Post your experiences with racism

[Jerry Oz]

You'd think that Black people who left racist Kentucky, and moved to Ohio, far enough north to be quite a bit less racist than from where they came, would be a little more mellow than being a powder keg ready to explode if someone looks at them the "wrong way".

When I visit L.A. or Chicago, there are loads of people I've seen, that snap at you and threaten to "beat you to a pulp" just because what they are doing might catch your eye, especially when it looks a little suspicious. I've had several homeless drug-takers and winos, and would-be gang types stare at me, and then charge towards me pretending like they're going to attack, and yelling "What are YOU looking at?" As if I don't have the right to look ahead when I'm walking. They're paranoid that I don't "approve" of them, because they are setting up a makeshift tent under a freeway ramp, to sleep in that night, or they are sitting and smoking a joint, or drinking beer or spirits.

The ego that pushes that attitude is interesting because it's not just seemingly out of place, it often pops up unexpectedly. I'll never forget being in a restaurant with one of my buddies when he brushed against a guy [[or vice versa). The guy gave us both a stare down and told my friend "Excuse you". When my buddy asked what he was talking about, he said "I got something for both of y'all", presumably a gun under his coat. We both shrugged and ignored him, confident that he wouldn't pull it out in a crowded restaurant and that proved to be the best way to de-escalate the situation. I must have brushed against people thousands of times, sometimes much harder than my friend and that guy touched each other, and never has it nearly resulted in violence. I used to patronize some of the most crowded clubs in central Ohio and bumped and pushed hundreds of people in the course of a few hours without it being an issue.