The weather in the Syracuse area has been beautiful for a few days now. I’m finding that, instead of staying in the house walking on the treadmill, I don’t mind going out and doing my walking in the fresh air. Sometimes I go with my wife to the park, and sometimes we just walk the neighborhood. Most of the time when I walk by myself, I’ll go to the park.
However, a couple of days ago, I decided to just walk around the neighborhood by myself. Depending on which walk I decide upon, it will take either 20 minutes or 30 minutes. It was starting to get later, but the sun was still up. There were other people walking, mainly in pairs, but not as many as there probably was earlier in the day; it’s still relatively cool in the evenings here.
So there I am, walking in my sweatsuit in my neighborhood, when up ahead I notice someone walking my way. She obviously looked further up ahead also, for, when she was maybe 100 yards or so from me, she suddenly crossed the street. And, as she crossed the street, she strained hard to make sure I couldn’t make eye contact with her.
And you know what? I didn’t find this strange at all, just disappointing. I’m a middle aged black male who’s lived in my neighborhood for almost 7 years now. Most of the neighborhood knows my wife and I live in this house, whether they know us or not. We’ve discovered that, interestingly enough, on our walks when people comment to us on which house we live in, and they don’t live within viewing distance. Yet, there’s still this stigma that there’s some danger in walking past, or making contact, with me at times.
Am I paranoid? No, I don’t think so. When I told my wife she said “as always”; this happens often enough. I mean, what was I going to do in public on my own street, actually within viewing distance of my own house? What perceived threat was I, wearing styled workout clothes, not dressed like a thug, obviously older than her and not close to the same kind of shape (I couldn’t have run 10 seconds with her), and, if she’d been paying attention, I had greeted the couple that had walked by me just seconds before (I’m kind of a friendly sort).
If I’d had the opportunity to ask her, I know she’d have said it had nothing to do with it. Yeah, right. I’m hard to miss, and she didn’t miss me, and really stared hard ahead as she was going by me; I know because I looked. I almost said something; then I let it go. After all, if she was already scared or uncomfortable enough to move to the other side of the street, anything I said was just going to confirm her suspicions.
It’s not the overt racism that causes the biggest problems in America; it’s these little acts of unconscious thought that get people angry. Whether she really was exhibiting the bad behavior or not, that was my perception. It always comes down to perception, and if one isn’t given the chance to explain themselves, then the perception sticks.
Will you exhibit a negative or positive reaction on someone today? We’ll see.
 Please Subscribe To Feed Here |