I have chosen a video on how the white origins of running has made it dangerous for people of color to run. It has been clear that running has been difficult for many people including women and people of color. The problem is that people are more open to talk about the dangers women face while running, but not the dangers that people of color face. A historian and author of the name, Natalia Melhman Petrzela, talks about the background on running and how it affects the black community of runners. She believes that the culture behind running is at fault. Running was something that mainly white people used to do. There was even a time when the most popular hot spot for it was Oregon, which is where black people were barred from living there. During the late 70’s and early 80’s, runners were people that had leisure time, had enough money to buy things. People of color struggled with these things. The central park five case was highlighted in this video. This case involved a white woman that was running in central park and was raped and assaulted. She accused five teen boys of color of committing the horrid crimes even though they didn’t. This case was talked about by many, and people wanted to see these boys going down for a crime they didn’t commit. Usually, the average white women would be cast as a vulnerable runner. Meanwhile, people don’t talk about the dangers people of color face and instead pinpoint them as the danger.
I agree with the views this video has. Everyone should have the luxury to go out and run without being attacked or accused of something they didn’t do. It’s much harder for people of color and it will keep on being an issue unless people address the mistreatment that they are given. This reminded me a lot of Ahmaud Arbery. He was running peacefully through a neighborhood and was then killed for no reason at all except for the matter of fact that he was black. How are people supposed to lose the fear of running and being active if this could happen to them? One of those people that killed him used to be a police officer. My belief hasn’t changed. This video has just proven my point even further.
I agree with you completely because the Ahmaud Arbery case popped into my head before you even said it. It is also very sad that there are many more cases of this happening that have never been reported to the mainstream news. While this case doesn’t relate completely, one of the first major cases with this kind of example is the Emmett Till case, in which he was just standing in a store at the wrong time and got accused of raping a white woman. He viciously lost his life at 14 over a lie. I think the dangers POC face running stem from the fact that POC face danger every time they are outside; whether it be from society or police enforcement. As seen in the Emmett Till, Ahmaud Arbery and the Central Park Five cases, one can tell that all it takes for a POC is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.