"With black men, it's not unusual for an officer to shoot first and sort out the matter later. Black men begin as criminals, and are only cleared after an investigation that made every attempt possible to justify the killing."

Funny/SAD/Terrifuckingfying.
As "our" Prez gleefully fans the flames...

"Luck was on my side that day. There were no police officers on the platform."

Do we even Deserve this Planet?
Beginning to wonder.....

I go out walking almost every day and make a point of always acknowledging people i pass; most of the time it is a silent nod. It is good to do this as it puts people at ease. The incident you described with the woman probably had more to do with the fact that you are male as opposed to you being black.

American white women may, not all white women. What an offensive response. Stupid woman.

Or maybe you just had bad breath or was she was just startled - best to rule out other possibilities before jumping to conclusions.

Unfortunately, you are probably onto something real, Charles. Appearing to mind your own business, in public that includes Fox "News" watchers, is likely the very safest bet

"The incident clearly placed me in a situation of danger."

It's really not that clear, actually.

Talk about a nothing-burger. So you freaked out a woman... alone... who you thought was a friend.
Does race even have anything to do this with? Or does the fact that you are a male have something to do with it?
Good grief

@4 no it was confirmed, all white women.

Hey, I don't think there's been nearly enough WHITEMANSPLAINING in this thread - you-all need to work a little harder, if you want to get the message across...

9

"Does race even have anything to do this with?"

Only if Black Lives Matter.

@1 there's a the sobering reality that we somehow have a system which incarcerates millions of black men, but also routinely shoots them dead before arrest. We can assume that all those men in prison 1) had not just one, but several interactions with the police, from the arrest through trial and sentencing and 2) have not been shot to death. As it turns out, about half of all police-murder victims are white (which is, of course, much lower than their percentage of the population). While this is not to say that "the problem doesn't exist", you should really question the scale of the issue and to the extent that it should affect our perceptions. the activist types would have you believe that, say, calling the parking authority on an illegaly parked car that happens to be driven by a black man /is/ tantamount to attempted murder-by-cop, but the numbers don't really bear that out. Police shootings occur on a scale of perhaps 1 every 25,000 police responses; which, way too many end up being bullshit and being corrected but...
ultimately Charles is just flattering himself here.

Oh, it's something that raindrop needs to think about because all these racist blacks are shoving it down his throat all the time.

Damn, this ol' white lady would love to sit next to you, Charles! We could have talked about music and everything else you write about. It sucks that the woman responded the way she did, and I agree that had someone with a gun been a witness, things could have ended badly, as we've seen over and over again. Dangerous shit. But if you see an ol' gal with a Harrods lunch bag on the train some time, sit on down. Would absolutely love to chat. Or at least share a smile. All the best to you.

I have been accused of being a "snob" my whole life. I was raised to fear attention and learned to be impassive and silent to avoid being hit in the face with a fist. If people don't like my expressionless face they can kiss my ass. Are we supposed to do? Walk around grinning like fools to put the insecure ninnies at ease? FFS. Am I'm WHITE. Also, if I smile at men they think I'm hitting on them and then they get all embarrassed because I am old or fat or too tall or too ... I can't win. Just ignore those dumb SOBs, Mr. M.

@16... It's not like that at all, it's simply being friendly. You do not need to strike up a conversation. Do fools grin?

@6 - I’ve never mentioned my race on Slog, so your conjecture is silly.

@13, you're right that about half of cop shootings happen to white people. What that amounts to statistically is about 2% of white people killed by cops and about 9% of black people.

@2: Are you male? As a woman, unfamiliar men who smile/nod/make eye contact with me while I'm walking down the street minding my own business creep me right the fuck out. When women do it I just get perplexed. Like "do I know her? Shit, should I know her?!"

She may have dementia, psychosis or be zoned out ala Requiem of a Dream...I use transit and walk everywhere in the city and not to make light of your concerns, try not to take it personally.

Being a Nice Iowa Boy, I smile and nod and say hello to people on the street. But I never approach them unless I am sure I know them (and I am terrible with names and faces), because I don't want to make them uncomfortable. I am particularly mindful of that with women.

With that said, I know it's a completely different world for black men. It could be the woman in question is a horrid racist who is terrified of black men, it could be that she is terrified of men in general, or it could be that she is just one of Seattle's many crazy people who live for drama. In any event, I wouldn't give up being more engaged because of one bad experience. Just keep your distance, for we live in town full of weirdos.

60 year old white lady here. The writer is on target. So what if she was mentally ill or scared of men or what the hell ever you apologists and antagonists are trying to prove? I have two sons whose dad is also white. They are able to walk through this world in a very different way than if they’d been born to a black mother or father. I am grateful that my kids walk a safer, simpler path, also terrified for all those other mothers’ sons.

IT DOESN'T MATTER WHY SHE JUMPED.

Really. Not at all. All that matters is she screamed and jumped. That makes everyone around her a potential victim of overly aggressive policing, but as far too many heartbreaking videos have shown us, a black man is MUCH more likely to be a victim than anyone else.

@22...I am male. The smile, nod and eye contact I make to people is only in passing; I do not try to engage them with conversation and I most certainly do not get in anyone's face. The main reason is to put people at ease, to show them that they have nothing to fear from me. If you are so easily creeped out by this than I feel sorry for you. I don't expect people to respond in kind to me but I will not live in fear, especially in my own neighborhood but I suppose with all the hate and nastiness in the world it is easy to be fearful. You can see and even feel all the vituperative hatred that goes on right here in the slog and you don't even have to look at anyone; all you have to do is disagree.

I live near Pac Med Beacon hill. I walk my dogs 2 or 3 times a day. I find 99% of those I greet or nod to be pleasant no matter their nationality..I see most of the globe during my little walks.. maybe 6 times in the last 3 years, ( Ive lived here since 1983 ), If have ever i received stink eye or even a look of snobbery or fear, it has been from, for lack of a better description, really hot white women out for a jog, or just getting off work climbing our of their street parked car,,. The Rudest reception I have ever experienced was a transplant, only here weeks, from Texas. I said hello, what brings you to Seattle?.. she told m to fuck off and said that was a rude question.. Other than that, as I said, almost everyone I run into is polite and smiles..

@18 ooh let me guess, you're actually part Cherokee?

Is there a possibility it wasn't necessarily because he is black? Perhaps she thought "SHIT!, it's Charles Mudede. I better get the hell out of her else he may read one of his columns to me..."

This is just the typical Seattle white woman response. Most don't want to be bothered unless your serving them or their fraile egos.... entitled and soft, liberal Seattle.

-- that's weird.

Had you asked her if she was an Escort?

(I've never been, but from what I hear, she most likely wasn't from Austin. On the other hand if Willie Nelson's fromTexas it cain't all be bad)

@34 was for @29

raindrop is multitudes whiter than any Greek person

Yep. That is how it is.

Not even shitting you: A take on how racist and diverse the Seattle scene is for a black person. Holy shit where to start?

Working in customer service: If you are a black male, prepare for 3/4ths of white people to either vigorously check their wallets or purses immediately after merely interacting with you or shortly after (but before they are out of site).
If you are a black male larger than 5" 9 and older than 15, prepare for the police to be called on you for "suspicion" for such innocuous activities such as walking down the street/sitting down at a starbucks/sitting at a kirkland Yogurt store. While altright bigots will try to say it is because you havent bought anything yet, the truth is it is because you scare the frightened white women present. Black males are spooky scary, as told by there white fathers. Never mind most theft and sexual abuse crimes are statistically likely to occur from their fellow white males.
If you work in customer service, prepare to be passively or actively accuse you of you are black. This goes with the job. I doesn't matter if you are a mid level associate in a wealthy law firm when a client accidentally left his fucking wallet in his car or just some random jackass off the street who misplaced his car keys. Being black = being criminal to most of these people.
HATE. Every nonracist white person, latino person, asian person or native person will openly admit to hearing a white person randomly admit how much they hate/wish harm upon (often lethal) benign black people they see. A cab driver driving watching a black crowd saying they wish they could "run them all over" or "had a machine gun to get rid of them". This is common thought among the American right and center. You will even find a number of black republicans and confused altright supporters saying the same thing.

The truth is even the most most liberal parts of modern American aren't much different than the most conservative parts were in 50 years ago. And as Cyndi Hyde Smith's election proves, the conservative parts aren't any different.

Being in a mixed race relationship with a mixed race (asian and white) woman, I have had the pleasure of calling and attending first person Seattle landlords seeking reasonable (not even affordable or low income) rentals, only to be told the apartment was "just recently given to someone else" or "is being shut down for remodeling". While my asian-anglo american gf, upon in person interview was offered not only a cheaper rent, but a lease signing on the spot. Happened 4 times, all in the north end (Ballard, Queen anne, Fremont and Lake City). We literally left the city because of it, with no aspersions as to that was the original intent of the bigoted landlords and
their developer overlords.

Seattle is not progressive. Nor are most (but not all) well known suburbs. It's gentrified disneyland for trust fund bigots and high income racists.

A race that denies any vestiges of racism remain, despite the "stress tests" results shown by the woman Charles encountered; overreacting store personnel; jumped-up cops shooting kids, etc. That denial guarantees it's Charles' is blamed for failing at labyrinthine code-switching, not its own failings.
Two sexes who are still told women's' value is based on their desirability, and so any approaches are based on that value system.
A species with terrible risk-assessment instincts, and so resorts to base tribalism as a guidepost
The Seattle Freeze. Never underestimate the Seattle Freeze.

"What did you expect? "Welcome, sonny?" "Make yourself at home?" "Marry my daughter?" (you know the rest of this quote)

Way to just assume that your race was the factor which made this woman uncomfortable. Maybe being approached by a total stranger was enough? I'm from Chicago and I would have immediately, instinctually told you to fuck off no matter what color your skin was.

Your entitlement was what was off putting. It's apparent in the way this entire piece reads. You are just assuming it's because you're black that you had a bad interaction with a white woman. Did she use a racial slur? Call you a name? What was racist about her response to being targeted by a stranger? (That is what you did, you targeted an old woman for the sake of an 'experiment').

Maybe pay more attention to the external world and take the time to actually know who you do and don't know before approaching strangers ? You know, basic human being living in society kind of conscientiousness?

Most city dwwllers in the rest of the country will expect you do this this very simple thing: show respect to people by respecting their boundaries. You do this by paying enough attention to others that you are sure whether or not you actually know who they are. Pretty basic stuff.

This isn't racism, this is entitled asshole-ism and the asshole has to blame society for how his behavior made someone else feel.

I'm.not suggesting that racism and racist interactions like this dont happen everyday, but you're the one who chose to dehumanize an elderly woman for the sake of your own 'experiment'. You can't load the deck and then accuse the world of cheating. You targeted her while she was minding her own business. Own your responsibility for creating a dramatic situation for another person instead of just demonizing them and turning yourself into the victim.

This is easily the most ridiculous case of self victimization on the basis of race I've ever read. Get over yourself.

This is an interesting thought exercise. There are a lot of reasons this lady could have been startled (odd social skills, fear of blacks, fear of men, the fact you are a large stranger approaching her). Plus, I am the same age as Charles and most of my new neighbors (all young) are a very uptight bunch won't even say hello back.

I guess it's a good idea to default to racism for everything since racism overall is still a problem. I know when people don't like me I sometimes spend a minute wondering whether or not they don't like me cause I'm gay.

If the woman's motivations weren't racism, I don't know the solution to this other than be extra polite to black people to avoid making them feel like it is racism.

Please. This is about maleness, not blackness. A forty something black woman does not elicit fear and trepidation from progressive white Seattleites - but even white men do.

you could have walked out of the train and been hit by lighting at roughly the actual rate that black men are innocently murdered by cops. look up the total number of police encounters and then divide by the unarmed deaths. you could also factor out fleeing or aggressive behaviors because I would assume you would talk to the cops and not do some random weird shit like grab their gun or run away. the rate of that leading to death is many decimal places to the right, like lightning strikes and being part of a mass shooting. not worth worrying about being one in 25,000. do a little math.

@28: I never said that one had to speak to me, approach me, etc. for me to be creeped out. It's the random dudes smiling at me for no reason that reads as hella creepy. It certainly isn't putting me at ease, no matter how much you tell yourself that it will.

45

From LiveScience: "Lightning strikes kill about 24,000 people worldwide each year, and about 240,000 people are injured by lightning and survive. But even decades after being hit by lightning, survivors can continue to experience devastating long-term effects."

Well, maybe if Black Folks didn't go Outside quite so much, they wouldn't get hit by lightning --- or Shot -- quite so much. Good Plan, Dabby.

@45: "incorrectly murdered." Does that mean there's such a thing as "correctly murdered," and that any number of black men shot and killed without a fair trial are included in that group?

Hey I know this article is about your experience around being a victim of racism as a Black man, but let me, a non-Black person, tell you why you and your experiences are wrong and why my views of race are correct.

It's like an Epidemic:
(from the Googles)

Florida police shoot black man lying down with arms in air | US news ...
https://www.theguardian.com

Ex-Cop Who Falsely Claimed Black Man Shot Her Now in Prison | Time

Man convicted of assault for shooting at lost black teen - USA Today

'Hands up, don't shoot' didn't make a difference for Terence Crutcher
https://theundefeated.com

Alabama police offer new explanation for shooting wrong man - BBC ...

And, if you just happen to be White, you're most likely
Immune.

"Not too long ago, I was informed by a concerned white friend that I was too aloof and needed to be more aware of others."
Your friend sounds like the same kind of person that likes to tell women that they should smile more.

More likely she knew exactly who you were.
I would scream, jump out of the way, and choose another car if I saw you too.
Not because you're black, but because you're you.

@47.... I am not quite sure what you mean by the term "random dudes smiling at you for no reason". As for myself I do not need a specific reason to smile at anyone and personally I would rather a person smile at me rather than scowl, and I see that occasionally too.

Nobody cannot extrapolate tangential asymmetrical human reactions into a generalized narrative without debate.

You may want to look into the possibility of having prosopagnosia if you are unsure whether you know people you see in public. I have it and your experience in that way is familiar to me. It is basically the inability to recognize/remember or even clearly see faces and it's definitely caused me some bad moments -- especially before I knew that other people could recognize faces.

Thank you for writing about the rest of your experience. I had never before considered the additional complications there might be for having prosopagnosia while being a black man in the US. I, being white, really only offend those who think I should know them and who aren't aware of my inability to recognize people's faces. I've never been placed in danger because of it in the way that you have been.

araucania dear, what is a progressive community in your estimation?

@18: Oh honey, you are more white and more male that Pat Boone. You claiming people "dont't know your color or sex" is like Donald Trump making the same claim in one of his tweets.

A white women scared by a black man saying hello? Has anyone contacted Mark Larson in the criminal division about this heinous crime? He has built an entire career based on incarcerating any minority male who upsets a white women.

Mark has put the "In" back in mass incarceration.

@41 "Im front chicago"

WTF do you know about Seattle?

Unless someone calls you a racial slur their actions cant be racist? GTFOH with that bullshit(to put it in Chicago speak, to which I have a bit of experience)