WARNING: BLACK PEOPLE IN BROOKLYN!

Since moving to Park Slope, I’ve joined a few neighborhood parent Yahoo groups. It’s interesting to read what all these different people post and it says a lot about the neighborhood I live in.

The following is a well intentioned alert about an “African American” wondering around in the park who was “looking at people with a menacing face and the passing them by.”
She ended up calling the police on the dude and sending out this group post.

(NAMES WERE REMOVED TO PROTECT THE NAÏVE)

“I wanted to let people know that twice in the last week in the North Slope my husband and I spotted a strange-looking man. The first time was last Wed., the day the Darfur camp was being set up, around 6:30 PM in Long Meadow. A 30-35 year old African American male, 6'2" or 6'3" in a black sweatshirt with a hood and matching black sweatpants was wandering around the meadow very slowly, seemingly on drugs, looking at people with a menacing face and then passing them by. (There were other people there at that time who may have seen him and may be on this list. Tonight around 7:30 PM the same man was on President St. between 8th and PPW, walking down the street very slowly. When I came his way with my daughter he turned, faced me and began to approach. I turned around and went around the corner, my husband came and we called the cops. In the meantime, another woman also started to go down President St. and was so frightened she called her boyfriend to come meet her. By the time the police came, he had wandered off the block (toward the park). I don't have any faith that they found him, even though he moves slowly, but wanted people to be aware in the north part of the park and on the surrounding streets. He is recognizable by the black jogging suit, very gaunt cheeks, shaved or very short hair, slow gait and intense expression. Use caution. - ***, mother of a 1-yr-old”



Since this was posted there have been a couple of encouraging responses like, “It’s not illegal to walk around in the city and make faces at people…” and “I think that we in Brooklyn have so much potential to model good, inclusive citizenship that provides for us to question why we have ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ people.”

That last quote comes from a lady who included a story about her crazy-ass neighbor coming to her aid one evening.

What really worries me is that I didn’t really think too much about her warning the first time I read it. I should have been the first one to post a smartass comment about it. I’ve been living in the San Antonio barrio for the past six years, a place where drug dealers, pimps and prostitutes walk openly down the street.

Have I been mugged yet? Indeed.