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“Miss lady are you lost?”
“No, I know where I’m going but thank you.”
The elderly African American women walks to an empty seat on the U5 bus shaking her head. I am the only white person on the bus. I was the only white person on the metro and from the looks of it I am the only white person for several miles. I am struck every time I leave the red line how much of a white bubble myself and many AU students live in, here in Washington, DC. Being the minority is scary. As much as I would like to say that after giving numerous presentation to the far reaches of the metropolitan area I am fearless walking miles from the metro station to the location being the only white kid but each adventures creates a pit of fear that maybe this is the adventure something happens. But instead I learned life lessons that I will remember for the rest of my life. 1. Attitude is everything.
When the first thing I think of when I woke up in the morning was how much I was dreeding making the 45 minute commute to the office and then an addition hour of commuting to and from a presentation doesn’t really put you in the best of moods. I carried that dread with me all day and it showed in my presentations. Dreed = half ass presentation. On the other hand if I woke up excited about meeting a new group of kids it put me in a much better mood. Excited = alert presentation.
2. Fake it till you make it.
Pretending like you know where you’re going will help to avoid the “friendly” men to give you directions. First presentation I did I got off two bus stops early, so when I stepped off I was not standing in front of 53rd street where I needed to be. A young man clued into this and asked me where I needed to be and processed to walk me all the way to the Recreation Center. He asked me if I was married, no, then if I had a boyfriend, no, then asked from my number. Without asking my name or anything else. When I called him on it he just laughed and asked for the number again and followed my into the Rec Center…from then on I made sure to ask only metro employees for directions and pretend that I know exactly where I’m going. I walk with purpose. I carry my head high. Even when I am walking in the wrong direction I duck into a store pretending like that is exactly where I was going.
3. Keep your phone fully charged.
Smoke signals can only be seen from so far away. Telepathy seems to escape me. So thus if anything were to happen A CELL PHONE WOULD ALLOW YOU TO CALL 911.
4. Smile.
It confuses people. You might be scared. Your inners might be sinking with panic. But if you smile the people around you have no choice but to smile back. Being the only white kid for a good ten miles holding my head high and smiling makes every put their head down as they walk by me (although they might also just be mumbling under the breath about the crazy little white girl). BUT smiling can also help you to mask your own fear until you believe in yourself, too.
Tomorrow I am finnishing off my internship with a bang, Anacostia. Words can not describe how happy I am that my trecks to Southeast will soon be over. While each presentation has had different group dynamics and I have gotten a chance to explore parts of DC I would never set foot in, I am glad to be done with it.
Bridget O'Connell, 
areyouserious, 
truth, and 6 others are discussing.
evanw 1:38 am on August 17, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
As a “white” person working in SE I find your article to be insulting. As a resident of DC I found your article insulting. As a non profit professional I find your article insulting. Your article reeks of close-mindedness.
Marianne Johnson 4:09 am on August 17, 2011 Permalink
Can I ask what insulted you as a person working SE, a resident of DC and as a non profit professional? I admit the fact that I live in a bubble of white in the NW and my experience in SE opened my eyes to how sheltered I have been. I apologize that my thoughts and experience insulted you.
wcl2012 6:00 pm on August 17, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I’m horrified by this blog post.
mladd 7:11 pm on August 17, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I think evanw is insulted as both a “white” person working in SE and as a non-profit professional because you just wrote a blog post about how you constantly fear for your safety because your skin color is not the same as the majority of the people around you. I don’t want to assume who Evan’s employer is, but it may very well be a non-profit directed at helping these people who instill a sense of dread in you every time you are near them. It may also help to point out that no matter where you are, you will most likely come into contact with men who harass women. These men can be of any race or background, and aren’t specific to Anacostia. I think you should have chosen your words more carefully before posting this article, and perhaps focused on the state of our nation’s capitol as a whole, and not just on the fact that African-American people and other minorities live there and it scares you. You may want to consider why there are so many African-American people living in a place wrought with poverty, and question the society you live in, instead of being glad you never have to set foot there again.
comradeparrotta 7:51 pm on August 17, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Oh you poor little thing! A sweet lily white victim forced to be subjected to the uncontrollable aggression and unrestrained, insatiable sexual prowess of the savage black man! All while carrying that enormous burden of white privilege on your weary shoulders! At least you got to open your eyes to the big wide world of poor people so you can be confident that you are a compassionate and worldly person before snuggling into your comfy bed in upper Northwest.
Belch.
Princess, I lived in Anacostia for a great deal of my freshman year at AU and never once did someone think that I was lost. Why? Probably because I didn’t go around looking at everyone like they were in some kind of poor minority zoo while I skipped along pretending like I’m making a difference in the world. It’s real funny how when you look at people like they’re people even though, gasp, their daddies couldn’t even send them to an elite private school, they kind of respect you. But you don’t need to learn that lesson, it’s not like you’ll ever *actually* need to interact with poor people.
Just keep smiling. All you have to do is watch everyone else struggle. And they’re not confused, they just think you’re nuts.
jeffmindell 8:14 pm on August 17, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I’m confused as to why you would post something like this? You do release that you name is attached to this, correct?
-Jeff Mindell, co 2011
jeffmindell 8:15 pm on August 17, 2011 Permalink
& yes I realize that I didn’t correctly spell realize.
truth 9:18 pm on August 18, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
As a caucasian person I am shaking my head along with the “elderly African American” (which the use of the term “African American” is inappropriate unless you know the woman was in fact from Africa – but whatever you obviously have bigger issues to deal with).
This whole article is disgusting. I’ve been trying to find a way to communicate with you how wrong this whole idea of you having ‘minority problems’ is but I think it’d be better if I just asked you questions.
Do you understand that the white race has it the easiest related to minority issues? Issues in schools, workplaces, etc. To say that it’s hard for you to be a minority by going on a bus being the only white person seems insanely ignorant and is. Also, why do you have an issue being around black people? Could you state that please? I honestly feel the same around black people as I do white people as I do any type of race. And what the hell is “dreed”?
areyouserious 12:37 am on August 19, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Marianne, you can and you did ask, so I will tell you what is offensive about this post. You claim that “attitude is everything” and imply that the fact that you walk “fearlessly” down the street is the reason you have not had to CALL 911. You mentioned to Evan above, “my experience in SE opened my eyes to how sheltered I have been”. Really? If your eyes were open, you would not have posted this. Please consider the way your words reflect upon not only yourself but the University who hosts this blog and the other students and interns that you study and work with. What you don’t realize is that what saved you from an “adventure” when “something happens” was not your “attitude”. Have you ever considered that maybe you were wrong to be afraid in the first place? My issue with your post is that you say your eyes are open but you attribute the fact that nothing ‘bad’ happened to you to YOURSELF, implying that in fact your attitude towards people in Southeast hasn’t changed at all. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with being reasonably aware of your surroundings and cautious in a place you’re not familiar with but sweetheart, that goes for ANYWHERE. All 4 wards of this city and all 50 states. I second mladd’s post – it is possible for you to get mugged, raped, or ::GASP:: asked for your number on AU’s campus, just like yes, it is possible in Southeast.
Bridget O'Connell 4:51 pm on August 31, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
The Career Center designed this blog to enable students to reflect on and learn from their own and others’ internship experiences. The views expressed in Marianne’s blog are her own, and we believe that members of the AU community should be free to debate them, as demonstrated by the comments above. This post has sparked impassioned discussions about important issues that often stay uncomfortably hidden. Our vision for the intern blog is that it remains a platform for dialogue and learning, in this case about assumptions, responsibility, and the power of words through social media.