“No one will stop”
About 25 years ago, when I was in my early 30’s and living in Washington DC’ I was out one night in Dupont Circle with some friends at a bar. Young men and women, all in college or medical school, grad school, or newly graduated. We were flirting, drinking, bragging about big ideas, boring classes and future plans.
One of the people around the bar was a young, thin, black man who was attending George Washington University. He was bright, funny, articulate and well-dressed. Later in the evening I saw him look at his watch and motion to the bartender that he wanted to settle up his tab. A few of us that were talking to him exclaimed with disappointment, “You’re not leaving are you?!” …he responded, “Yes, the last metro stops in about 30 minutes so I need to be on it.” (Most of us were familiar with the need to check the metro schedule to make sure we caught the last one back to the suburbs — unless we could walk, had a car, or were willing to get a taxi. ) ‘Why?, can’t you just take a taxi?’ . He looked at us with a bit of surprise, “That gets pricey to do by myself and most taxis won’t stop for black men after dark here in DC.”
‘Taxis won’t stop for black men after dark’… 25 years later and I still remember him saying that. I was shocked and saddened…and embarrassed that he had to explain. Embarrassed because I knew as a young, white woman I had never had a problem getting a taxi.
I don't remember his name, but I remember he was funny and smart and that we didn’t notice or care that his skin was darker. I think at that point some of us promised to share a taxi with him to get him closer to home so he could walk the rest of the way….I want to think we did that, but did we?
Or did we just let him leave by himself so he could get on the last metro of the day?
‘Taxis won’t stop for black men after dark’ …Were we too young and self-absorbed and more interested in staying at the bar to share a taxi or give him a ride? I am sad that I don’t remember.
Ride Racism
Is it different in DC now? Apparently this is a problem in many cities — here’s an op-ed about racism by taxi companies in Los Angeles “Taxi companies were 73% more likely to not pick up a black customer than a white customer.”
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/livable-city/la-oe-brown-racism-taxi-uber-lyft-201812-story.htm
Is it better with Uber or Lyft? Maybe? https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/11/uber-lyft-bias-racism-lgbt-washington-dc-wait-time-data/602437/ ”…studies found that people of color face longer wait times to be matched with a driver — sometimes 35 percent longer than white riders…”
Take the First Step
What can we do when a community or society makes people feel marginalized, alone or distrusted based on the color of their skin? How and when does that change?
Will we do more than just express sympathy by posting a quote or using a hashtag?
Will we stop to share the ride? … or will we let someone wait, walk or ride alone because we’re oblivious or more interested in our own lives and agenda?
How can we try and make change happen? Right now we have emotion, energy and intention…let’s take that first step into resolutions and action to make a change.