Can a Black Person Be Racist against their Own Race?

Summary

A family's beach day was marred by racial profiling from a black hotel employee who questioned their right to be on a hotel beach, leading to a discussion on whether a black person can be racist towards their own race.

Abstract

The author recounts a personal experience of discrimination where their family, being the only black people on a hotel beach, were challenged by a black hotel employee and security to prove they were guests and not trespassers. Despite being hotel guests, they were treated with suspicion solely based on their race, while white guests were not subjected to the same scrutiny. The situation was eventually rectified by a white hotel employee who recognized them, offering an apology and complimentary services. This incident prompted the author to reflect on the possibility of intra-racial racism and whether a black person can exhibit racism towards members of their own race.

Opinions

The author believes that the black hotel employee's actions were racially motivated and that they would not have been treated the same way if they were white.
The author suggests that the black hotel employee's suspicion of them being locals and not guests was based on the color of their skin and local accents.
The author feels that the treatment they received was a form of racism, as they were degraded and assumed to be trespassers without proper verification.
The author implies that the white hotel employee's actions in recognizing the injustice and compensating for it contrasted sharply with the black employee's discriminatory behavior.
The author reflects on their previous belief of never having experienced racism, now questioning it after this incident involving their own race.

A black man refused my family’s entry because we were black

What started out as a happy family fun day on the beach was the day I felt degraded by my own Caribbean people. This is a day I would never forget. You tell me if this is racist or just rude:

My family were the only black people on the beach and since we were from Montserrat, we had Caribbean accents. It wasn’t a beach open to locals or the public. It was reserved for hotel guests only.

My mother booked a hotel on a neighboring island from where we lived, Antigua. Obviously, their hotel beaches were packed with tourists who happened to be white from all over the world.

A black hotel employee saw us enjoying this beach among all these white people and assumed (just by the color of our skin and local accents), that we were trespassers not hotel guests.

This is an understandable misunderstanding, it was apparently rare for locals to book at this hotel.

What pissed us off though, is that the black employee brought security with him to question us on the beach before asking if were guests. My mother forgot to bring her room key with her to the beach. So we were escorted by the security officer to the hotel concierge to prove she was a guest, not a trespasser.

What was incredulous, is the black concierge didn’t seem to believe we were guests either. Apparently, it was suspected that we had all forgotten our room number and of course, go figure…our IDs were in our room.

Oh, what a nightmare, he kept repeating to us that locals aren’t permitted on the beach. Why didn’t he first take our names to check?

I bet if we were white these black hotel employees wouldn’t have treated us this way. I don’t know if I’m being closed-minded thinking this, but I definitely didn’t see anyone question the white people on the beach the way they did us.

Luckily, someone at the front desk recognized us. That person was so upset we were treated this way, she insisted on gifting us 2 free days and nights with comped meals. We didn’t even have to go up to our rooms for our IDs, she allowed us to continue enjoying the beach and sent us drinks and meals on the house.

But here’s the irony:

The hotel employee who defended us was white.

In my previous story, I mentioned that I have never experienced racism.

After that beach experience, it occurred to me that I may have by my own people.

Black History Month Series Vol 4

Can a Black Person Be Racist against their Own Race?

A black man refused my family’s entry because we were black

Can a black person be racist against their own race?

A Short Bio of who I am

With a topic reading lists of stories I write about

Black History Month Series: From an unconventional 'black' voice

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