We were hanging out late Sunday night/early Monday morning, as you do, and meeting random people who were also up on the last night of con.
As we were chatting casually with strangers, a black dude (not cosplaying, wearing your typical nerd uniform of fandom t-shirt and jeans) walked by, minding his own business, and this white dude (leather jacket, beard) , who was walking up to us to chat shouts out, “Hey! I think I know that guy!”
As we looked at him he continued, “I SHOT AT HIM IN RESIDENT EVIL 5.“
And grinned as if he’d told a stellar joke.
Let’s go over that again - a black man walked by, innocently, and this white guy’s first reaction was “HEY GUYS HE LOOKS LIKE PEOPLE I SHOT AT AND KILLED IN A RACIST VIDEO GAME.”
The guy wasn’t cosplaying. He wasn’t dressed up as a zombie. But his skin color was enough to incite another man to think about/joke about violence.
All this white dude saw was another man’s skin color and his first thought was of joking (haha, j/k, it was just jokezz!) about shooting him, and of killing people who looked like him.
I was so horrified I didn’t know what to say. I should have said something, but at that moment, I honestly was scared for my own safety. All I could do was stare, open-mouthed, shake my head, and without a word, I walked away.
(via khaleesiboadicea)
