I wanted to take a moment to say thank you to the staff at Pure Barre for allowing me to see their true colors and share with all of social media how threatening they see black men like myself and their exaggerated responses to people of color.
After leaving work at about 0430, I decided to park in front of my dentist office and sleep in my car until my 0645 dentist appointment. Restoration Dental shares an office building with with the Pure Barre in Brookhaven. As I sat there just trying to go to sleep, I noticed the staff coming to the coming to door and staring at me. In an effort to calm their nerves I got out of the car and went to the door with the intention on simply letting them know that I was just waiting for my dentist office to open. When they saw me coming they locked the door. I waved at the staff with a smile on my face trying my best not to look threatening. When they saw me shook their heads and would not even approach the door. I returned to my car, knowing full well what was about to happen next. I leaned the seat back and tried to go back to sleep. To the surprise of absolutely no one, the next thing I noticed was Brookhaven Police Department knocking on my window. The officer stated that they had received TWO calls from the staff at Pure Barre saying that I was BANGING on the door demanding to be let in. I explained to the officer what ACTUALLY happened and to his credit, he did not overreact. He politely asked for my license and ran it as a matter of procedure. He did not jerk me out of the car, frisk me or ask me if I had any weapons or drugs. When he returned to the car he realized that I had once taken care of an injured coworker of his. About that time my dentist, Dr. McKay walked up and was COMPLETELY outraged that police had been called.
Nothing came of this obviously, And my initial thought was to simply let it go and move on. However, The more I thought about it the more one singular fact increased my level of outrage. I realized how easily this could have happened to my son! Kameron Porter is a dancer Who also teaches and choreographed dance. He is a hard working young black man whose definition of being in trouble was needing to retake physics in summer school. That could have been my son out there instead of me. He could have actually been there to take a class or even to teach one. That is not even a stretch to conceive of such a situation as he is extremely talented and the scope of his talent is broad and diverse. However it is also not a stretch to realize how the staff there would have reacted to a black man coming into their place of business. Had this happen to my child come I would have pitched a tent outside of their business and stayed there until everyone with ears knew what blatant racist they were inside. I would have made it my life's work to make sure that place was shut down.
In the midst of this nonsense, I must applaud the Brookhaven PD for addressing this with patience and professionalism. Also to Dr David McKay for instantly rushing to my defense. This nonsense WILL NOT make me find another dentist. He is an amazing dentist and now I know that he is also an amazing Human Being as well. As long as I live in Georgia and I still have teeth, HE WILL BE MY DENTIST!
As I sit here in the stillness of the night, I STILL have not reconciled exactly how I feel about what happened. In some moments, I am saddened and in others, angry beyond belief. It is difficult to not allow matters such as this to damage my faith in humanity but I am trying my best.
To the staff at Pure Barre who called the police on me for "Sitting While Black", I have taken up enough of your time. Please go back to clutching your purses tighter when black men walk past you on the sidewalk. Continue to think that Swastikas are cool and that the Holocaust is just "Fake News." Feel free to go on thinking that you are not racist (f.y.i you're WRONG). Otherwise, please take time to examine your own biases and how they effect your world views.
If you are naive enough to believe that issues like this do not affect you, please remember that Dr. King once said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"
Thank You for Your Time and Consideration,
James Wooden, RN, USN read more
