Did I Do Something That May Have Been Construed Racist?
victorj19
Member Posts: 3,642 ✭✭✭
So, the other day my wife is driving toward a freeway entrance. This requires driving a short distance on surface streets in Detroit or drive 10 miles further to the freeway enter and then drive through Detroit on the freeway. She stopped for a red light. I glanced to my right to look at the buildings since it had bee awhile since being at that intersection. Then some movement is noticed and my focus was on a Black man sitting at bus stop. He had raised his arm and pointed a brown gloved hand at me and, like a child might do, shot me with his finger. After that, he gave me the finger.
Perhaps this forum is the wrong audience. I'll try to ask this question of my next door neighbor since he is Black. Anyway, is it racist to look anyway but forward in a vehicle while in a Black area? I want to know since my actions may trigger being shot with a real gun.
I wasn't carrying that day because MI doesn't allow carrying in a hospital.
Comments
Forgot to mention that we were heading to a hospital and I gave him the finger back.
City near here, Charlotte, people that live there, white in particular, will tell you to never look left or right when at a stop light or stop sign. Folks beside you might make something out of it and may even lead to violence.
Sign of the times.
had a nephew living in detroit a couple of years ago. when his mother {my sister} went to visit one time he instructed her on the ethics of the street. always keep your head down, straight ahead, and never make eye contact with anyone. Dang, i just couldnt live like that.
Maintain situational awareness, but avoid making eye contact with anyone. Many years ago I was driving through New Orleans on a long road trip and decided it would be great to see the Superdome. Although I didn't know the city at all, I could see the dome, so I pulled off I-10 and quickly found myself in an area where I knew that I shouldn't be. My entire focus was to find my way back to I-10, which I did. I never have seen the Superdome.
I grew up in that area. Have a daughter in Sterling Heights. You did nothing wrong the racist was on the bench. I leave the gun in the console at a hospital but would not be without it in that neighborhood.
Look them all in the eye and act like you own the place, is how I was taught.
Ain't our current times just great😏
i used to work in the N.O. hospitals, all downtown. I hated every, every, minute of it.
You need to be aware of what is going on all around you. Then you can see someone running up on you before they get there. Definitely keep the doors locked.
Do I practice what I preach? Absolutely not. But I don't live near a city, nor does this area have negative diversity. The neighbors are just like me......responsible gun owners.
Yeah, harvesting the bounty of our past choices.
No, it’s not racist to look around while in a "black area". Common sense says be prepared if it triggers a reaction.
" I wasn't carrying that day because MI doesn't allow carrying in a hospital."
That was your first and only mistake in the story. Do they have metal detectors at the hospital? If not, why not carry? If so, then that sucks. I would rather explain myself for breaking a "no guns allowed" rule, then be killed by an idiot, and HE was the rasict!
I agree.
I practice a don't ask, don't tell approach to carrying.
"It shouldn't bother you if you don't see it, or most particularly if you don't hear it."
I've carried for 40 years & rarely did anyone know. If it was noticed, I learned from it. If I'm going to a no carry area, I go smaller & more concealable. I'd rather say oops, I forgot or oh, I didn't see the sign. I frequently pass through a rural black neighborhood near my home. We wave to each other with all 5 fingers. HE was the racist & you were correct in giving him the 1 finger salute.
Retired leo
You know what really sucks, he thought he was doing the right thing. I can't begin to imagine how warped his thinking must be, and he was intentionally made that way by his parents and peers. That is beyond despicable. His entire LIFE is @!#$ed up because of the lies he's been told.
Black people aren't stupid. My boss is a black man and we have a GREAT relationship. We challenge each other. So why do the people in the inner city do this? I place the blame squarely on the race hustlers that keep the fires of racism burning and get rich off the smoke.
Merely the name Detroit should explain everything.
Big city, > 90% vote DEMOCRAT. Imagine living in an place where you are bombarded with an abundance of leftist dogma where race is one of the central issues and "White Privilege" is often the topic.
+1000
Today if you are white, you are a racist!
That is what they want you to think.
The next time you pass through that area you better make dang sure you're armed 'cause the kindly gentleman that pointed the finger pistol at you is probably out tellin' all his buddies about the white dude that drove through the hood flippin' off the brothers.
My advice, and take it for what it is worth, is to ignore the person in this type of situation. Detroit has had a lot of road rage type shootings. This idiot may have been armed and by giving him the single digit salute it could have escalated the situation. To a certain section of the population life is cheap. Being unarmed and having your wife in the vehicle, the small amount of gratification obtained by flipping him off to me wouldn't be worth the risk. I live in Michigan and three areas I studiously avoid are Detroit, Flint and Saginaw. If forced by circumstances to visit those areas I am on the highest situational alert and avoid confrontations. The citizens of those areas have a herd mentality and that can be quite dangerous. A couple of years ago a minority kid ran in front of a vehicle and was struck. The driver stopped to give aid and was beaten senseless by the bystanders who came out of the woodwork. Fortunately the police showed up before they killed him. He did spend a few weeks in the hospital recovering from his savage beating. Not his fault and he tried to do the right thing and almost died. Inner cities suck. Bob
After 25 years in a hospital setting I can tell you I have been called every name, spit on, kicked, punched, ect. ect and not all were minorities. Go to East St. Louis though and being privileged you are not safe, well you are not safe anywhere in that cesspool.
If you have a Michigan CPL you should know better than to do that.
My mother used to get season tickets to the Broadway shows that came to Birmingham.....it was typically me, mother and a couple of my kids that went. This one time it was just mother, my oldest daughter, and myself in the car coming back from the show. Birmingham is an armpit of a city....surrounded by a moat of even nastier nonsense before you get out into redneck central, then no signs of life other than mailboxes and a couple dollar generals.
We're not far from the civic center when I get stopped at a red light. This dark silhouette is on the sidewalk about 20 feet away and I can tell this person turned toward our car and was beginning to jog our way. I slammed my mother back into the seat and started yelling every profane word I've ever heard while jabbing my finger in the air like I was poking this guy backwards with "the force." He stopped jogging and his arms went limp by his side and he just stood there as we drove away. I almost felt bad because it seemed over the top and a bit presumptuous....but in the dark, jogging toward a car full of women is a good way to look like you are up to no good.
Thank you all for your comments and stories.
I know now he, not I, showed the racism.
Agree with being situationally aware at all times for survival and safety.
Not sure whether to show strength or being passive. For me probably showing passivity is best since I would likely be physically weaker than a potential foe and definitely weaker than more than one potential foe. I'm recalling the recent post of the white man walking through a Chinatown and being severely beaten and stripped naked by a group of Blacks. Victim showed no situational awareness!
Agree that I erred by not carrying. Should have and then just left it in the car when in the parking structure. Hospital is located in a much safer city and btw no metal detector. The highly rated hospital 1/4 mile from home has had metal detectors for years, beginning with the ER and now all visitor entrances. Another sign of the times.
Over 20 years ago I told my wife that I refused to live in fear. Had the same discussion after being burgalized and losing $2k and a nice Colt Detective Special and a S&W Mdl 61-2.* After a few rare incidents lately on the streets, talking with parents about incidents in the 2 high schools, talking to our Public Safety Officers, etc., , it's time to think about relocating. Hoping to hold out for a couple of years to see where our daughter moves to after finishing her medical residency.
If you are white and dont vote DEMOCRAT is closer to the truth.
"I took my carry piece out, and layed it up on the dash,"
That could get you in trouble in most states.... I believe they call it brandishing a weapon, although I wish it was OK to do, as it would probably take the bravado out of a lot of punks...
There are tons of rough places. I went to Wichita State University at the height of gang violence. I whipped into the fraternity parking lot which happened to be right on the bad side of the road. I whipped in sideways like you should do when driving a sports car, apparently scaring two guys that were breaking into a car as they quickly ran off. Being from a small town with virtually no minorities, I got out to see what they had done to my buddy's car, it was running with the stereo blaring, about that time my passenger started yelling to get back in the car because the two would be thieves had stopped at the corner. So I did, and there was a gunshot which I thought was my car was backfiring, well the next bullet came through the back window, through my headrest and out the windshield wow what a rush. By the time I got out of there they had hit the car 9 times. When the cops got there the were worthless (they were very scared of gangs back then). They had caught one of the guys as he dove into the bushes with needle nose pliers and a screwdriver, they had me identify the guy right there (I got a good look at him as I almost hit him), they kept saying they weren't sure and I asked them to pull his hand print off my hood, but they said since there were no fatalities they didn't want to take the time to process either vehicle. They also told me that they were using a revolver since they found no shell casings, and that they didn't hit the car 9 times. The next day I went to the corner and picked up 9mm and 45 casings, pulled bullets from the car and headed to the detective. When I got there the detective told me thanks, but they had already released the guy. Then he told me that it was gang related and that I should get rid of my car because the next time the saw it I wouldn't be walking away. That day I lost faith in the justice system and the police. I also learned that a 9mm round will not make a car tire explode like you see on TV, heck it doesn't even make the tire go flat. I also started carrying a gun that day and have every day since, regardless of where I'm going.
You asked the question, "Did anything I did may have been construed as racist"? Certainly, you did, you were driving while white.
Toolman286 wrote: "I've carried for 40 years & rarely did anyone know. If it was noticed, I learned from it. If I'm going to a no carry area, I go smaller & more concealable. I'd rather say oops, I forgot or oh, I didn't see the sign. I frequently pass through a rural black neighborhood near my home. We wave to each other with all 5 fingers. HE was the racist & you were correct in giving him the 1 finger salute.
"Retired leo."
The Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act states you can carry just about anywhere, including hospitals, schools and what not. The only places I have found that the law doesn't cover are some, not all, Federal Courts, and the secured areas of airports. I carry everywhere I go.
One day a long time ago, I was in a VFW area in Dallas, stopped at a red light. I looked around to see if this was where I was supposed to turn, and a black woman on the opposite curb thought I was looking at her and yelled obscenities at me.
Some of my black friends cautioned me about having a "Trump for President" sticker on my truck, but I never had a problem. I reckon they were just being overly cautious.