ABOVE: © ISTOCK.COM, CASTIGATIO
On May 25, Christian Cooper was bird-watching in New York City’s Central Park when he asked a woman to put her dog on a leash, as was mandated for the area. The woman responded to the request by saying she was going to call the cops and she was “going to tell them there is an African-American man threatening [her] life.” As evidenced by the video taken by Cooper during the exchange, she did just that and urged the police to come immediately.
While the incident was unique in making national news, in its aftermath, scores of Black birders, naturalists, and ecologists recounted experiencing white onlookers calling the police on them while in outdoor spaces. One birder, for instance, tweeted that after having dealt with many police calls, he now displays a sign to explain what he’s doing while in natural areas. In June, a geoscientist ...
