Running while Black

Racial profiling of runners of color

Running while Black is a sardonic description of racial profiling experienced by Black runners in the United States^[1] and Canada.^[2] In the United States, jogging gained popularity after World War II, and has largely been portrayed by American media as an activity typically engaged in by white people; joggers of color are treated with suspicion.^[3] Black runners report taking precautions such as wearing bright colors to appear non-threatening, avoiding running outside of daylight hours, running in groups for safety, and avoiding running fast enough to appear to be "running away from something."^[4]

In 2021, Lyndsey Hornbuckle found that the issue was particularly common when Black people were running in white neighborhoods, and especially higher socioeconomic white neighborhoods.^[5]

Sonia Sanchez's 1968 play The Bronx is Next includes a scene in which a white police officer arrests a Black person for running while Black.^[6] The 2001 US Supreme Court case Illinois v. Wardlow, which upheld the legality of a police search of a person based on the person running from police, has been described by civil libertarians as creating a new criminal offense of "running while black."^[7]^[8] Examples of racial incidents due to "running while Black" also include the 2015 death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore,^[9]^[10]^[11] the 2015 arrest of Jimmy Thoronka in London,^[12] a 2019 incident in Vancouver, Canada,^[13] and the 2020 murder of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, U.S.^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17]

References

^ Streeter, Kurt (18 May 2020). "Running While Black: Our Readers Respond". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
^ "Sprinter Sam Effah on running while Black". Canadian Running Magazine. 5 June 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
^ Demby, Gene; Michael, Nick (18 July 2020). "VIDEO: How Running's White Origins Led To The Dangers Of 'Running While Black'". NPR. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
^ Karimi, Faith (27 February 2021). "For Black runners, every stride comes with a fear they can't outrun". CNN. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
^ Hornbuckle, Lyndsey (1 June 2021). "Running while Black: A distinctive safety concern and barrier to exercise in White neighborhoods". Preventive Medicine Reports. 22: 101378. doi:10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101378. ISSN 2211-3355. PMC 8105660. PMID 33996391.
^ La Donna Forsgren (2018). "Chapter 3. 'Armed Prophet': Sonia Sanchez and the Weapon of Words." In Search of Our Warrior Mothers: Women Dramatists of the Black Arts Movement. Northwestern University Press. ISBN 9780810136953.
^ Vaughans, Kirkland C.; Spielberg, Warren (30 June 2014). The Psychology of Black Boys and Adolescents [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 342. ISBN 978-0-313-38199-7.
^ Engel, Robin S. (15 March 2010). Race, Ethnicity, and Policing: New and Essential Readings. NYU Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-8147-7616-2.
^ Stolberg, Sheryl Gay; Nixon, Ron (22 April 2015). "Freddie Gray in Baltimore: Another City, Another Death in the Public Eye". The New York Times.
^ "Justice Dept. Opens Baltimore police probe; 1K protest". Associated Press. 22 April 2015.
^ Alexander, Keith L. (25 July 2015). "Representing Freddie Gray's family: A venerable lawyer in cases involving race, police and death". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
^ "From top sprinter to homeless in London – what happened next to Jimmy Thoronka?". The Guardian. 19 May 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
^ "Running while black: Vancouver police say no racial profiling in stopping man rushing to SkyTrain station". 11 June 2019.
^ Futterman, Matthew; Minsberg, Talya (8 May 2020). "After a Killing, 'Running While Black' Stirs Even More Anxiety". The New York Times.
^ "Running While Black: Ahmaud Arbery's Death Highlights Shared Fears Of Racial Profiling". www.wbur.org. 11 May 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
^ Beauchamp, Zack (8 May 2020). "Ahmaud Arbery and the dangers of running while black". Vox. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
^ "'Why is this black guy running?': After Ahmaud Arbery's killing, African Americans reconsider fitness routines". NBC News. 15 May 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.

Dragan Milovanovic, Katheryn Russell-Brown (2001). Petit Apartheid in the U.S. Criminal Justice System. Carolina Academic Press. ISBN 9780890899519.
Ray, Rashawn (1 August 2017). "Black people don't exercise in my neighborhood: Perceived racial composition and leisure-time physical activity among middle class blacks and whites". Social Science Research. 66: 42–57. doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2017.03.008. ISSN 0049-089X. PMID 28705363.
Johnson, Demarquin (2018). "Running While Black". Harvard Journal of African American Public Policy: 7–10. ProQuest 2187897381.

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