The big experience that helped me develop my double conciousness was going to a sundown town (I didn't know they existed) to get some gas. This was my first trip alone, visiting my friend in North Carolina and I was 18 with a car I had just bought. I had stopped in the evening in a small town in Georgia (I forget the name). I walked in to the clerk and as soon as I walked in, all of the white people stopped talking and just...looked at me. I tried to make a dumb joke, but it was just met with stares. I paid for gas, and the clerk looked at me and said, "If I was you I wouldn't stay here too much longer" and motioned me outside. The sun was starting to dip below the horizon. I still to this day don't know if he meant it as a threat or a warning, the flat tone of voice he said it in instantly had me feeling that something was wrong and I needed to get out of there. I gave him a 20 and told him what pump I was at, and left. I remember shaking and sweating as I was pumping gas, praying for the gas to pump faster. I got to half a tank when all the white men in the store (3 of them excluding the clerk) came out and started talking, all of them watching me. I tried not make eye contact and kept praying. Then another truck pulled into a parking spot next to them. I remember him calling out to his friends, seeming confused that they only gave him a wave, and then he looked at me. His confused expression gave way to another flat stare. As I was about 3/4ths done, the sun kept sinking lower and lower, and the group started walking towards me. If y'all had ever had to deal with a bully, that stare where they are sizing you up, trying to get the measure of you? All 4 men had that same look. I couldn't do it. I put the nozzle back, and I remember shaking as I fumbled for my keys ( the original seller didn't have the fob when I bought it). I finally got my door open and rushed inside, turning on the engine. One of the guys yelled out, "Where you going? We just want to talk with you a bit!" There was no warmth in that statement at all. I was putting my key in the ignition when they started walking faster, and I started my car and remember how my tires squealed as I peeled out of there. I heard a lot of slurs I had never heard before screamed after me as I pulled out of the gas station. It was traumatizing. I remember being too scared to stop at another town, and stopped taking country roads for years. I'm in my mid 20's now, and I still get flashbacks. I'm glad it happened though, for the sole reason that it changed my way of thinking about who I am as a black man in America, and understanding that I'm not alone. I very much had the "fly in the milk" type of experience, and there were important things I learned, but even more important, things I had to unlearn. This channel is so important, and I'm glad that you're speaking truth to power here. Never change ✊🏾
wow thank u for sharing ur story. i'm so sorry you experienced that. this is off topic but u are a really good writer / storyteller i was getting emotional reading that.
Wow……What a experience?! I’m glad you’re safe. To bad you don’t remember the town name where you stopped so that you share it with us. Other’s need to know.🌱 I hope you gave your life to Jesus’. He is soon to disperse his angels to gather together his elect saints into his barn for protection from the terrible Great Tribulation period.🕊🙏🏾
Sista she was in Illinois! Nuff said! ANNA, Illinois, “Ain’t NO N……,,,s Allowed” is an example of just one! Illinois has the 2nd most in the USA! I graduated from college from the 3rd ranked sundown town in the USA! Edwardsville, Illinois!
Exactly. They bleed red too and feel fear. I would never ever fear them. EVER!! I never felt inferior to them in anyway, if anything I feel superior.l to them.
Different somewhat, but I think relevant. I used to work for the food stamp office. For one of the programs, we would send people out to hunt for a job. I worked in a tiny town that was in a state border. Blacks could live there with very little racism...on one side of the state line. Before I knew better, I was going to send a black man over the line to go job hunting. He begged me not to send him. Even in daylight , he told me that the police would stop him and harass him for being black. I listened, and I did not send him there. He got a job on the good side of the line within a month.Side note..I heard that the next nearest town was really bad.
I’m from southeast Texas, almost all adults I’ve met from Vidor whisper when you ask where they are from. lol my manager is from there he’s not too bad but he is kinda obsessed with race.
@@T-Mr.Unknown93 I just saying that they should be proud of the town they come if they are going to create that kind of reputation for themselves. What's the point of it all?
Please take this in the spirit it is given, as one who has little melanin, I wouldn’t dream of going into the city after dark. Not because I’m racist but it’s because I learned from my mistake years ago. Who can go out after dark, anywhere in this country? Why is that?
I used to live in Southern Illinois, and despite knowing the proper pronunciation is Vee-eh,na, people in the area pronounce it as Vai-anna. There is also another town around the area, which I don't know too much about, but I've heard it referred to as a racist acronym. The town is called Anna, which they commonly say means Ain't no N****** Allowed.
@@PushBlack Hatred is part of the Neanderthal's DNA. As the original people we must overstand their ways and win by knowledge of their typical behavior. That's how they got us in our position now. They observed every aspect of our being from slavery til "freedom". Watch them the same way. Use police canners and cb radios. See how they react to certain stimuli. I personally, could release an encyclopedia on recessive people(glass-folk). Keeping this knowledge to myself has its benefits however. You won't need it. Look at the Sahel States of Africa. The recessive race is on the verge of total collapse.
I just read about a lawsuit thats pending rn filed by a white guy in southern California. Apparently, in Palos Verdes, which is a very wealthy area there's a well known group of guys that keep others out of surfing in that area thru intimidation. This is so well known that the guy hired someone to guard his car while he surfed one morning. That still didnt stop them from harrassing him that morning. They tried to attack him on the waves. Now, if a bunch of surfer dudes harrassed and intimidated other white guys what do you think they would do to us if we by chance were driving thru that area one night. Lol
@@PushBlack me too. Unfortunately her family has been there for generations. Definitely not anywhere I would want to be but she moved back to be closer to her family.
lol 😂, I live in black dominated area and I can tell you nobody is not safe after dark. 😂 my (black)wife be saying be home before dark I don’t want nothing happening to my Latino husband.
Come on, you know as well as I do, our people act like we do nothing wrong... WRONG! Our kids ,even older ones act like freaking idiots that perpetuates the stigma that we all pay for.. robberies, fights in restaurants, shootings, beatings.. can you blame the world for that? If we want a better way it's time to act different.
@@derekcash3608 I'm saying it seems like we are the most viewed on the news and it keeps perpetuating the stigma of how we are seen by public at large.
@@ronhively8826 "can you blame the world for that? If we want a better way it's time to act different." Im saying if everyone acts like this, but the news mostly highlights Black actions, then yeah, we can blame the news for that. Its simply White supremacy in action through the media. There are people from every group who act like this and that will never change.
The big experience that helped me develop my double conciousness was going to a sundown town (I didn't know they existed) to get some gas. This was my first trip alone, visiting my friend in North Carolina and I was 18 with a car I had just bought. I had stopped in the evening in a small town in Georgia (I forget the name).
I walked in to the clerk and as soon as I walked in, all of the white people stopped talking and just...looked at me. I tried to make a dumb joke, but it was just met with stares. I paid for gas, and the clerk looked at me and said, "If I was you I wouldn't stay here too much longer" and motioned me outside. The sun was starting to dip below the horizon. I still to this day don't know if he meant it as a threat or a warning, the flat tone of voice he said it in instantly had me feeling that something was wrong and I needed to get out of there. I gave him a 20 and told him what pump I was at, and left.
I remember shaking and sweating as I was pumping gas, praying for the gas to pump faster. I got to half a tank when all the white men in the store (3 of them excluding the clerk) came out and started talking, all of them watching me. I tried not make eye contact and kept praying. Then another truck pulled into a parking spot next to them. I remember him calling out to his friends, seeming confused that they only gave him a wave, and then he looked at me. His confused expression gave way to another flat stare. As I was about 3/4ths done, the sun kept sinking lower and lower, and the group started walking towards me. If y'all had ever had to deal with a bully, that stare where they are sizing you up, trying to get the measure of you? All 4 men had that same look.
I couldn't do it. I put the nozzle back, and I remember shaking as I fumbled for my keys ( the original seller didn't have the fob when I bought it). I finally got my door open and rushed inside, turning on the engine. One of the guys yelled out, "Where you going? We just want to talk with you a bit!" There was no warmth in that statement at all. I was putting my key in the ignition when they started walking faster, and I started my car and remember how my tires squealed as I peeled out of there. I heard a lot of slurs I had never heard before screamed after me as I pulled out of the gas station.
It was traumatizing. I remember being too scared to stop at another town, and stopped taking country roads for years. I'm in my mid 20's now, and I still get flashbacks. I'm glad it happened though, for the sole reason that it changed my way of thinking about who I am as a black man in America, and understanding that I'm not alone.
I very much had the "fly in the milk" type of experience, and there were important things I learned, but even more important, things I had to unlearn.
This channel is so important, and I'm glad that you're speaking truth to power here. Never change ✊🏾
wow thank u for sharing ur story. i'm so sorry you experienced that. this is off topic but u are a really good writer / storyteller i was getting emotional reading that.
Wow……What a experience?! I’m glad you’re safe. To bad you don’t remember the town name where you stopped so that you share it with us. Other’s need to know.🌱
I hope you gave your life to Jesus’. He is soon to disperse his angels to gather together his elect saints into his barn for protection from the terrible Great Tribulation period.🕊🙏🏾
What year was this?
@simplenough It was 2015, I had just graduated High school
@e3e3411 Haha, thanks so much, I like to write short stories and poems every once and a while
They started in Arizona to keep Hispanics out! Then of course we had to be included in the mess! Thanks to them folks for all they do! 🙄🙄🙄🙄
Goes back further than this. It actually started during slavery-1800’s.
Wow, there are many ways racist policies have oppressed many communities. Unfortunately as you mentioned, it doesn't just end with us.
We need a new green book
They never stopped 😐😐. That's why I don't drive at night anymore. And I drive for lyft.
Wow, so sorry to hear that. Definitely a scary world out there especially if you're driving passengers around.
I grew up near Vidor Texas and I approve this message! 😳💯
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us! Others in the comments have expressed the same sentiment.
Sista she was in Illinois! Nuff said! ANNA, Illinois, “Ain’t NO N……,,,s Allowed” is an example of just one! Illinois has the 2nd most in the USA! I graduated from college from the 3rd ranked sundown town in the USA! Edwardsville, Illinois!
Where are the rankings of the towns?
I posted about Anna too. Where are you from? I used to live in Marion.
Very scary for sure! Thanks so much for sharing this with us!
It's 2024, I carry my 2nd amendment everywhere I go. I live in the wisha mufuka woods.
Exactly. They bleed red too and feel fear. I would never ever fear them. EVER!! I never felt inferior to them in anyway, if anything I feel superior.l to them.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this video with us! 🧡
Im honestly surprised that people are shocked that these places exist
Definitely can be an awakening to some who weren't aware of these towns' histories!
Different somewhat, but I think relevant. I used to work for the food stamp office. For one of the programs, we would send people out to hunt for a job. I worked in a tiny town that was in a state border. Blacks could live there with very little racism...on one side of the state line. Before I knew better, I was going to send a black man over the line to go job hunting. He begged me not to send him. Even in daylight , he told me that the police would stop him and harass him for being black. I listened, and I did not send him there. He got a job on the good side of the line within a month.Side note..I heard that the next nearest town was really bad.
Wow. I can only imagine, how bad that was to him. I wonder, what state you was working, at that time?
Wow, thanks so much for sharing that experience with us! That is very harrowing!
@T-Mr.Unknown93 Tennessee but he wouldn't drive to Kentucky.
How can I become a contributing writer and journalist for Push Black?
Start your own journalism channel.
@@virgilstarkwell1535why reinvent the wheel?
Hey there! Get in touch with us here: www.pushblack.org/contact.html 🧡
I’m from southeast Texas, almost all adults I’ve met from Vidor whisper when you ask where they are from. lol my manager is from there he’s not too bad but he is kinda obsessed with race.
Hahaha why do they whisper though? Aren't they proud of their little town lol?
@@RenzelYoung I'm guessing, they don't want people ( Black people) to find out.
@@T-Mr.Unknown93 why not? If they are going to dedicate their useless lives to harming them it's their choice isn't it? 🤷♂️
@@RenzelYoung Actually, it doesn't give them the right to hate or cause harm to someone because, of the color of their skin.
@@T-Mr.Unknown93 I just saying that they should be proud of the town they come if they are going to create that kind of reputation for themselves. What's the point of it all?
Yup, and the media never talks about this at all.😊
Right?! That's one of the reasons we continue to talk about this as these towns still exist!
Please take this in the spirit it is given, as one who has little melanin, I wouldn’t dream of going into the city after dark. Not because I’m racist but it’s because I learned from my mistake years ago. Who can go out after dark, anywhere in this country? Why is that?
You don't go in to the city after dark because you're a coward, plain and simple! 🙀
@@kevintaylor9912
Nope. I just don’t go lookin for trouble.
Perhaps you are. Boo!
That's a great question to ask!
I can tell you there are a lot of places like that in Texas. Vidor and all of the towns around it.
Unfortunately that is the case!
Live in Arkansas, this is 100% factual!!!!
A very scary fact!
Ahmad Arbery !!! You let them folks tell us Racism still not rampant ???
Right?!
This is ridiculous!! I cant believe this is still happening.
Really?
Go to the wrong side of the inner city wearing the wrong color if you think that's bad.
@@FFD2011 In sundown neighborhoods Brown skin is the "wrong color"
@blackpalacemusic point is grown ups have to know their surroundings.
@@blackpalacemusic don't go there with the wrong skin and live. If that's your goal
I used to live in Southern Illinois, and despite knowing the proper pronunciation is Vee-eh,na, people in the area pronounce it as Vai-anna. There is also another town around the area, which I don't know too much about, but I've heard it referred to as a racist acronym. The town is called Anna, which they commonly say means Ain't no N****** Allowed.
How scary - thanks for sharing your experience with us!
VIDEO SHARED 👍
Thanks so much for sharing this video! 🧡
Torrance, CA
Wow, how scary! Thanks for sharing that location with us.
Be cautious in towns called "Anna". Many towns in America were given this name and it stood for Aint No N's Allowed.
So, there's more than 1. That's scary.
Wow, that's very scary. Thanks for sharing!
@@PushBlack Hatred is part of the Neanderthal's DNA. As the original people we must overstand their ways and win by knowledge of their typical behavior. That's how they got us in our position now. They observed every aspect of our being from slavery til "freedom". Watch them the same way. Use police canners and cb radios. See how they react to certain stimuli. I personally, could release an encyclopedia on recessive people(glass-folk). Keeping this knowledge to myself has its benefits however. You won't need it. Look at the Sahel States of Africa. The recessive race is on the verge of total collapse.
Howard Beach, Queens.
RIP Yusef Hawkins.
😔
I don't care I don't want to be around them anyway
Thank you.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us!
@@PushBlack nothing but black to black luv here...for real tho.
I just read about a lawsuit thats pending rn filed by a white guy in southern California. Apparently, in Palos Verdes, which is a very wealthy area there's a well known group of guys that keep others out of surfing in that area thru intimidation. This is so well known that the guy hired someone to guard his car while he surfed one morning. That still didnt stop them from harrassing him that morning. They tried to attack him on the waves. Now, if a bunch of surfer dudes harrassed and intimidated other white guys what do you think they would do to us if we by chance were driving thru that area one night. Lol
That would something to consider! Thanks for sharing that with us! 🧡
Go to Grundy county Tennessee, good luck.
Thank you for sharing!
My friend unfortunately lives there.
We are so sorry to hear that.
@@PushBlack me too. Unfortunately her family has been there for generations. Definitely not anywhere I would want to be but she moved back to be closer to her family.
ATL is just like this! If you ain’t black, best be indoors when the sun goes down. I got experiences to testify.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us on this video!
My cousins are from Vidor, this is true.
Wow. Thanks for sharing your cousin's experience with us. Definitely terrifying.
Locals always know where they are
Indeed they do!
Oh I knew exactly what this was the second I saw the title. My car keeps at least half a tank of gas for this reason
Right?! There's many things we do to keep ourselves safe.
All the more reason for us to leave Amerikkka. 🤷🏿♂️
Definitely understand the sentiments you express!
I haven’t done or seen any studies, but I’d bet my left one they democrats.
@@VictoryHardball This is the nonsense you come up with???
@@shahross8366
Care to “Blacksplain,” how I’m wrong?
I can’t wait for this
@@VictoryHardball Nope, you're not Black, so I have no reason to EXplain anything to you.
lol 😂, I live in black dominated area and I can tell you nobody is not safe after dark. 😂 my (black)wife be saying be home before dark I don’t want nothing happening to my Latino husband.
Definitely understand that!
Exactly like Black neighborhoods at night ,, HUSH
The difference is, it’s not based on race.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this video with us!
This is 2024 we can have our own sundown towns.
Uh, large parts of every major city in the country are no go zones for gliders.
There are “no go” areas in the urban area in the country. Hell black folk can’t go to any event without some fools show up and ruin it.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this video! 🧡
I'm white and I'll go into any neighborhood I want day or night
If you step up?
Make peace with God.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us!
Come on, you know as well as I do, our people act like we do nothing wrong... WRONG! Our kids ,even older ones act like freaking idiots that perpetuates the stigma that we all pay for.. robberies, fights in restaurants, shootings, beatings.. can you blame the world for that? If we want a better way it's time to act different.
"...robberies, fights in restaurants, shootings, beatings..."
White people dont do these things?
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the video with us! 🧡
"...robberies, fights in restaurants, shootings, beatings..."
Are you saying that only Black people do these things?
@@derekcash3608 I'm saying it seems like we are the most viewed on the news and it keeps perpetuating the stigma of how we are seen by public at large.
@@ronhively8826 "can you blame the world for that? If we want a better way it's time to act different."
Im saying if everyone acts like this, but the news mostly highlights Black actions, then yeah, we can blame the news for that. Its simply White supremacy in action through the media. There are people from every group who act like this and that will never change.