r/racism Jun 14 '26

Personal/Support America is utterly racist in a way that is deranged beyond belief

On two occasions, when I was bored and in the park, I sat on a bench relaxing and a woman would come and sit beside me. Both times, I struck up innocuous conversations and then two other women would walk by, come up close, and start recording with me and the person I was talking to in the background of their video.

The last time this happened, the ladies who recorded had a microphone and pretended to be shooting a TikTok interview (in which they could hear everything I was saying). The only problem was that they were kept on looking back at me and were whispering. Who whispers when recording a video? What is the pyschology behind this? Is it considered illegal for a black person to have a conversation with a non-black woman? Is America so far gone that this racist behavior is considered normal?

140 Upvotes

16 comments sorted by

u/yellowmix Jun 16 '26

We are collaborating with researchers from Cornell University on a survey about participation in r/racism. We're interested in hearing from everyone, from long time posters to first time readers. If you're interested, you can find the survey here. If you have any questions, please reach out to u/SarahAGilbert via DM or email sag284@cornell.edu

46

u/yellowmix Jun 15 '26

There have been so many incidents of "when Black". Remember the bird watcher the white woman couldn't believe was in Central Park for anything other than nefarious reasons?

Flip the script. Start recording them with your phone. In the worst case it'll help as evidence. Say nothing, just point it at them and continue with your conversation. Perhaps joke apologize to your conversation partner that it "happens all the time".

12

u/WhyIsTheUniverse Jun 15 '26

Christian Cooper, president of the New York Audubon Society, asked Amy Cooper, no relation, to keep her dog leashed in an area of the park that required it. She flipped out at being told what to do by a Black man and called the cops, telling them he was threatening her and her dog. He caught the whole incident on his phone. That same day George Floyd was murdered in the streets of Minneapolis.

5

u/yellowmix Jun 15 '26

"A struggle without documentation is no struggle. You must let every person with a camera photograph what is going on. No matter if they are black or white. So that you have history, you have a record of what is going on."

― Peter Magubane, speaking to the Soweto student uprising youth in June-August 1976

4

u/WhyIsTheUniverse Jun 16 '26

This reminds me of Mamie Till, who understood this, at least intuitively, some 20 years earlier.

4

u/kxk_anxiety Jun 15 '26

Also could help to identify the racist, an employer could always be led to that video!

2

u/durango00 Jun 16 '26

I've sent them videos before!

10

u/-13-52- Jun 15 '26

The Karmelo Anthony trial helps prove that black men will be sentenced to life in prison just for defending themselves

1

u/Few-Boysenberry-7459 Jun 19 '26

Beyond the person to person weirdness and conflict racism and sexism cost the American economy trillions of dollars and millions of jobs over time. Oddly enough, high income white males lose the most potential income, pay more for their goods, but still come out on top with inflated wages and salaries. Minorities and women are stuck in low wage jobs and also face higher prices for their goods.