<\/p>\n
Every non-white and\/or queer person in America has been in Leota Adebayo\u2019s shoes at various times, walking down a street in an unfamiliar place, minding their business and expecting nothing more than to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air.<\/p>\n
If, by chance, they encounter one of the locals, as Adebayo (played by Danielle Brooks<\/a>) does at the end of the most recent \u201cPeacemaker<\/a>\u201d episode, they might wave and smile, partly to reassure the stranger that they mean no harm.<\/p>\n Seven out of ten times, that person returns that smile or does nothing. In a hypothetical eighth instance, they may do what the woman driving by Adebayo does in the episode, which is portentously titled \u201cIgnorance Is Chris\u201d: the passerby might respond with a look of shock or possibly outright malice.<\/p>\n The ninth theoretic instance is harder to shake. Maybe the neighborhood watch confronts you, demanding to know what you\u2019re doing on their sidewalks. Maybe they menace you by driving slowly next to you as you\u2019re walking. Maybe they call the local cops to do that for them.<\/p>\n Tenth time cases make national news. Occasionally. They\u2019re why we know the names of Sandra Bland<\/a>, Trayvon Martin<\/a> and Ahmaud Arbery<\/a>, people driving, walking, or jogging through places their residents would designate as safe, nice places to live. Just not for people who don\u2019t look like them.<\/p>\n