microaggressions

I was standing in the back of a line when the white man in front of me turns all the way around to stare, ignoring his friend. i get out my book & hide my face with it. i can tell he's about to say something racist & as the kids say "I can't even".

he says really loudly "why are you reading THAT book?" but the tone is "why is a black woman reading that book?".i frown. unfortunately I need to stand in this line or I would have just walked away. i was not there to entertain him or be his dancing monkey. I explained why I was reading that book & he asked the question again. i asked "why would I not read this book?" & that shut him up. his girlfriend arrived later & then I realized why he would turn all the way around to bother me.