Race and Distrust in Whole Foods

Josh and I went to Whole Foods yesterday, and while I was waiting for him to come to some decisions in the tea aisle (he was trying earnestly to replace some tea for Suzanne because he'd consumed all of hers, only he wasn't sure exactly which type of tea it had been), I overheard an interesting exchange. I had my back turned the entire time.

Man: You see a black man coming toward you and you zip up your purse... that's racism. It's ok, but that's racism.
Woman: I did not!

My impression before she spoke was that they knew each other, and that he was teasing a friend. His tone was very mild. I also could not imagine someone feeling threatened in the middle of a crowded grocery store, and futhermore couldn't imagine that someone who did feel so threatened would respond to it by zipping her purse. Grabbing her purse and thrusting it under the outside arm, sure. But zipping it? That's like a nothing response, given that it's probably just as easy to steal an entire purse as it is to reach into a unzipped purse that's sitting inches in front of its owner in order to remove a wallet.

I turned around. Both man and woman were middle aged. The man was standing next to a Whole Foods employee who also happened to be black, and he commented to him that some people are fearful of black men.

I wish that I had seen the offending purse-zip. Because I didn't see it, I have no idea what actually happened. One of the two of them was paranoid. I just don't know which of them it was.

It's sad that we distrust each other so much and live with so much fear in our society. How much human potential gets lost in the racist shuffle? It's depressing. It's additionally depressing that we are so rarely open and honest about it.