. I too love walking the streets at night. And I too have to not be myself and behave in very conscious ways to avoid being hassled and detained by the police. Police just assum…

I used to walk home from my friends' house to mine when I was at university in New Zealand, often drunk or high.

The police would usually stop and talk to me if they drove past.

I always thought of it as a good thing. I lived in a high burglary area (being a student area), so there were a lot of shady characters walking around at night, especially in the back streets. They never actually detained me or even got out of the car, they'd usually just ask me where I was coming from and where I was going.

I never needed to give them exact details, they were happy with me just telling them the general area.

I guess that's the critical difference though: I was never detained. The police never viewed me through the lens of suspicion, they never talked to me in an accusatory tone. I felt more like they were checking that I was OK, rather than checking that I was a criminal.

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