Accomplished Kenyan journalist Larry Madowo this week wrote
about his first-hand encounter with racism in the US.
Madowo narrated how he was invited to dinner by a friend in
New York but was forced to use a dirty lift since the front desk thought he was
a delivery guy.
“In my first week in New York City last summer, I was
invited to dinner at a friend's penthouse on the wealthy Upper West Side.
“I picked up some fruit for her and arrived at her building
carrying a plastic bag.
“The front desk sent me through an open courtyard to the
back of the building, past residents' garbage bags and into a surprisingly
dirty lift,” he wrote for the BBC.
Adding: “When I got off upstairs, my host opened the door
mortified, all the colour drained from her face.
"My racist doorman thought you're a delivery guy and
made you use the service elevator," she explained as she apologised.
“That early micro-aggression forewarned me that America may
be the land of opportunity for many, but it would still reduce me to the colour
of my skin and find me unworthy,” he wrote.
Following the death of George Floyd in the hands of an
officer who pressed his knee on his neck in Minneapolis, there were protests
all over US calling for justice.
Floyd’s memorial service was held on Thursday and in his
eulogy RevAl Sharpton said it was high time blacks were accorded respect just
like the other races.
He strongly condemned the incident using the words, “the
reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed of being is you kept your
knee on our neck.”