# Living while black in America **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 9, 2018, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611 "2018-07-09T21:17:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/281 "2018-07-15T18:43:15Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > A Donald Trump delegate to the RNC convention, a manger at a CVS store, calls cops on a black woman for trying to use a coupon. > [Coupon dispute prompts white CVS manager to call police on black woman: report | Fox News](http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/07/15/coupon-dispute-prompts-white-cvs-manager-to-call-police-on-black-woman-report.html)? Just because it took me a [minute to find it](https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2018/07/15/cvs-customer-coupon-police/), and it did not appear to be in the story you linked to, here you go. > [@](#): > > The coupon turned out to be legitimate. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/282 "2018-07-16T17:46:07Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > In the tradition of Django Unchanged, if a white person is required to say racist slurs by the script, they must do it while Samuel Jackson glares at them. Does it have to be SLJ, or can he use alternates? Fishburne is pretty good at glaring. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/283 "2018-07-16T18:51:14Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > A Donald Trump delegate to the RNC convention, a manger at a CVS store, calls cops on a black woman for trying to use a coupon. > [Coupon dispute prompts white CVS manager to call police on black woman: report | Fox News](http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/07/15/coupon-dispute-prompts-white-cvs-manager-to-call-police-on-black-woman-report.html)? A coupon for some incontinence products, at that. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/284 "2018-07-17T18:20:23Z")
[Police falsely accuse black students of dining-and-dashing from IHOP.](https://www.theroot.com/police-falsely-accuse-black-students-of-dining-and-dash-1827652438) > [@](#): > > According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the students were stopped by Clayton police earlier this month while walking to a MetroLink stop after their late-night dinner. That was when the students were told that they were being accused of leaving the IHOP restaurant without paying. > > This is where it gets better (and by better, I mean invariably unconscionable). Some of the students presented their receipts to show that they had indeed paid for their meals, nonetheless, the police made them walk all the way back to the restaurant, following them with six squad cars. However, when they reached the restaurant, the manager informed officers that they had the wrong people, and they were not the ones who had left without paying. > > The officers then dismissed them without apology. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/285 "2018-07-17T18:42:13Z")
6 squad cars seems like overkill. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/286 "2018-07-17T22:32:48Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > 6 squad cars seems like overkill. You should see how many 8x10 color glossy photos with pictures and arrows and a paragraph on the back explaining what each one was they took. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/287 "2018-07-17T23:22:36Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > [Police Falsely Accuse Black Students of Dining-and-Dashing from IHOP.](https://www.theroot.com/police-falsely-accuse-black-students-of-dining-and-dash-1827652438) Woo Hoo, my hometown Clayton in the national news! In your _face_, Ladue! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/288 "2018-07-17T23:32:21Z")
_Circles_ and arrows. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/289 "2018-07-17T23:36:47Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Happily the cops arrested the 2 racist women for the May 7th incident; the 2 racist women are now under a restraining order. NowThis compiled footage: [https://twitter.com/TheRickyDavila/status/1017554091063595008](https://twitter.com/TheRickyDavila/status/1017554091063595008) > > Article: [2 White Women Attack Their Latinx Neighbors, Call the Police on Them, and End Up Going to Jail Themselves](https://www.theroot.com/2-white-women-attack-their-latinx-neighbors-call-the-p-1827559735) > > [Tables Turn On White Women Who Called The Cops On Latinx Neighbors Just To Get Arrested Themselves | News | BET](https://www.bet.com/news/national/2018/07/13/tables-turn-on-white-women-who-called-the-cops-on-latinx-neighbo.html) [Heavy.com](http://Heavy.com) dug a little deeper. The perps spent 5 days in jail. They have a court date on Aug 2. The son and brother of the 2 victims praised the police for their handling of the situation. > **[Natasha & Shala Fross: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know](https://heavy.com/news/2018/07/natasha-and-shala-fross/)** > > Sisters Natasha and Shala Fross are charged with a hate crime after they were taped yelling racist insults at a Hispanic family in Commerce City Colorado ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/290 "2018-07-17T23:55:30Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Woo Hoo, my hometown Clayton in the national news! In your _face_, Ladue! Oof. My family stayed at the Sheraton in Clayton not too long ago. I can’t believe after the negative attention on West County in recent years, they haven’t cleaned up their act, at least as far as doing some basic PR damage control of apologizing. SMH ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/291 "2018-07-18T00:09:05Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > You should see how many 8x10 color glossy photos with pictures and arrows and a paragraph on the back explaining what each one was they took. The glamour shots of the pancakes and bacon were pretty well done, I heard. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/292 "2018-07-18T01:06:30Z")
[Pickup basketball game ends when white guy calls the cops on a black guy because of a hard foul.](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cops-called-basketball-game-incident-report_us_5b4e342ee4b0de86f4877b23) ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/293 "2018-07-18T02:06:39Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Oof. My family stayed at the Sheraton in Clayton not too long ago. I can’t believe after the negative attention on West County in recent years, they haven’t cleaned up their act, at least as far as doing some basic PR damage control of apologizing. SMH Hah - as you may know, every suburb is its own little world in St. Louis. City of Clayton (how pretentious is _that_ btw) wouldn’t give two shits about West County PR. I left in ‘88, but from the sound of things it doesn’t appear as though much has changed. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/294 "2018-07-18T12:35:57Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > [Pickup basketball game ends when white guy calls the cops on a black guy because of a hard foul.](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cops-called-basketball-game-incident-report_us_5b4e342ee4b0de86f4877b23) This is ridiculous. There is no law that prohibits calling the police for something stupid? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/295 "2018-07-18T13:52:31Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > [Pickup basketball game ends when white guy calls the cops on a black guy because of a hard foul.](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cops-called-basketball-game-incident-report_us_5b4e342ee4b0de86f4877b23) From the article: “… the exasperated deputy explains that he’d heard there had been a fight, and that this was the first time he had been called to address a basketball foul.” That night: “How was your day, honey? Catch any bad guys?” “No, but I T’d a guy for a flagrant and ran him.” “Huh?” “I just need a beer.” [QUOTE=manson1972] This is ridiculous. There is no law that prohibits calling the police for something stupid? [/QUOTE] Of course there are laws, but getting a conviction would be nearly impossible. How do you prove someone called 911 purely out of spite, or fraudulently? 911 dispatchers get calls from white people complaining about black people doing common things literally every single day. There are several columns about this phenomenon floating around now, but it’s stuff like - I really am not joking here, this is totally what they get calls about - “Black people are parking in front of my house,” or “Black people are jogging on our street,” or “Black people are having a garage sale.” I am completely serious. The 911 dispatch operator HAS TO SEND SOMEONE. 99.999% of the time they must send cops; it’s just not an option not to because if something does happen and someone gets hurt and you didn’t send anyone it’s deep shit. Every jurisdiction has a way of prioritizing calls, of course; “I don’t like the black people playing cards in the park” will get a cop car sent whenever the cops can get around to it, whereas “Someone is shooting” gets cop cars sent at high speed. But they have to come. In the case of BBQ Becky, 911 was called twice; the first time for “Black people are having a barbeque,” the operator assigned it lowest priority and actually the cops never got there for that call. The cop who showed up was responding to the SECOND call, made by someone else over an hour later when BBQ Becky got into a physical confrontation with the campers. The 911 operator just doesn’t have the option of saying “Dude, grow a fucking sack and get back out there, fouls happen.” They have to send the cops, however embarrassing that might be. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/296 "2018-07-18T14:02:58Z")
Yeah, I get that 911 has to send the police. But once they get there, and the guy says “He fouled me too hard!”, it seems like that would be something to prosecute. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/297 "2018-07-18T14:30:29Z")
I can understand that they have to send someone for every call claiming some crime. But why do they have to send someone even when there’s no crime claimed? “Some black people are having a barbecue” shouldn’t require any response at all. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/298 "2018-07-18T15:35:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I can understand that they have to send someone for every call claiming some crime. But why do they have to send someone even when there’s no crime claimed? “Some black people are having a barbecue” shouldn’t require any response at all. BBQ Betty’s complaint was that black people were using a charcoal grill in an area where park rules prohibited charcoal grills. Permit Patty’s official complaint was that the black kid selling water didn’t have a permit (although it sounds like the root cause was that this kid and her mom were being obnoxiously loud, which isn’t exactly a crime). Asshole Adam insisted that a black woman show her ID to prove she was authorized to use the pool, and called the cops when she refused to do so _and_ refused to leave. Starbucks: the two black guys were asked to leave because they weren’t ordering anything, and the cops were called when they refused to leave. -CVS: the black woman was asked to leave because the clerk suspected her coupon was fake, and the called the cops because she refused to leave. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/299 "2018-07-18T20:14:27Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > 911 dispatchers get calls from white people complaining about black people doing common things literally every single day. Cite: [It’s not just “BBQ Becky”: Racist 911 calls are more common than you think - Vox](https://www.vox.com/first-person/2018/5/30/17406092/race-911-white-lady-calls-police-on-black-family-bbq-oakland) Expert discussion: [Why white people keep calling the cops on black Americans - Vox](https://www.vox.com/first-person/2018/5/17/17362100/starbucks-racial-profiling-yale-airbnb-911) ACLU: [How Police Can Stop Being Weaponized by Bias-Motivated 911 Calls | ACLU](https://www.aclu.org/blog/racial-justice/race-and-criminal-justice/how-police-can-stop-being-weaponized-bias-motivated) ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/300 "2018-07-18T20:33:00Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > BBQ Betty’s complaint was that black people were using a charcoal grill in an area where park rules prohibited charcoal grills. According to the article, there is a map that says that that area is off limits to charcoal, but, not only do (white) people use charcoal in that area all the time, there are permanent charcoal grills installed by the park services in those areas. > [@](#): > > Permit Patty’s official complaint was that the black kid selling water didn’t have a permit (although it sounds like the root cause was that this kid and her mom were being obnoxiously loud, which isn’t exactly a crime). True, they didn’t have a permit. Does your (white) neighbor’s kid get a permit before he bangs on your door selling candy for his school fundraiser? > [@](#): > > Asshole Adam insisted that a black woman show her ID to prove she was authorized to use the pool, and called the cops when she refused to do so _and_ refused to leave. If he was asking everyone to show their ID, and she refused, that would be a point. She was singled out for needing to be ID’d, while other (white) people around her were not. > [@](#): > > Starbucks: the two black guys were asked to leave because they weren’t ordering anything, and the cops were called when they refused to leave. They were waiting for the rest of their party to arrive, something that (white) people do all the time. > [@](#): > > -CVS: the black woman was asked to leave because the clerk suspected her coupon was fake, and the called the cops because she refused to leave. The coupon was real. The clerk did not call the police on other (white) people who use real coupons. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611.md?page=16)