Doctoral Student Shares Her Near Ahmaud Arbery, Sean Reed Experience
Speaking from the perspective as a black person, a woman, a Somalian, and a refugee, Roda Osman says black people have earned the right to defend themselves.
WHAT COLOR DEFINES RODA OSMAN?
Black. Black is my favorite color because I consider myself black and so much of my life experiences are wrapped up in my color. My spirit and my joy come from my blackness and I feel like I have such a great insight into my life because of my blackness.
There are layers to my blackness too. I am aesthetically a black person, then on top of racism, there’s the xenophobia I experience. The fact I'm a refugee offends people as well; this country was not supposed to take me in they think. Then, I'm a woman. The only people I don't feel oppressed by are other black women.
But, I choose black. I am so grateful to be black.
Roda Osman is a 29-year-old doctoral student, currently residing in Texas. Months back, she entered a dollar store and experienced what she describes as yet another day being a black person, a Somalian, and a woman.
“I have been living in Texas for over a year and I’ve had the police called on me three times,” Osman tells Palette.
The incident is currently posted on her Instagram page, strewn with both supportive and racist comments from viewers.
Some commenters told Osman she should have known better than to move to Texas — possibly claiming Texas as a bigoted state. Additional comments advanced President Donald Trump’s “build that wall” rhetoric while others shared supportive messages towards Osman.
The issue at hand in the dollar store? Osman was speaking her native language during a phone call with her sister.
“I walked into the store and I was there one minute in an aisle with an elderly white woman,” Osman said. “It was when I got off the phone a manager approached me and told me they received complaints I was swearing in the store.”
As Osman recalls it, the manager stated, “I heard you were using profanity.” Osman was stunned to hear that because she was speaking a completely different language, as she explains. The incident began to escalate as the manager then followed her around the store.
“When I had finished shopping and I approached the line to pay, security walked up to me and told me to leave because, apparently, I was swearing while on the phone,” Osman said.
For her, it was not an unfamiliar feeling. As Osman puts it, the manager and security guard weighed the claim of another individual in the store over her own.
“They were willing to protect this person who had no more rights than me. There should not be a hierarchy,” Osman said.
Eventually, the manager admitted she did not hear Osman use profanity, still, the manager’s demeanor worsened and the situation continued to spiral.
“Because when black people are in the right, that becomes its own problem. [The manager] changed the narrative and made it about me giving an attitude,” Osman said.
This is a prominent issue which Osman describes as being infantilized.
“That was the first layer: I'm not a child, I don't need my attitude managed,” Osman said. “The second layer was when [the manager and security guard] said it was my wish to do whatever I wanted to do after they had falsely accused me of something — this then became gaslighting.”
As Osman explained, black people are the sole race of people expected to deal with bigotry, racism, sexism, and more, in a calm manner.
“The manager and security guard’s expectation was, ‘We are going to harass her until she yells, screams, or more,’ making room for them to react however they saw fit, but, I would have had every right to react that way,” Osman said. “The fact I have to develop this inhuman skill to respond to harassment and abuse in a calming way is such a huge burden.”
Another issue Osman noted is of policing, stating what likely angered the individual who made the report against her was the fact they could not police Osman as she spoke in her native language, therefore stripping that individual from direct agency over her.
“As a black woman, the belief others have is they can bulldoze and harass me, but she couldn’t when I was speaking in my own language,” Osman explained.
As a result, the individual in the dollar store took matters into their own hands.
“The manager and security guard’s expectation was, ‘We are going to harass her until she yells, screams, or more,’ making room for them to react however they saw fit,” Osman said.
On February 23 in Brunswick, Georgia, Ahmaud Arbery — a 25-year-old black man — was fatally shot by a white man.
Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, his son, have been identified as the men involved in his murder by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Travis has been identified as the shooter by GBI.
The McMichaels can be seen approaching Arbery, after following him in their pickup truck, in a viral video of the incident. A third person, identified as neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan by the GBI, filmed the incident. The McMichaels were arrested on May 7, and officials announced Bryan was being investigated on May 8.
Arbery's family members said he was jogging during the incident while the McMichaels said they believed Arbery to have been the culprit of burglaries in the area. The Brunswick News noted one burglary where a handgun was taken from an unlocked truck outside Travis’s house on January 1.
“According to the Glynn County police report, Gregory McMichael armed himself with a .357 Magnum and his son grabbed a shotgun after Gregory saw Arbery ‘hauling ass’ down the street, the police report said,” NBC News reported. “According to the report, a third man — later identified as a neighbor, William Bryan — tried to block Arbery during the pursuit.”
The news of Arbery has dominated headlines and led to a nationwide trending hashtag and movement #IRunWithAhmaud.
The loss of Arbery, and the manner, is one Osman related to.
“As soon as I saw [the news of Arbery], it reminded me of all the times I've been in close call situations like that and that's why I posted [my own experience] because this is what black people deal with all the time,” Osman said.
She continued, “I was so grateful to not have gone to jail or died in the dollar store [situation]. Small transgressions turn into big things quickly and I can see similarities: The fact we never get the benefit of the doubt, the fact we never get a stranger’s support. Anything said about black people is just believed.”
Osman believes the violent reactions to black people trace at a micro-level: The lack of empathy for black people, lack of due process for black people, and the way black people are hyperpoliced and prosecuted.
“Small transgressions turn into big things quickly and I can see similarities,” Osman said.
On May 6, Dreasjon “Sean” Reed — a 21-year-old black man — was fatally shot in Indianapolis, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. Reed live-streamed the entire ordeal on Facebook.
Officers said Reed was driving recklessly, which led to a vehicle then foot pursuit. The live stream video was titled “High-speed chase lol,” though Reed grew nervous throughout the stream, even pleading with viewers to “come get him” at certain parts of the video.
Police Spokesman Chris Bailey stated, at first, the department believed both Reed and the officer fired rounds at one another, according to The Washington Post. Police Chief Randal Taylor said though a gun was found near Reed, which had been fired twice, it was unclear when that would have been, as reported by The New York Times.
After Reed appeared to fall to the ground, more rounds could be heard in the stream. Taylor said 15 shell casings were found at the scene, possibly indicating 13 were sent from the officer, according to NYTimes.
As more officials arrived on the scene, in a separate video of the incident, a detective said, “Looks like it’s going to be a closed casket, homey.”
Similar to the cases of Reed and Arbery, the social response to that of Osman was largely racially split. Black commenters understood Osman’s perspective and cared more for her physical and mental wellbeing, while others appeared to be more inquisitive of the situation.
“[In the cases of Arbery and Reed], all of us black people were collectively mourning, terrified, and sharing in their pain, while I saw white people trying to find excuses for the way the situation unfolded,” Osman said.
It reminded her of the responses she received on the video she posted.
“‘Her voice is too aggressive, or she swears in her IG posts, eight years ago she did this’: But what does that have to do with today,” Osman said. “The way we address black people and white people are not the same.”
In moving forward, Osman believes the only way to progress is to face the issue head-on.
“Westernized racism was created by white people and it’s their responsibility to dismantle it,” Osman said. “I totally get it’s a burden, I know it’s exhausting, I know it’s hard, but — to black people — report all [racist situations]. Tell people about it. Don't let any incident slide.”