arlier this year, I was riding a rented bike through a neighborhood in Alameda, California, while visiting my children at their other mother’s home. They have lived there for three years and I visit frequently, often several times a week.
This time, a white woman stopped me and asked if I lived there.
I responded no, and asked if she lived there. I asked whether she knew all the people who lived in the area and whether she would have stopped me if I was white.
She did not respond. But I think I know the answer.
Lately, the news has been full of stories like these. It’s all too common for black people like me to draw unwanted attention.