Showing Their True Colors

(I’ve known my best friend for about fifteen years now. He likes to pull pranks and do things to annoy me from time to time since I usually have a short fuse and overreact in amusing ways when I’m stressed out. We are walking around the mall. We haven’t been talking for the past few minutes. In front of us is an African-American woman walking and eating ice cream cones with her daughter, clearly having a nice day. My friend notices this. It’s important to note with what happens next that he and I are both Caucasian.)

Friend: *out of nowhere, he turns, looks at me, and screams* “[My Name]?! Was that a BLACK JOKE?! That’s just disgusting and racist!”

(He feigns anger and storms away, hiding inside the nearest storefront to watch what happens next. Needless to say, the lady and her daughter both turn. The lady glares at me.)

Me: *unable to piece together a sentence because I am so embarrassed* “I… it… was a joke.”

Lady: “Well, it’s not funny to make fun of other people because of the color of their skin!”

Me: “No… I mean… my friend was joking.”

(She shot me a look, turned, and walked away. I looked over. My friend was cackling behind the window. I still haven’t come up with a good way to get back at him over that.)

This story is part of our Black Lives Matter roundup!

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