There’s nothing wrong with working out and trying to keep fit. It’s absolutely normal to put on your gym clothes and go jog on the street alone, isn’t it?
Well, it appears that some people are viewed with suspicion when they do so, especially when they’re black.
Like Ahmaud Arbery, who was killed a couple of months ago while he was out jogging. It seems that Arbery was chased down by two men who allegedly thought he matched the description of the suspect for some local break-ins and was then killed by them for no apparent reason.
After the tragic incident, it was only normal that black joggers would be hesitant about returning on the street practicing their favorite exercise for fear of being assaulted.
One of those people is Augustus Turner, former EMT, licensed attorney, and active duty Army Officer for nine years. Turner just likes jogging and he has been doing so alone for ten years.
During all this time, he has considered jogging to be a pretty safe kind of exercise, while his wife, Michelle, has always been more cautious.
“For nearly ten years, Michelle Yeager Turner cautioned me about how I appear when I jog alone. She will not even let me out of the house unless I wear enough colorful and “innocent” clothing so as not to appear suspicious or threatening when I jog,” Turner wrote in a recent Facebook post.
It seems that his wife has always considered his jogging alone could get him in trouble, only because of his skin color. And, in light of the recent incident, she could be right.
Turner wrote a post for Facebook the other day, explaining that his appearance alone should not be enough for someone to accuse him of any crime or even worse kill him.
The man admitted that his built and the fact that, as a soldier, he has to move from place to place every few years, thus not being a familiar face in the neighborhood where he jogs, could look threatening to some but it shouldn’t.
“I am a good person! Why would somebody shoot me just because I am black and unfamiliar?”
The man goes on to refer to his studies and voluntary work he has done over the years in order to get where he is today, while he explains he is proud of having helped more than 60 sexual assault victims in his career so far as an attorney. So, apparently, he is a good person, right?
For those who only judge others by skin color, obviously not. They have no idea who this man is or what this man’s story is and they don’t want to know really.
It seems that the fact that he’s black is the only thing they can see- and it’s enough for them to hate him.
“If I frighten the wrong white person, or match the description of a threatening person… I become no different from Ahumaud Arbery,” he went on to write.
So, when his wife asks him to wear colorful clothes that look “as innocent as possible”, unfortunately, she’s right.
This man, and every other man like him, shouldn’t live with the fear of being assaulted. Racial hate and hate crimes should not be a thing in modern societies. So let’s hear this man out and think where we stand. Because we certainly don’t need any more murders and our world could use a little more tolerance and love.
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