This won’t be the most eloquently written post, but I hope you can bear with me. I’m pretty shaken up, but I think it’s important to capture the raw emotions of the moment.
Content Warning: Racism, police brutality, violence against Black people
I’m currently in Starbucks on the W 110th and Broadway with my friend Anna, because we both have some work to do. Because I needed to charge my computer, I moved away from where Anna is sitting to sit close to the electrical outlet. I had my back towards Anna and was facing outside. I had my headphones in, just minding my own business.
Suddenly, I turn around and see Anna arguing with a White man, probably in his 50s or 60s. I still had my headphones in at this point — I first thought they were arguing about personal space, because his computer screen was tilted way towards Anna.
Turns out he was actually upset at the Black lady who was next to him. She was talking on the phone while he was watching a movie on his laptop; he initiated the argument saying that she’s bothering him, and that if she hadn’t bought anything, she can’t just sit here and talk. Because I had my headphones in, I’m not aware of how loud or quiet she was, or how aggressive his approach was. That being said, if she was way too loud or if he was cordial about it, I’m pretty sure that Anna and others around the table wouldn’t have intervened.
I got off the bar stool and approach Anna to ask what’s going on. At this point, the man is calling 911. He goes outside to call. He comes back in, and starts yelling at the Starbucks employees that since she didn’t buy anything, she doesn’t deserve to sit there and talk (Starbucks has put out a statement before that people are allowed to sit at their locations without purchasing anything). He’s clearly aggravated — this is when I take out my phone to record him.
A Starbucks employee comes over and tells me please not to record it, because it could get the employees in trouble. I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but I comply, because I don’t want to put the employees at the risk either. I turn on voice memos.
A Black man who was observing this stands up to stand between the White man and the Black lady to tell him not to behave aggressive towards the Black woman. I worry for his safety at this point, knowing how easily situations become misconstrued at the detriment of a Black man’s life.
When the police arrives, the White man stands up and points at the Black man. He says that the Black man threatened him — at this point, we are all shocked at how he’s twisting the truth. I yell that he didn’t do anything. The police officers notice me and ask what happened. I said that I don’t know exactly what went down because I had my headphones in, but I know for sure that the Black man did not attack the White man, and that he was only trying to intervene and stop the White man from causing a ruckus.
Apparently this isn’t the first time that this White man has behaved like this at this Starbucks. There are now three officers in the Starbucks. The White man points at another White man who seems to be of an European descent (and also the only White person sitting in the vicinity; rest of us were either Black or Asian), and asks him to step out to be a witness. While these two men are outside talking to two South Asian passing police officers, a White police officer comes toward the Black man who intervened in the first place. He asks what’s going on. I walk closer to them, and notice that the White officer has his hands on his taser gun, even though he’s asking the Black man to cooperate. When the police officers were talking to Anna and I, their hands were nowhere near their taser gun or even their belts. The Black man is telling his story, and he seems to have a tendency to move his hands a lot while telling a story – I again become scared that the White police officer may react to his movements in an unnecessarily violent way.
Thankfully the White police officer thanks the Black man and walks away. The White man who was called as a “witness” comes back inside. He quietly says, you know, if someone tells you to be quiet in a public space, you can be quiet. He sounds more like don’t cause trouble. The Black lady hears him and says, if you want to defend him, go with him. I don’t have time for people like you.
The police officers come back in, and says that they need to take down names for witnesses because the White man would like to report for harassment (they recognized that it’s bullshit, but they said they still have to write a report because that’s part of their job). He takes down the names of the Black man, the White man who was called as a witness, Anna’s, and mine. After the police officers leave, the White man is directing his aggression towards the Starbucks employees, asking them when this location closes. The manager tells him something that I can’t hear from afar, and the White man starts packing his stuff. While he’s packing, he takes out his phone to take a photo of the Black man. I talk to a Starbucks employee, a different one than the one who told me to not take videos, and he tells me that he’s not telling me to *not* take a photo. I take a photo of the White man too.
As the White man is heading out, he stops to tell his “witness” that he’s moving to the Starbucks on W 114th. The witness says okay, and returns to whatever he was doing on his computer. He finally leaves, and I turn off my voice memo.
But you know what the funniest thing is?
As I’m finishing up this blog post, which probably took me about 30 minutes so far, the White man has returned back to the location. Did he purchase another drink, since he’s re-entering this space? Of course not. Honestly, I’m just glad that both the Black woman and the Black man are gone by this point, because I don’t want this White man to be aggressive towards them again. I’m also worried about him being aggressive towards Anna, because he’s sitting directly across from her again.
I’m not writing this to deserve a thank you or a pat on the back. I was hardly the one to intervene in the first place — I only got involved when I noticed a commotion that Anna was a part of. That being said, I want people to realize a couple things.
First, this could have taken a very different turn if we were in a space where most of the customers were White, or if we were in a different neighborhood than Columbia University (not that it’s perfect here either). Second, based on conversations we had with other customers who are “regulars” at this Starbucks, the White man who was the aggressor is a “very smart man” who has a MD and a Computer Science degree; apparently he works with technology in hospitals (I’m not exactly sure to what capacity or at which hospital). He also has caused trouble like this multiple times before. This means that no matter how educated you are, it won’t stop someone from engaging in racist behaviors. Lastly, fucking intervene, especially if you are White or non-Black PoC. If you know that you will come across as non-threatening and compliant, use that to your advantage. The police officers took in Anna and I’s words with confidence, probably because we are two East Asian girls who appear non-threatening. There were other East Asians who were just continuing conversations while watching the incident in the corner of their eyes. Contradict that to Black customers and baristas who had to sit in silence because they were rightfully afraid of the consequence of being involved and getting unlucky.
I’m thankful to have a friend like Anna who has such a big heart and who is willing to stand up when she notices something wrong. I’m thankful to have had my phone on me, so I can take voice memos and provide it as an evidence if need be.
In 2019, we’ll be angry. Be fucking angry at injustices and bullshit. Take a fucking stance.
Unapologetic Mess 