A friend of mine is a Black man with a Good Job. He ended up allowing a couple White people to move in five years ago because they needed a place to stay and a break from the awfulness that is capitalism.
During these years, he covered the bills. He paid rent and utilities, they covered food costs. He rationalized it because he was in a better financial situation.
He asked them to leave before Christmas this year. They immediately grew aggressive. They decided to engage in The Dangerous Black Man trope, claiming they suddenly felt unsafe with him. They told him they would be out by the end of January.
It is now March. They’re still house hunting — they aren’t moving out into another apartment. They’re buying a house. By the time they find one, put a down payment in, wait out the escrow, and close, it’ll be at least another 30 days. In a house they claim they feel unsafe in, because my friend, who has financially supported them for five years asked them to leave.
They’re so sure that they’re in the right, that my friend is the bad guy.
My friend is so sure he doesn’t want to throw them out on their asses, despite the way they take advantage of him. We sit there and send messages back and forth about the entitlement, about the Dangerous Black Man trope, about the way allegations like this are how bodies like his get fished out of rivers or shot in the street.
We talk about the entitlement of White people, that they profited from the labor of a Black man for five years, the way their slaveowner ancestors did before them, and they did this with no shame, and they continue to do this, despite being asked to leave, with no shame, no fear, and refuse to see the racism behind it. They call themselves allies, even.
They’re still in his home.
He’s still avoiding his home, locking himself in his room, or staying with friends. Avoiding his own space for fear of being set up for murder or incarceration for having the audacity to be kind to White people.
When people ask why BIPOC mistrust White folks, why so many of us are cautious and careful, this is why, because the shamelessness with which so many will take advantage of us, even after years is shocking.
We’re all so tired.
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