A chilling instance of casual racial profiling has sparked outrage over on Reddit. The video shows an African American man, calmly walking through his own neighborhood after a power outage, being harassed by a mob of white residents who seemed convinced he didn’t belong there solely because of his skin color. The disturbing footage highlights yet another example of the dangers and indignities Black Americans face while simply existing in public spaces.
As the man recorded the confrontation on his phone, several members of the group hurled accusations at him, one claiming that he had “gone up to (his) wife,” while another repeatedly insisted he was acting suspiciously by walking near their homes. The situation quickly escalated into a neighborhood witch hunt, with the mob demanding to know where he lived, and one even saying, “Obviously he doesn’t live here.”
The video captured widespread attention, with Redditors expressing shock and disgust at the blatant racism on display. One commenter summed it up with sarcasm, saying, “Obviously he doesn’t live here… And what makes you so sure, Kyle? Say it out loud.” Another emphasized the sad reality of the situation by noting, “Walking while black,” encapsulating the pervasive danger that African Americans face in similar situations across the country.
The man in the video, wearing nothing more menacing than flip-flops and casual attire, remained calm as the group surrounded him, despite their escalating aggression. “You could hear his damn flip-flops for God’s sake,” noted one user, mocking the absurdity of anyone finding him threatening. Yet, as the comments in the Reddit thread pointed out, his calm demeanor likely saved his life. One observed, “He has to keep his cool. Depending where this is one of those guys might have a gun on them… His only safe option is exactly what he did, despite the huge urge to tell these racists off.”
One particularly unsettling part of the video occurs when a man claims the Black resident “went up to my wife.” This allegation sparked comparisons to the historical use of such lies to justify horrific violence, as someone remarked, “Pretty sure they used that BS line when they beat Emmett Till,” referring to the infamous lynching of the 14-year-old boy in 1955.
What’s perhaps most tragic about the situation is that incidents like this are not isolated. Redditors pointed out similar experiences of racial profiling in their own neighborhoods, with user u/Khatam describing how local NextDoor posts would often target Black and Hispanic residents simply for walking by, with little to no basis beyond their appearance. “It’s always completely useless info,” they noted, mocking the vague descriptions of “Hispanic males” posted by neighbors.
The video is a harrowing reminder of how far America still has to go in confronting its deeply embedded racial biases. As a user aptly put it, “These same people and their families will deny being racist… the punchline being if he was white, you guys wouldn’t be acting like this. Very pathetic. I feel sorry for this guy”.
In the end, this incident, like many before it, highlights the ugly reality of “walking while Black” in America, where even a stroll through one’s own neighborhood can become a potentially dangerous encounter.
