Black People, Why don't we sit next to each other?

Racial divides on public transportation

I'm not sure if this is a regional thing or not, but after years of commuting back and fourth to SF from Oakland, it's been my experience that Black people are the last people to sit next to another Black person on the train.  What compounds the issue for me is that the seat next to me is always the last one taken on the train as it fills up in the first place... Basically, White people don't want to sit next to a brotha either...

After years of experiencing this, the message I was forced to accept was that no one--including Black people--wanted to sit next to the corporate looking Black man with dreadlocks.

To combat this behavior I began my on campaign: Sit next to any all Black people (if I could) no matter if the train was filled or not.  To my surprise, my presence wasn't always welcomed by some of my fellow Black passengers.  Although no one ever verbally expressed disapproval, I noticed that they'd often move if or when another seat was made available. 

After a while it seemed as if I was volunteering to fight a losing battle.  Yet I pressed on...

On day after work I sat next to Black woman on the train and she turned to me to say, "Are you sure you meant to sit here? Can't you see I'm Black"

I laughed and told her, "I did it on purpose."

We then then proceeded to talk about and question why we as Black people don't sit next to each other especially when it's obvious that no one else wants to sit next to us on the train...

But I had to school her on one tip: Elder Asian Women.  They don't care.  A seat is a seat to them. And they have no problems squeezing in their grocery bags when they do sit next to a brotha and I ain't mad at them either. You gotta love 'em.

 

 

 

Comments

[satisfiedsistah]

I haven't taken public transportation in so long I can't really understand this. When I lived back east, and we'd take the bus to and from school, we'd seek each other out. To tell the truth it was comforting to me, as well as the other black kids on the city bus. White people avoided us like the plague. And unprompted we always sat in the back. Why? It gave us the freedom to talk to one another and to joke and act foolish. Later I found that this activity only widened the gap we thought we have forged. No one wanted to be with us because we posed a threat. Not that we did anything bad, it was that we were a "group" of blacks. When I had my first big job I learned very quickly that a "group" of black people was always threatening to whites and other blacks didn't want to get pigeon holed as standoffish and too black for whites to socialize with, at their whim of course. So I think this loosely translates into the problem you are experiencing on public transportation. We have learned that groups of us, even two to a seat can be misconstrued as a "gang" or anything like that, so we give in to the social pressure to appear less threatening. That's my take on it for what it's worth. I enjoyed reading this piece, good food for thought.

[nubian]

haha that shit is so true.
when i lived in oakland, i would take the bart to the city. black people never liked for me to sit next to them, and they never sat next to me.
white folks neither..to tell you the turth, nobody liked sitting next to anyone else.
most of the time though, i would just stand and watch how people cringed when someone would sit next to them...

[kristen]

let me co-sign REAL LATE on nubian's comments. if there is an empty seat next to me i do NOT want someone sitting there- that seat is for my backpack thank you very much. i also noticed, in High School, that most of the black students headed straight to the back of the bus- i always wondered why: too noisy and crowded for my tastes. i preferred the front.

living in lily-white santa barbara i have to rethink why sometimes white people didn't want to sit next to me; i always thought it was because i was giving off some "bitch don't sit your ass next to me" vibes, but after reading this post i think it may be something else.

but then again my "bitch don't sit your ass next to me" vibes are SUPER strong...

great blog BTW

[dpm]

Kristen:

I'm the dude to punk you and your backpack, "Can I sit there please?"

I just point to your pack and do my Mace Windu Jedi Mind trick (wink).

Thank you very much.

[Miss Atl]

Hilarious!!!

I think that we as black people just like our space. I mean I see other nationalities of people and they can stack up in a coupe 5-6 deep (and they aren't children) not us, there is an unwritten rule that there can only be 4 people in a car one for each side-window, I think that in highschool we called riding in the back seat in the middle "riding hoe."

What's even funnier is that I (or maybe even "we") don't like people near me at all. If I am on the elliptical and there are other elliptical available, don't bring your ass next to the one I am on take your stankin' ass over there somewhere. If I am at the movies I don't like sitting next to anyone unless I am on a date. When talking to me please remain at least 2 feet back (anything inside that, I cant be responsible for because those are just the reflexes that takes over when someone is in my space). If there spots available in a parking lot I wont park my car next to anyone's and they better not park next to me (and its not like I have a fly ride). WHOAAA!!! I may be on "the verge" of having some issues!! LOL! I am sitting here wondering if this is deeper than the surface. If so, oh well!!!

[dpm]

MissAtl: Yes, I beleive you have some issues to be explored. According to DPizM, you are part of the problem. If I ever saw you on public transportation, I'd sit right next to you--all up on you arm. I might even nod to sleep on your shoulder.

[Justin Bieber Shoes]

I thank thee that I am none of the wheels of power but I am one with the living creatures that are crushed by it.