She called the police and seemed to feel certain she would walk away with impunity, as everything exploded behind her. But Christian Cooper didn't blow up. He just kept recording.
I fell in love with birds as a boy, when gravity convinced me that I would never fly. Birds could, and I fell hard for them, spending most of my spare moments watching and wishing. Since those early days of feather fascination in my home state of South Carolina, I've traveled through much of this country, and a bit outside it, as a bird watcher and conservation and cultural ornithologist. I've even made a trip to the hallowed grounds of Central Park in the heart of Manhattan.
All the while, throngs of people passed by, oblivious to the three black men birding. People walked their leashed dogs within petting distance without incident. Nadir and Jeffrey are birding celebrities in the city and were stopped frequently by other birders—mostly white—who chatted happily about what was being seen and where and when.
After Christian pulled out dog treats, the woman, named Amy Cooper, rushed toward him and warned she would call the police. Christian calmly began filming the incident with his phone."I'm going to tell them there's an African-American man threatening my life," she said, insinuating that he would face the consequences because she is white and he is black.
But then, what happened to Christian wasn't as much about birding as it was about being black in America. The knowledge that some people hold enmity toward you simply because of the color of your skin is corrosive to the soul. Whether black people are watching birds, jogging through a neighborhood or sleeping in their own bed, the racist marrow within this country's bones is a constant threat. And it is now being exposed on social media.
In a video that has since gone viral, Amy Cooper called the police on Christian Cooper in Central Park.Although there are a few folks out there trying hard to improve the skewed numbers, birding is indeed one the whitest things a black person can do.
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