flea

I have a good friend from college who is a performer, has won a Tony, is currently occasionally on Sesame Street, is giving a TED talk this week. Her parents are both doctors, she attended private schools in New York, she has been a UN humanitarian ambassador. She is also a 6 foot tall black woman.

I follow her twitter feed; she's new to twitter and is completely spamming, but it's kind of fun. Anyway, today she's flying from New York to LA, first class. She reports that she was asked twice, as she was in the first class line, if she was in the wrong line, if she really was supposed to be flying first class. In the next tweet she noted that that's actually less than usual; she says that before Obama was elected it was usually 3-4 times per flight that people actually asked, in addition to looks of surprise.

And some white people don't realize that racism still exists in our society???

The past 24 hours on my neighborhood list-serv have gone like this:

(Note: I don't actually know any of the people; some are regular posters and others are not. I am paraphrasing except when exact quotes appear, and leaving out a lot of chatter. The neighborhood is very racially and economically diverse (on a block-by-block basis), but the listserv seems much less so.)

Crime Victim: My house was broken into this morning via an AC unit, for the 3rd time in a year. Neighbors saw a black man in a parka. "I hate to say it this way, but if you see any minorities on or around [address], please call the police immediately."

Calm Person: "Generally, when you find yourself typing the words, 'I hate to say it this way...' this is a sign that you should stop typing."

Black Man: So, you're saying that I should not walk down your block or you'll call the police on me?

Sarcastic Woman (who is married to a black man, maybe or maybe not the above Black Man): Hey, white people! Go rob [address]! Nobody will call the cops on you!

Crime Victim: I am sorry people were offended, but I am not a racist. How do you even know I am white?

John Birch Society Dude: Black Man is such a bully!

Random New Person: I don't like Sarcastic Woman's tone!

Two Neighbors of Crime Victim: Crime Victim is not a racist. He is a nice man and you are being mean to him. He apologized!

Me: Headdesk.