I was unlocking my bike from the parking lot in front of the local Rite Aid last night when a car with 4 young white men slowly passed by. "Fucking Nigger" yelled one from the back seat on the passenger side. The car's occupants stared at me and rolled with laughter as the car sped off into the night.
This may be a common occurrence to some folks, but outside of TV/movies and rare stories from other people, I've been fortunate in that I've never had this experience. I've seen the confederate flags proudly displayed on some cars in the neighborhood. I've heard stories about racist white folks with guns in the western parts of PA. "If you ever decide to drive to Pittsburgh, make sure you fill up on gas here and don't stop till you get to Pittsburgh; especially at night, 'cause the Klan is thick in between" advised a friend. "Stop playing" I told him. "You think I'm kidding?! Try it and see what happens to you."
This is still 2005 right? There's racism in NYC, but my experience has only been with the corporate kind...like major law firms with 200 attorneys that literally only have 3 Black attorneys, or people assuming anybody Black in a corporate environment is part of the support staff. It's fucked up, but it's not this "run for your life, whitey's got a gun" type racism that is notorious in some parts of PA.
After the shock wore off, I thought of a million things I could have said or done. In the end I kept quiet, because name-calling won't change anything and they wouldn't have heard me over the squealing tires.
I remembered a time a few months back when I was riding my bike and a young Black female looked me in the eye and said "fucking bitch" as she passed. I never saw her a day in my life, did nothing to her...but she still wanted to talk shit.
In NYC, you don't do stuff like that unless you're ready to throw down, because you never know who has a gun or some weapon or will just beat the crap out of you. I wish she would try that mess on Flatbush Ave or at those projects off Newkirk. I thought about throwing down the bike and asking her what the fuck her problem was. But I decided not to. I've never been one to start scrapping over petty name-calling, and I didn't think age 25, with my character and fitness application pending in NY, was the time to "defend my honor" to some 18 year old with Coprolalia-Tourette's Syndrome. I breathed and kept pedaling.
Damn these small towns and the small minds that inhabit them. The first amendment is alive and well in these parts.
