'Calling the Police' Is White People's AppleCare for Black People [View all]
Damon Young
Today 11:42am Filed to: WHITE PEOPLE
Youd think learning that Sarah Braaschthe woman who called the police on Yale graduate student Lolade Siyonbola for #NappingWhileBlackis a philosophy Ph.D. candidate whos studied gender and law would add something to this story. A surprise, perhaps, that a person who has undoubtedly encountered lessons on unconscious bias and systemic oppression would be so transparently racist. Or maybe even a shock that someone so educated could do something so, well, stupid.
But nah. Hearing about her academic background is no different from discovering that her hair is brown or that her favorite movie is Die Hard With a Vengeance. It adds no context, provides no insight and doesnt even begin to nudge the needle in either direction. We know, already, that racismanti-blackness, specificallyfollows white people wherever they happen to be, as if anti-blackness uses Waze to locate and track them. Yale, Yellowstone National Park, the year 2018it doesnt matter. For white people, being racist is Liam Neeson in Taken:
I dont know who you are. I dont know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I dont have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, thatll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you dont, I will look for you, I will find you.
That said, I strongly doubt that Braasch felt a genuine fear for her life. Just how I dont believe that the white woman who called the police on the men in that Philly Starbucks did, or even that the white woman who harassed the men in Oakland, Calif., for #CookingOutWhileBlack did. Instead, they all felt uncomfortable. And not necessarily a discomfort that comes with mortal fear, but the way you might feel uncomfortable or annoyed if your Spotify playlist keeps crashing or if your new MacBook Pro cant connect to your home Wi-Fi. For themand for (too many) white people, in generalthe police serve a similar function.
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