As much as a lot of us probably don't want to admit it,
racism is still alive and well in the world. Across all levels of society, white people are still favored (whether deliberately or not) above others, and not enough is being done to counteract the problem.
But not all incidents of racism are glaringly obvious. Some - or most, even - are subtle, which is why the issue is still being brushed under the carpet. Racism doesn't have to be as explicit as using a slur, or expressing
supremacist viewpoints, or committing a racially-motivated crime. For those at the receiving end of it, racism can be found in the most seemingly-innocent of conversations.
This is what happened to Emmit Walker, who had a pretty insulting interaction with a woman while he was waiting to board his flight at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in DC on Tuesday.
Walker, a music executive, was preparing to fly to the Dominican Republic to celebrate his 37th birthday when he found himself being challenged by a white woman who didn't think he should have been boarding the flight at that moment.
Both he and the woman had first class tickets but, for
some reason, the other passenger assumed that Walker was mistaken somehow, and told him, "You may be in the wrong place." Now, what could
possibly have made her think that?
Walker remained calm, however, and produced his boarding pass for the woman to take a look at. "I'm in the right spot," he said. He also pointed out that he had been there longer, so she would have to wait her turn. But she still refused to believe that he had actually purchased the ticket, and said that he must have only got his ticket from being 'military or something.'"
Exactly why this woman assumed that a black man couldn't possibly have paid for his own flight is not clear, but her actions insulted Walker nonetheless. So he put her on blast.
The post immediately blew up, drawing in nearly a quarter of a million shares and 661,000 reactions. Most people were supportive of Walker, and agreed that the woman's prejudiced assumptions were unacceptable. However, others were critical of his decision to share her face so publicly.
Now, one could argue that if she didn't want to be called out for saying racist stuff, she shouldn't have said racist stuff. But, on the other hand, Walker could have posted about the situation without showing her face.
After just a day, the music executive actually posted again to say he regretted sharing the picture.
As he explains in the
Instagram post, he didn't actually expect the post to get much traction at all, and thought that it would be seen only by a few friends who would brush it off as nothing serious because they'd all experienced similar things before. Essentially, it was meant as a humorous commentary, not an attack on the woman.
"I WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGIZE AGAIN TO THE WOMAN I HAD THIS ENCOUNTER WITH YESTERDAY. NO MATTER HOW WRONG YOUR ACTIONS YOU DON’T DESERVE THIS," he wrote - even though
he had been the victim in the situation.
Walker's actions were truly admirable, especially considering that he didn't do anything to provoke the situation. His attitude is one that we should all try to adopt: always try to put yourself in another person's shoes before challenging them on something.
