It is not the event that made you angry, but it is the questioning of racial discrimination. Upon rational investigation, you would have found that I frequently stopped in for blueberry cheese cake to go; that I bought top shelf scotch whisky my second visit there after wafting several choices, or that I rarely drink alcohol and prefer to drink espresso--however their machine is normally shut down making me decide on something else less desirable. Still I patronized them.
Being called racist leaves many White people feeling helpless in their White fragility. This is not my problem. The daily purposeful assault on the dignity of Black people is my problem. Instead of reflecting on the bar owners irrational actions, you chose to blindly side with him--although you were not there--lash out in white anger against me when I reported him and shudder in White fragility. Posting anonymously also adds little to the legitimacy of your argument. Blind beliefs got a 15-yr Emmett Till lynched when a White woman falsely accused him of making a "pass" at her. She later recanted her story.
Everyday racism is rampant in Berlin. On March 26, 2019, the EU Union passed an unprecedented referendum addressing racism against people of African decent. White German's still deny the self-reporting of racism because:
a: Due to social distancing, they have no black friends, or one's willing to discuss it.
b: They "never see it," limiting it a priori to physical violence or racial epithets.
c: Shame from the Holocaust makes them uncomfortable discussing it.
Service denial, unsubstantiated police calls or threats, over attention, racial profiling, unprovoked impatience or simply refusing to speak English when capable is overtly racist. Shouting, "This is Deutschland," "Speak German!" or "You're a guest here" is the same dangerous nationalistic rhetoric of Germany's not so distant past.
As White German's at the top of the food chain, you define the political, social and institution structures of power in society. The Black narrative of everyday racism is of no necessary importance to you. You deny it, yet you seek to also define it. Perhaps you are unaware the stigmatization of Black people occupying public spaces without paying is a common racist trope. Implicit bias leads to our arrested (Starbuck's) and physical harm at the hands of police.
You decide who is accepted, and what is valued in society, and prescribe appropriate feelings and experiences. When a Black person owns their experience and feelings, you get irrationally angry. This is typical and sad. Deciding what is or isn't racist is White supremacy. You feel it is your right to grant certitude on the lived experience of every Black person, especially when it doesn't suit your liking.
Not once did you say the bartender was out of line, doubt his actions, or mention that he may have lost a loyal new customer, and that diversity would be a bonus to the bar. You automatically unite under one common race. This proves you really are not concerned with the bars bottom line, clientele or the truth. You are just interested in what makes you feel good, because White is always right and we must cater and take care of your feelings at all cost.
Arguing that it wasn't racism is defensive and offensive to the lived experience of Black people. The self-reporting of racism is in part rarely believed because of social distancing. White people don't live or work around Black people, thus you never hear our experiences, and when we try to explain, you get angry and offended instead of closing your mouths and listening.
Silence on everyday racism threatens my safety and hastens White supremacy. It is exhausting and psychologically draining for most Black people. Racism keeps society from connecting. Refuting everyday racism's existence regularly culminates in acts of racial violence. My power is telling my story.
The owner immediately asked me "Can I help you?" when I stepped into the bar because, as he told the police, "I have never seen him here before." Over attention on Black people is a type of racism. Think next time when you violently yell at a Black man who doesn't order after three minutes. As a member of the hegemony, the onus to defuse racism is not on me, it is in your hands. If you were really concerned about making a profit, you would have given a new "foreign" guest more time than 3 minutes to order.
With waspy waspishness, you continue to fashion racism's definition to your liking. Give people agency in feeling. Let them decide when they're accepted. We know! Let us decide what is racist, and embrace us with empathy when we report it, for I assure you, it hurts us more than it will ever hurt you.
Find more constructive ways to channel your White fragility, and anger than throwing out Black patrons from your bar. In the US, you would be sued.
https://www.dw.com/en/racism-row-after-berlin-kfc-calls-police-over-disruptive-group-o
Sincerely, Brandon Keith Brown read more
