Black & White On The Bus

While here in Chicago, we have been riding public transportation to get around. Car is too much of a hassle and cabbies are too expensive. Over half of the family is carless so we hardly have the seats anyway. Last night, we headed to a highly-rated Italian restaurant a good amount of distance from the hotel. Thus, we needed to take the subway and then the bus to the destination. For $ 2.50 apiece, public transportation was the wise choice versus the $ 120 it would have taken to get us all there in cabs.

The restaurant was awesome...truly, even with a trudge in the rain, where we made a wrong turn walking off the bus. Google Maps to the rescue once again. Most of my brothers have a good sense of direction. I don't. So, I have played back-up with Google Maps things go astray. Like a catcher in baseball and a wild pitch.

After dinner, all twelve of us hopped back on the bus.We were the only whiteys. And some of us were uptighty. Not the best section of town. One crazy black lady started trying to irk us with some trash-talking nonsense about white people on the bus. Not real hard to figure out who she was running her mouth about.  A couple of others joined in or lent assent through comments and chuckles. Most everyone was stone cold silent. Not a word either way. The bus was full.  Not just a stray seat full here and there. 

It was one of those situations where words could have been exchanged and become an inflammatory scenario. As it was, we essentially ignored her. It wasn't overly threatening...it just was unnecessary and inconsiderate. It will be a good day in America where other decent-minded black people in the bus, the majority, would tell her just to chill out. A white person saying something can be a difficult tactic; I think in a situation like this, a black voice has a lot more resonance. 


To be clear, we have interacted with many Chicagoans, both black and white, and found a high level of civility and kindness. Yet, I don't want to ignore this incident because I think it is illustrative of a dynamic that has to be dealt with clearly and cleanly. I would be a racist if I didn't expect better.   


Silence unfortunately is perceived as consent and I would hope that I would have the courage and decency to tell a white person running his mouth about black people riding his bus and acting like an ass to just stop it. Is it wrong and inappropriate for me to hope for the same when the shoe is on the other foot?  Just wondering. I plan to ask more questions in this bierkergaard blog. The readership is at the point where we can have a legitimate conversation with many different voices weighing in, so feel welcome to hop on the bus so to speak.   


God has made every race and every nation. Because he is the author of all of us, we had better be circumspect in our treatment of his human artistry. To look askance upon the creature reflects back on the Creator. How about we in America show the world what it looks to put race-based assessments into the ashcan of history where it belongs?