- When walking in Kingston, Cadogan feels free as he is able to know where he is going and doesn’t feel threatened, even though there is an extremely high crime rate. He isn’t personally targeted for anything in particular when he is there, and he knows familiar faces as he goes on his walks. When he’s in New Orleans, he was immediately considered a threat. He “tried to help a man whose wheelchair was stuck in the middle of a crosswalk; [the man] threatened to shoot [him] in the face, then asked a white pedestrian for help” (7). He was studying in New Orleans, and was treated as a threat by nearly everyone he passed. The same happened in New York, as he was racially profiled by numerous police officers and pedestrians. He felt on edge, as if he was doing something wrong by simply going for a harmless walk.
- I have placed quite a few rules on myself while I am walking around campus or my hometown with my safety in mind. I never leave my room without my pepper spray, I typically wear clothing that is not revealing in the slightest, and I am hypervigilant of my surroundings. If I need to walk to my car, or to the forum in the dark, I always make sure to bring one of my guy friends with me, or I am on the phone with somebody at a low volume. I connect with Cadogans feeling of uncertainty and uneasiness as he walks around the different cities. I never feel as though people are considering me a threat; however, I feel like I am the one to potentially be threatened, due to the fact that I am a young woman.
- When I was a freshman in high school, I had to dress up for a volleyball game. My sister and I went to get gas at the gas station early in the morning, and I was catcalled by a middle aged man as I was getting ready to get back in the car. This has happened a few times while walking around other cities like New York, New Haven, or Hartford, but this was the firsty timwe that it had happened to me in my hometown. I was thirteen at the time. I kept my head down, my mouth shut, coursed my arms over my chest and got back in the car, while immediately locking the doors. My sister and I never talked about it after that, as it had made both of us feel unsafe and scared of our town.
- Cadogans narrative shows just how prevalent racism in America still is, and how people need to start making the active decision to do better. His first-person account and experiences allow there to be a personal connection to this piece, as it shows the reader that this is happening to a genuinely harmless human being. By having such a wide variety of different places and experiences within those places, Cadogan shows the reader how these events happen everywhere, and allows them to want to make change.
