Running while Black is a sardonic description of racial profiling experienced by Black runners in the United States^[1] and Canada.^[2] In the United States, jogging gained popularity after World War II, and has largely been portrayed by American media as an activity typically engaged in by White people; joggers of color are treated with suspicion.^[3] Black runners report taking precautions such as wearing bright colors to appear non-threatening, avoiding running outside of daylight hours, running in groups for safety, and avoiding running fast enough to appear to be "running away from something."^[4]

In 2021, Lyndsey Hornbuckle found that the issue was particularly common when Black people were running in White neighborhoods, and especially higher socioeconomic White neighborhoods.^[5]

Sonia Sanchez's 1968 play The Bronx is Next includes a scene in which a White police officer arrests a Black person for running while Black.^[6] The 2000 US Supreme Court case Illinois v. Wardlow, which upheld the legality of a police search of a person based on the person running from police, has been described by civil libertarians as creating a new criminal offense of "running while black."^[7][8] Examples of racial incidents due to "running while Black" also include the 2015 death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore,^[9][10][11] the 2015 arrest of Jimmy Thoronka in London,^[12] a 2019 incident in Vancouver, Canada,^[13] and the 2020 murder of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, U.S.^{[14][15][16][17]}

See also

• "... while black"
  • Biking while black
  • Traveling While Black
  • Driving while black
  • Dying While Black
  • Shopping while black
  • While Black with MK Asante
• The talk (racism in the United States)
  • Voting while black
  • Learning while black
  • Eating while black

References

Further reading

• Dragan Milovanovic, Katheryn Russell-Brown (2001). Petit Apartheid in the U.S. Criminal Justice System. Carolina Academic Press. ISBN 9780890899519.
• Ray, Rashawn (1 August 2017). "Black people don't exercise in my neighborhood: Perceived racial composition and leisure-time physical activity among middle class blacks and whites". Social Science Research. 66: 42–57. doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2017.03.008. ISSN 0049-089X. PMID 28705363.
• Johnson, Demarquin (2018). "Running While Black". Harvard Journal of African American Public Policy: 7–10. ProQuest 2187897381.

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