I have just entered the bus, paid the fare and asked for a transfer, when I go and sit down and realized that I was getting a dirty stare by this mid-aged white woman. Being the only brown guy on the bus, I realized what the difference between a regular look or stare, and that glaze at you, as if she is not safe or uncomfortable next to you. The look of hate and fear. So evident, from my youth of growing up in the UK, Canada, and seeing dirty looks and slurs of being a brown middle-eastern guy in a white world. I hope you do realize that I am not religious, I am very friendly guy and I like to smile to make people smile. Try it sometime, a smile makes a difference. —A Brown Guy in a White Neighborhood
This article appears in Feb 11-17, 2016.
Maybe, just maybe… she didn’t like the fact you were MALE… Maybe she wanted to sit by herself… Maybe she thought you were gay… Maybe you reminded her of a former friend she’s come to dislike… Maybe, just maybe… there’s another reason why she stared at you aside from being the only brown guy on the bus (a common occurrence in a predominantly white-for-no-reason city).
^^
True Above…. you’re the only one talking about the colour of your skin….
As white people you have no right to comment on this persons opinion. Everything said must be taken as fact and not questioned. Respect the pronoun!
Little sensitive there OP? Who gives a shit if she stares at you, you seem hung up on something, and right away assume it’s your race. Could be just a miserable old hag that gives the same stink eye to everyone. Don’t know why you’d feel threatened by someone like that, sit down, ride the bus…simple.
People stare on the bus regardless.At least they were only staring. Try being Asian with a very white sounding name. It confuses and confounds people here and they demand to know every detail of ones life and feel owed an explanation.
Dude, she wasn’t smiling or scowling, it was just gas.
Who cares? Not everyone is going to like you, deal with it! Sitting around, moping about what you think some woman was thinking about when you looked in her direction is a complete waste of your time. Great, now us white bitches gotta smile and not look racist while we’re holding in a shit on the bus.
OB, fuck you. It isn’t all about you; it’s not always about white privilege or women’s fear of male aggression (and you might want to check on that, by the way – your whining reminds me of MRA/”Nice Guy” shit). Some people just want to decompress from a soul-sucking job or the demands of spouse and kids or the horrible reality of just not being happy with the way their lives turned out. We’re not action figures in the diorama in which you live the ideal life. We are certainly not going to smile and cheer “Truman!” on cue as soon as you board a bus. Some of us would rather be alone. It’s not you – or maybe it is, but we’re not necessarily going to tell you because it’s none of your business, the same way your opinion of us is none of our business. Just understand that if we’re staring blankly on a bus, it’s because we’re tired and we’re just trying to get home.
Two points come to mind:
I think it’s pretty much a given that all people are capable of being racist/prejudiced regardless of their own colour, ethnic background or religion. “Brown” people can be just as racist as white people. I saw some brown people mocking asians one day. Asians can be prejudiced towards other asians – look at the caste structure in India. It’s not just a white thing – it’s an inherent tendency toward tribalism that we all have to work to overcome.
I used to work with a woman whose natural expression resembled a frown because her mouth turned down. The woman on the bus might just be someone whose everyday expression looks icy or unfriendly. I think it’s a pretty big leap to assume racism was at play. It could have been the case —- but the evidence is scant.
Maybe OB gets stared at often, so much that all the other explanations (doesn’t like men, reminds person of someone they don’t like, having a bad day, etc) become less plausible. I wouldn’t know. I’m white and I never get dirty looks.
Maybe she was having a bad day. People do stare a lot for no reason or they do. Don’t let it get to ya. We all have a bad day sometimes 🙂
I like when women stare at me. sexy stare, nice stare, mean stare, i don’t care, all the same… Maybe she’s 90 and just woke up from an 80 year coma? It would be jarring to see a brown guy on a bus sitting so close…. Maybe she’s an android, first of her kind, staring might be one of the ways it learns… Maybe she wanted you, and you mistook a sexy stare for a mean racist stare. OP, did think of any of those scenerios before writing your bitch?
maybe it was because you actually paid your fare