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Comment by rsj_hn | Hacker News Reader

I am sorry to hear that. Is your neighborhood wealthy? I'm in SF, and there are some neighborhoods (Pacific Heights) where your risk of getting the cops called at you is pretty high just by walking around at night if one of the nosy neighbors doesn't recognize you. I assume being black would increase those odds.

I was almost swatted once -- there was a knock on my door "Police! Open up!" and when I came to the door the police said they heard reports of gunshots from my apartment. What?? I let them in, they looked around -- I think it was an ex-gf but I can't prove it. They started asking me if I just moved in (I had a few months before). I tried to ask them who reported it, but they wouldn't say. I'm just glad they didn't bust down the door guns blazing.

It's a scary world out there.

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The neighborhood isn’t wealthy by California standards, but the county is the wealthiest in the state, and it was an infamous “Sundown Town” in the South as late as the 80s. But as the metro area has grown and an influx of professionals and younger people have moved in, the demographics are slowly changing. It’s mostly the older crowd who have been here for decades that have problems. My wife and I don’t get looked at too strangely, but my (step)son who is tall and big gets suspicious looks from older adults even though he grew up in the burbs all of his life and his circle of friends look like the cast of a CW show.

My son often hangs out with friends from his school. Their parents always love him. He only gets strange looks from the grandparents occasionally.

> I'm in SF, and there are some neighborhoods (Pacific Heights) where your risk of getting the cops called at you is pretty high just by walking around at night if one of the nosy neighbors doesn't recognize you. I assume being black would increase those odds.

If you really want to see blatant racism, sign up for nextdoor.com. My Cupertino neighbors are constantly posting about a "suspicious person", and when you press them as to why the person is suspicious, it always boils down to, "because they're black". Usually they don't outright say it, they just imply it, but sometimes they do say it outright.

[not american] i've always wondered about that. is it they feel uncomfortable because the person is wearing something normally associated with gangbanger/dodgy person.

would it happen if the person was dressed like whatever the stereotypical white person business casual attire is for the area?

i just can't see somebody being uncomfortable __just__ on color of skin. there surely has to be something else which triggers it.

person acting sketchy (maybe because they feel out of place rather than being up to dodgy activity?

I think dress is one factor. Age, height, are they in a group, and if so, what do the other members of the group look like -- they all have an effect. But, I don't think you can deny that race is a factor also, independent of all the other factors. I don't think that's ever gonna change, either.

I don't believe people outside the U.S. are immune from considering race as a factor in judging whether someone is a threat or out for mischief. The world is filled with race wars and racial conflict and tension. For a German, say, it might not be a black person, but it could be a gypsy or arab that elevates their sense of risk.

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