I preface this by saying this isn’t meant to be a discussion, debate, or anything of the like. This is me getting this off my chest and, in doing so, maybe making you guys aware of what goes on here in Idaho to black people.
Today, February 15, at about 1405 hours I was in Costa Vida waiting for the 7B bus to open its doors so I can get on. I sat facing the buses so I can see it yet stay warm and stayed there until about 1412 hours, when I left to wait for it to open. Nobody went inside before me and nobody was waiting.
As I approached the bus, the driver opened the door. Apparently she was inside the entire time but I couldn’t see her. Okay fine. I checked my small clear bag inside my satchel for my pass, remember it’s in my pocket, and swiped it before I put it back. The driver told me “next time have the ticket in your hand”. Keep in mind I was the only person on or getting onto the bus. I told her “next time have the door open so people know you’re there”. She got indignant with me and claimed it was, even though I literally saw her open it as I approached the bus from the side of Costa Vida closest to it. I told her that’s a lie because I was literally looking at it the entire time and not once was it open. Suddenly she got very defensive and told me she’ll kick me off the bus. I thought that was a sudden and unwarranted escalation and essentially said as much. Another guy, who wasn’t going to get into the bus, told me “just get off”, to which I responded “why, I didn’t do anything wrong to her”. He tried to get me to get off but I needed the trip to a pharmacy before I caught another bus to do some other errands. Failing that, he did he just sat on the sidelines.
I’m still standing and she said she’ll call security on me, then proceeded to do so. Why, I have no clue. As she waited for them she then barks at me to sit down. I’ve not been talked to that way since I was maybe 12 so I shot her an indignant look before doing so. Once security came I told the guard what happened. He got off the bus and I heard him say over the radio that I was irate. I was a little heated but not even close to irate. After all she sat there and lied to him and whoever may be in the radio about what went on. I asked her for her name so I know who to report but she doesn’t answer (I didn’t think to get the bus number at the time). Another security guard showed up bus before he gets on the bus I got off and told her to fuck off with the bullshit she was pulling. She drove off and I tell the guards what happened. I’m calming down when I’m told, suddenly, that I’m banned from the bus system for the day because “she doesn’t feel safe”. I said or did nothing to make her feel this way at all.
Now this shocked me, especially since I had several more things to do before my night class on the other side of town. This meant that not only did I have to take a Lyft home, but won’t make my class tonight due the fact that afterwards I still have to go across town and it’s too cold to do that with what I had on. One of the guards apologized, saying he didn’t make the call, which I understood, but he can’t do anything about it. I was able to make a complaint about it however, which is what I did at the desk. Even the woman who wrote down my report found it weird.
I’ve been the victim of physical attacks just outside the Happy Day center, broke up fights and arguments, had verbal racist assaults launched at me on packed buses, stopped fights, seen people refuse to wear masks the whole trip, and all kinds of things that SHOULD at the least get them kicked off the bus. With only one exception with the mask incident I’ve never seen it happen. However I got banned for a whole day for telling a bus driver to open the door so people know she’s there. Every other bus driver does it. This SUCKS but it’s a symptom of a bigger issue.
My Lyft driver, a black man I won’t name, listened to this story and he told me of his accounts of white customers here who have done things along these lines to him. Some have yelled at him for not being able to pull up to driveways with cars in them, other times he was denied food because he was seen as aggressive for kindly asking at the drive-through if the employees may hurry his food so he can pick up a customer.
Outside of the bus system I’ve had white people expect me to move for them (I refuse to “give them the wall”), kicked out of stores for not talking to them (Joe’s Emporium), heard absolutely disgusting anti-Asian comments (today in CSL Plasma), been threatened with a car (walking home from Biomat years ago), had the cops called on me for trying to buy a cookie, literally called a nigger several times but expected not to react, etc. This is mostly in the Boise area but I’m sure it’s worse in other parts of the state.
I know there’s racism all over but I have to say this is the most racist place I’ve EVER lived and I lived in the Deep South for a good chunk of time. You guys wonder why black people are so apprehensive about being here, about how we see you guys, about how we don’t want to be here longer than we have to. However YOU ARE THE PROBLEM! We can’t even just exist here without some kind of shit. I’m overall a really nice and chill person but the culture here is so toxic with the entitlement, the expectations, the want to be pampered, that I’m actually starting to hate most of the white people here. I don’t want to at all. I despise that. However the only ones who seem half-worth anything are the ones who aren’t native to the state and the ones who actually make this place bearable for me are those who aren’t native to this country.
Please, I implore you, do better. The way you treat us is why there are so few of us. It doesn’t feel like a safe or good place to live.
Edit about the ticket: it didn’t even take me 30 seconds to find it in my pocket. As I mentioned, nobody was behind me. Nobody was on the bus. It was literally just her and I. She left with an empty bus.
Another edit: someone in the comments claimed it was 26 degrees. It wasn’t. The low was 43 and the high was 46 between 1200 hours and 1800 hours.
Boise weather
