I leave home pretty early for work, somewhere between 5:20 and 5:30 am. Anyway I braced myself for the typical AM catcalls before stepping foot out of the door. I made it halfway up the street and hadn’t heard any misogynistic or derogatory remarks and so I thought to myself, “I’ll be okay, so far so good.”
Nope. my optimistic thought immediately vacated as soon as I heard the honk of a horn. The honk came from a black truck who I assumed was only occupied by just the driver alone. I continued to walk further down the street where I came upon the 7-11. I braced myself once again because this 7-11 in particular tends to have an unwelcomed crowd of men just “hanging” out there at odd hours of the night. Anyway I soon realize that the same black truck that honked at me was sitting in the parking lot including not only the driver but three other passengers. GREAT. Next thing I hear is, “Good morning sexy!” Normally I would ignore situations like this because men tend to be bold because they’re in their vehicle, a confined space where they feel safe enough to make unflattering remarks. Ironic. I couldn’t keep walking this time, I was so fed up. I snapped and said, “Shut-up. Just shut the f*** up!”. Silence. They didn’t say anything else to me. I felt good about speaking up for myself but I do wish I didn’t have to go to those lengths to get respect and a peace of mind.
Ever since I snapped a lot of the catcalling I normally experience in the morning and leaving work has declined tremendously. I think the worst part of catcalling, street harassment, etc. is that 98% of the time the perpetrator is a black male. I’m sure I’m not the only one to attest to this. I’m black as well and it just saddens me to know how disrespected the black female is in America, even by her own race.
– Mercedes
Location: Washington, DC
Need support? Call the toll-free National Street Harassment hotline: 855-897-5910
Share your street harassment story for the blog.
See the book 50 Stories about Stopping Street Harassers for ideas.
Lauren says
That is pretty sad. Are there currently any plans or talk about gender relations in the black community and what to do about it’s power imbalance between the sexes? I just wanted to ask because I think it’s really important.