How often have you spread your legs onto the empty seat next to you on a train or on a plane? Dozens of times probably. Anyone complained? No, not if you are White. But if you're Black, you are told to "correct how you are sitting" because "you're not a minority anymore". A RosaParksian situation!
This is at the heart of the hatred that Donald Trump has uncorked in America. Despite several generations since the Emancipation, White America remains a bastion of ugly and stupid racism. I myself, when a student, rented different apartments at different times across the US. In three of them, the shock of racism hit me like a bolt of lightning.
In one, my wife and I rented the upstairs apartment from an old Hungarian immigrant Catholic couple who asked us first what our religions were, and when satisfied, they immediately told us expressly, "we hope you don't have Black friends because we don't want you to bring them home". But, unfortunately for the couple, we became friends with an African American opera singer who spoke several languages, and he often came over without any problems. That was in the Midwest.
Then in New England, we rented the upstairs apartment from a post-Soviet Russian Jewish couple who, as they drove us to shown us around town, expressly told us, "we don't like Black people".
And in another downstairs apartment in New England, which we rented from an old Italian Catholic couple, the message again was, "do not bring Black people here".
All three couples were otherwise very kind and sweet. We often had sweetheart arrangements with them, like removing snow, mowing the lawn, and otherwise watching the house when they went to Florida for the winter, in exchange for a discount on the rent.
Racism was always there, but lurking beneath the surface. But Trump has opened the floodgates and now racism is shamefully paraded as something to be proud of.
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‘The Bear’ Writer: I Was Cuffed on Train After ‘Old White Lady’ Complained About My Posture
Annie Bang
Mon, September 22, 2025
Amy Sussman / Amy Sussman/Getty Images for WGAW
An award-winning screenwriter behind the hit drama series The Bear claimed he was arrested after an “old white lady” complained about how he was sitting.
Alex O’Keefe said he was handcuffed and arrested while on a Metro-North train to Connecticut Thursday after a “Karen” pointed at him and told him to correct his sitting posture. O’Keefe said he refused, prompting the woman to complain to the conductor, who called authorities.
“While waiting for the police to arrive, the old Karen’s friend said ‘You’re not the minority anymore,’” O’Keefe, who is Black, wrote on Instagram.
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dotgov
I was arrested on the @MTA train to Connecticut today, pulled off, handcuffed, and detained. An old white woman got on the train and immediately pointed at me and told me to correct how I was sitting. I refused so she went to the conductor and complained. The conductor called the police and stopped the train. While waiting for the police to arrive, the old Karen’s friend said “You’re not the minority anymore.” The police told me to leave the train, I refused and asked what was I doing illegally. They said I was disturbing the peace by not leaving the train. They pulled me off the train and arrested me without even talking to the Karen who reported the one black person on the train. On the platform, the police detained me and interrogated me. Only black folks stayed nearby and recorded the arrest. When I demanded a lawyer and reminded them they didn’t even take a statement from the woman who complained they eventually released me. This country is growing more psycho by the day. What will you do about it?
m0thb4lls
the MTAPD officers name and badge numbers in this video are:
CHORLEV #2415
DISANZA #3208
gregfromvideo1
Hi Alex. I positively identified the elderly man and elderly woman in your video. I sent you the info / documentation via the 'contact' form on your website. I'm disgusted by the fact that this happened to you. The other passengers, the conductor, the cops... they all should have shut that woman down. Instead they acted as her weapons, her co-conspirators, her enablers.
avatarsid 4d
It’s on site for granny
screenslate 4d
"Correct how you are sitting” is insane.
crumbledbakery 2d
I live in CT. Would love to make some noise about this with local politicians. MTA should be held accountable. I would love to know - were these NY police or CT? State or for a local municipality.
aedansmama 12h
I read in an article that you had your feet on the seat and refused to remove them. Did the conductor ask you to move them, or only the lady? And if the conductor asked you to move them, did you? They don’t allow feet on seats anywhere on the train, and will ask you to remove them if they see you with your feet up. This wasn’t handled correctly, and I have no doubt this woman was singling you out, but also if you didn’t comply with the conductor’s instructions, they will have you removed from the train. Can you clarify what happened?
brizzyd21 3d
Bro you are about to be rich! Sue the train company and police for violating your rights
mujer.de.epazote 4d
@mta how will you ensure Black riders are safe from racism on your trains????
courageous_mama78 2d
Omg! “You’re not the minority anymore”?! Funny, I didn’t realize demographics shifted just because you said so—should I call the census bureau and let them know?
quip_it_good 1d
@mtametronorth @nycmta is this really how we treat law abiding passengers? I have never seen anyone make such a racket because they didn’t like how someone was sitting. Please explain how this response was necessary?
deshawnhatcher 6h
People sleep on these trains. They spread out over two or three seats. They do work on the trains etc. This weird narrative of the conductor telling him not to sit that was isn't even mentioned here. So why all of this bs about complying. He was sitting on a train people.
karynscottt 10h
Please say “Karen” at least 50 more times instead of her actual name
tracysk59 1d
I’m an older white woman and I am appalled at what happened to you. I am so sorry you were treated like this. I’m angry no one on the train came to your defense.
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Trump's spokesMAN, Karoline Leavitt, wriggled through a contorted defense of President Donald Trump’s brazen declaration that he hates his opponents.
While Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika used Sunday’s memorial service to melodramatically claim to forgive her husband’s killer, the president struck a markedly different tone:
“He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them. I’m sorry,” Trump said during his meandering speech at Arizona’s State Farm Stadium.
“How does that square with bringing down the temperature of political violence in this country?” a reporter asked Leavitt of Trump’s comment during her press briefing Monday.
“Look, the president is authentically himself. I think that’s why millions of Americans across the country love him and support him, including Erika Kirk,” the 28-year-old White House press secretary replied, without addressing the question at hand.
Trump, 79, has repeatedly claimed that the “radical left” is driving political violence in the country while simultaneously agitating political tensions himself.
He used his speech at Kirk’s memorial to take a swipe at political opponents on “the left,” who he has blamed for Kirk’s killing, even though the Justice Department investigators say they have so far failed to find evidence connecting the suspect to any left-wing groups or ideologies.
The president’s declaration of hate for his opponents came just minutes after Erika, 36, declared in her speech, “The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love. Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”
Trump previously flaunted his unapologetic self-interest when he told a group of reporters on Air Force One last week, “Fly safely. You know why I say that? Because I’m on the flight. I want to get home, otherwise I wouldn’t care.” Isn't he just lovely?
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