About a year ago Rebecca and I walked through two condo construction sites in Decorah, Iowa. We never worried that what happened to Ahmand Arbery who also walked through a construction site in Georgia might happen to us. That a call to the police dispatcher would be picked up by two white men with a loaded shot gun who would come looking for us, engage, and gun us down.
A few days ago on Decorah’s Trout Run bike trail I was almost run over by a biker on an E-bike. This particular biker had done the same thing to Rebecca a week or so before. E-bikers are able to go faster and so they have to pay particular attention to bike trail etiquette. Rebecca and I talked later about flagging this guy down the next time we saw him to remind him to follow the trail rules clearly stated on signs.
We never worried that what happened to Christian Cooper in New York City’s Central Park might happen to us. That the Decorah e-biker might respond to our request the way Amy Cooper (no relation) responded to Christian Cooper’s request to follow the park rules, by calling 911 with the words “an African-American man is threatening my life.” It doesn’t take a great leap of imagination to consider how this situation could have resulted in Christian Cooper’s death. Especially given what would happen to George Floyd in Minneapolis one week later.
On Monday night in Minneapolis, a shop employee called police on George Floyd for alleged fraud. Floyd died after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by a police officers knee. Twice as a young boy I went through episodes of stealing items from a local drug store, caught both times. Once as a young man I was part of a group drinking illegally along a country road when two police cars appeared behind our car. Stupidly, we thought if they didn’t catch us with the beer in the car they couldn’t charge us so we started throwing the beer cans out of the car and I can still remember the cans bouncing up against the patrol car.
Whether as a boy, a young man, or an old man, I never thought I could die as a result of these or similar incidents. The more I think about Ahmaud, Christian, George, the more I realize I am
STILL ALIVE BECAUSE I AM WHITE
Reader Comments
Soo horribly sad and true.
Yes, Jeanie, thank you for reading and commenting. Paul
As with many things in our lives, we take respect and safety for granted until something like this slaps us in the face.
Yes, we do Cheryl. Thank you for reading and commenting. Paul
Thank you; well said, additional food for thought. Unfortunately, those of us in the rural midwest too often feel immune to the endemic prejudice of our country.
This is true Merrily. Thank you for reading and commenting. Paul