A black guy with a west African accent got on the tube, carrying a bottle of wine with the cork pushed through. I looked at him v critically. First of all, drunks here - regardless of their skin colour - don't drink red wine so it was unusual to see a person with a bottle. But I had this feeling that he was 'letting his side down', like he was somehow representative of all African men and so he especially shouldn't be drunk in public, holding a bottle. I felt that he would unfairly draw down more racism against his people.
Clearly not fair to put all the repsonsibility for a continent on this man's shoulders - but also I was doing what I do with Jewish people. I sometimes wish Jewish people would become more invisible so they don't draw down racism against all of us. And even while I think this, I know that racism exists regardless of how a person, or a people, act. I know that it is the racist who must take responsibility for their thoughts and actions - because a racist will see the stereotype in the individual and ignore behaviour in their own kind. It's misleading to blame the victim of racism for the fact that racism exists in the minds and fantasies of others.