So I got a compliment recently that turned out to be racist? This girl goes:
– You’re really friendly … (a bit of compliment)..
– Not intimidating at all … (a bit wierd and repetitive)
– Not like most black guys … (?? SUPER RACIST ??)
I didn’t know how to respond and I think she could see that on my face because then she patted me on the knee and said “that’s a good thing Mo” just to reassure me I guess. And before you ask, yes she most definitely is.
The annoying part is I knew what she meant. I know what I look like. I wear glasses, I have big front teeth and I kind of look like Mr. Potato Head. I look like the black guy that gets put on all the campus recruitment material. To a lot of people I’m basically diet black – close enough but way less threatening to your health. Diverse but not too diverse.
So anyways, I’m thinking about how to respond to this racist compliment right and part of me wanted to say something really funny and smart. Something like:
Thanks, that was only a little bit racist – just like a lot of white people!
But that’s not what I said. I said part of that. What I actually said was:
Thanks.
That’s it..that’s all I said. Because it didn’t fully click until a few sentences later and at that point it was waaay too late. So I did the next best thing instead. I unfollowed her on Twitter. Really got back at her. She’ll see that she’s under 400 followers and then she’ll definitely put it all together.