I Encountered a White Vigilante at Lowe’s

Photo by Petrebels on Unsplash

As Black Americans, we take racist attacks personally. First of all, we are the keepers of our brothers and sisters, and we don’t want to see anything bad happen to any of us. If someone like Kyle Rittenhouse or George Zimmerman gets away with taking it upon themselves to police Black people or Black spaces (Black Lives Matter) protests, and commits murder, then gets away with it by the court of law, it impacts all of us. If it can happen to one Black person, it can happen to any of us. None of us are safe.

Fear is instilled, but that is the point.

It’s easy to say I’m being dramatic, but I’m not.

So, let me recount what happened to my sister and I yesterday in the Lowe’s parking lot.

While my sister was backing out of her parking space, she accidentally bumped the car parked behind her. Before she could maneuver back into her space, an old white man who was leaving Lowe’s with his wife, started flagging his hand. He pointed at her and said, “you hit that car.” His wife stood behind him, and there was something like apprehension on her face.

Naturally, my sister and I assumed it was his car. Let me be clear on something, neither my sister or I hit cars and run. A few months ago, I scratched a car parked beside me while backing out at my job. I informed my supervisor and…