Would you open the door?

Today, as I wait for the bus to proceed with my journey with life, I was struck into a situation that took awhile to sink in. I am looking for a bus station that was recently moved from the city’s mall to a random spot behind a bank and in front of a hardware store. In my quest to search for this bus stop I realized I didn’t actually know where it was. The last time I was dropped off from school at this stop, I had to GUIDE the bus driver to the bank so I could get off because he had no idea where he was.

So, since I knew the bank just recently closed, I decided to knock on the door and see if they would simply answer my question of where could this mysterious bus stop be? When I did so, I got looks of dread and displeasure by the workers. One began shaking their head, and the other was trying to understand what I was trying to say. After a few seconds, I realized this was a dead end. Eventually, they had to leave and I figured out, after I walked a safe distance away, what I wanted. As I walked back to the car, my mother sat with me for a bit and told me, “Its probably because you were black…” Now, from that statement, you might think “Yea your right. RACISM!” But no, consider this.

Obviously, it’s a bank. LOL. If I worked at a bank and saw a large black male dressed in some sketchy clothes trying to get me to open the door, I probably wouldn’t. The individuals I tried to talking to were a middle-aged African American woman and a young white female. No surprise at all. But, the thing I am getting at with this is…Will they open the door for YOU??

My task for you is, if your willing, go to a store right after it closes. It does not have to be a bank. Realize your gender and the color of your skin before you do and how you are dressed. Ask them a simple question like, “Hey, I have no idea where I am, would you happen to know where [fill in the blank] is?” See if they will actually open the door to tell you. I am very interested to see how out of the ordinary this could go. Consider this a research study of mine. Game on.