When loud and obnoxious is better than darker skin

Today, October 21, on the bus I witnessed the most apparent act of racism I have ever seen in Seattle.  

There was an empty seat near the rear exit of bus 150, and a young black woman had her eye on it. When she sat down, it didn't take long for her to stand up and move further back, to the very rear seats. 

She had immediacy in her steps like something had startled her. I didn't think anything of it, other than maybe the person she sat next to didn't smell all that great, which happens frequently on public transportation.  

Bus 150 on its route from Southcenter Mall.
(Photo by Oran Viriyincy)

But then something else happened, a larger black man got on bus 150 and had his eye on the now-vacant seat located near the rear exit. With his bag on one shoulder, it didn't take but three seconds for him to walk away from it and be forced to stand. Why did this man decide to stand instead of sit in this seat? Was it dirty? Again, did the door closing in the back waft an unpleasant scent from the occupier of the adjacent seat?  

I was beginning to think that maybe this person sitting in this seat had a large wound secreting puss or worse. But no, nothing was apparently wrong with this individual, except for the fact that the seat next to him or her was reserved for someone with lighter skin. It wasn't reserved for a friend, it just wasn't available for anyone with a dark complexion.  

It wasn't my speculation that this was true either; other concerned riders questioned the standing man's comment when he looked around the full bus and said "What other seats then?"  

Another rider then repeated what he heard from the black sunglasses that resided in this seat by themselves.  

Imagine in a slightly southern accent, "This seat's taken."  

As an experiment, I wanted to go sit next to this person, to see if they'd let me. Maybe they just hated people in general and wanted a seat to themselves. Maybe it wasn't about race at all, and it was just a coincidence that both rejected from this seat were people of color.  

But I didn't need to, because two white men got on the bus chatting about something insignificant, and I thought "oh please, sit there, sit there." One of them did, and he was probably the most obnoxious of the duo.  

This man, of East-European descent (I could be wrong about this, but this detail is not significant), sat down, not knowing what had occurred prior to his arrival on bus 150. He wasn't rejected like the last two; he was accepted by the stranger in the round, metal-rimmed sunglasses.  

The man proceeded to play a very loud game on his cell phone while carrying on a conversation with his buddy that he walked on with. His obnoxious behavior was more desirable to sit next to than someone with a darker complexion, but who was much quieter.

I didn't have a chance to talk to any of the individuals involved in this act of racism, but I observed enough to write this recollection. This is how I saw and heard the events on that foggy afternoon on bus 150. It was like a strange version of Rosa Parks, except it wasn't a seat in the front of the bus, it was a seat anywhere on the bus.

As this person exited the bus at Southcenter Mall, I did notice that this individual was female, was wearing a long green trench coat, gloves and had long straw-like hair. She was probably in her mid 60s.  

Author's note: Some say I'm making a pretty bold assumption in writing all of this. But this is what I saw, interpret it as you wish. Comment below to weigh in on the conversation.