Kenyan Reporter on Racism in the US

Isaiah Maghanga, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Kenyan journalist Larry Madowo has written about his experiences with racism in the US for BBC: What it’s like to be an African in the US.

The opening paragraphs are both attention-grabbing and telling:

In my first week in New York City last summer, I was invited to dinner at a friend’s penthouse on the wealthy Upper West Side.

I picked up some fruit for her and arrived at her building carrying a plastic bag.

The front desk sent me through an open courtyard to the back of the building, past residents’ garbage bags and into a surprisingly dirty lift.

When I got off upstairs, my host opened the door mortified, all the colour drained from her face.

“My racist doorman thought you’re a delivery guy and made you use the service elevator,” she explained as she apologised.

***

That early micro-aggression forewarned me that America may be the land of opportunity for many, but it would still reduce me to the colour of my skin and find me unworthy.

-KitJ