Traveling while black: Never pay with a $20 

Old school way of living. These kids don’t know. It was hard for our elders. God bless them.

Back when a $20 was like paying with $100 now

Please keep this series going. This history needs to be documented and shared for our future generations.

I was almost murdered outside of Austin (Manor Texas) after being followed for 2 hours because “I didn’t look like I owned my car” 🙄 At the time I was driving a new focus and heading home from school. There is a recording of the incident that I have been legally fighting to get but I’m sure it will be accidentally erased.

I didnt even think of stuff like this growing up in WI and MN and when I moved to the city I joined a motorcycling group (just crotch rockets and standard bikes) and some of my friends in the group was black and another from UAE (middle eastern). We went for a long ride one night into northern WI and when I mentioned stopping to hit the restroom and get food, they refused, and I didnt understand why. And it was literally because they were afraid for their life in rural WI, and when I started to watch after that at the looks they received, I understood that racism is still very real in places you dont expect.

This is what making America great again means to many people.

So many dislikes, this is part of our history whether we like it or not. It should be taught and not forgotten.

Why all the dislikes? This was a very interesting anecdote of the past.

My SO is black. Her parents and grandparents ask to review our travel plans whenever we drive outside of the local area because they're still worried about the potential for us to be harassed or attacked. This isn't just the story of a few black men and women. This was the reality for everyone, always having to keep their backs to the wall to stay safe. It's much safer now, but it can still happen when you're not paying attention.

I don't feel guilty, being white, for what happened to black people and what still happens on occasion (mostly as a result of racists getting into law enforcement). Why should I? I'm not racist. There is not ONE thing in this video that tries to convince white people that we should feel guilty. There is not even a HINT of an insult towards white people. ANYONE who feels like this video is race-baiting, either IS guilty because they ARE racist, or is angry because they want attention instead (so they pretend that whites are victimized). Or, they are delusional. For those delusional folks: no the speakers in this video are not talking about YOU, nor are they talking about white people TODAY, nor are they talking about ALL white people of the past. In fact, they didn't even mention white people at all! Stop trying to look for things that don't exist. Black people don't look for equality by belittling whites. However, white people look for equality by belittling blacks. (And no, I'm not talking about ALL blacks or ALL whites, duh. I'm talking about the people that believe they are being treated as less equal than someone of another skin color, like the people claiming this video is race-baiting.) Seriously, if you have to put blacks down and trivialize their experiences just to make yourself feel superior, then you need to do something thinking about who's actually racist.

Crazy, i can't even imagine this. I couldn't understand why my grandma and her sisters always freak about me traveling to and from dallas from Houston in modern times

I prefer not to stop for gas in certain areas at night. Or use the restroom.

Over a thousand dislikes...disgusting. These people should be ashamed.

This is something that I never knew and I’m really glad to learn. Thank you for sharing.

It’s amazing how far we’ve come since those dark days

What an eye opening video

Couldn’t imagine living in those times but hearing there stories make me proud of the progress we’ve made as a country.

This world... just evil

Being a Canadian I have a tough time wrapping my head around this level of racism. Yes it certainly exists here and maybe I am just blind

My dad was one of the few Black Latinos with a credit card in the late 60's. Never use a credit card on the road. Use it only in your city, or you may be arrested for stealing your own card.

Wow. Thank you guys for being so strong and teaching us how to be strong also

So sad I will never understand why one group feels asthough they have the seniority over all the other races.

I'm 34 and remember having to do this with my mom and dad whenever we would leave Philly and come to SC

The title is misleading and clickbaity; the video is about during segregation, not modern times.

wow! and it still exists in the US. unbelievable.

Great video! But the title is a little grabby no?

This stuff ain't all behind us. An elder just shared a story with me that was shocking, I asked "this happened like 30-40 years ago?" Her response, "2 summers ago with my grandkids"

My elders speaking to me.

yOu liKe jAzZ

We live in a better world now the older racist people are dying lets just move forward and treat each other equally.

I drove through Montana from Washington on my to Minnesota! When driving through Montana gave me the creeps everytime I had to stop to fill up my tank! I never walked inside, I just quickly paid at the pump and bolted!

I had a very minor incident a few days ago at a gas station in 2018. Thankfully it isn’t the 60s anymore but we still have a lot of work to do.

I don't understand why is there so many dislikes?

Who in the world would dislike this video? Will someone who disliked this video please tell me why. For the sake of argument you may have a good reason and it would be very interesting to know.

It’s important to remember that is how people had to live once and that it wasn’t long ago.

I thought this was traveling in the dark still watched the full video

The truth hurts. The dislikes 1.3k only confirm it....

Avoiding death and all manner of demonic evil by Neanderthal predators 🙃

What is this? What is this series?

I can't imagine what it was or is like to have to live like that, clips like these teach what most of us will never know

This is how I drive through Chicago. I'm white.

I wonder how these people feel today about identity politics and how quickly people are to be offended at the slightest micro aggression. A conversation would be worthwhile and interesting.

We do the exact same thing in black areas. Make sure you travel at night. Do everything possible not to have to stop for any reason at all. Only pay with a credit card, and make sure to keep the receipt.

And white people have the nerve to complain about us not standing for the anthem...

was the car an escalade?

Who else misses them good ole days?

I can understand this, I work with mentally handicapped individuals and I realize it's under different circumstances compared to what is being described in the video, I also see the similarities. The way even today individuals treat those less fortunate then them really bothers me, every time we go out in public people turn their heads, mumble under their breath as if my guys are less deserving of a stress free and somewhat normal life. Regardless of their limitations, each has their own personality, each has their own quirks, passions and goals. They all have an impeccable love for life, they find beauty in the smallest of things and have opened my eyes to just how great a gift this life is.

People who don't understand dislike .

Talk about click bait.... Would it had killed them to put how it was back in the day somewhere in the title??

Thats terrible and Shouldve never happened. That being said, I personally owe you nothing.

It’s April 24th, 2018 and 1600 people found something they disliked about this video. Which shoes the account of people that live through the indignity of segregation and Jim Crow. Go take several seats hater.

These poor people had crazy eccentric parents and didn't even know it.

Shame on You European America

cop came in my house and beat me and threw me down a flight of stairs after calling 911 for my grandmother. all because I was black. I have body cam footage but who cares

This is why I respect blk elders. More than there white counterparts even more

I cant believe that there was an actual book that they needed

live in the past be in the past

celebrating 400 years of struggle in this backward country..

Makes me sick to think people were treated like this

Who tf would dislike this video?

Wow...

Keep picking the scab WP, see where that gets people.

And since one year, this all starts up again more and more

I feel like context is really necessary here. Not once do they mention that this all took place a LONG time ago, seems like they're purposefully trying to make it seem like this is today's world and not 70 years ago.

Those days are long gone. But hey, let's not let the past die and its injustices with it. Instead let's fan the embers and make sure people are still thinking about it, still angry about it.

"Never pay with a $20". Is that because another black will see it and mug you?

When we moved to the suburbs my dad got pulled over for driving a brand new truck At 5am saying they thought he stole it.

Change starts with yourself. Remember that

+Washington Post - Your comment section is pure gold; it serves as evidence that the attitudes that governed life in the middle 20th century are still very much present in modern America. Once given the semi-anonymity of the internet, that suppressed id seems to bubble to the surface. Fantastic reading material all in all and a window into the hearts of Americans, much appreciate by those of us who study cultures.

My sister was just hired at Exxon as a lab lead and I can’t wait to show her this video. It’s so interesting to learn about companies that would sell to us peacefully and those who foster ignorance.

That's the key. Every black person knows racism exists. However, we don't know when we have to confront it. Speaking as a former sworn law enforcement officer I was shocked that I had to confront in my own shift briefings 20 years ago. As a corporate sales professional now I am shocked that I have to confront it every day in sales meetings. And yet many leaders in the corporate world would say that racism does not exist. Those leaders are wrong.

Is Esso still around I feel like I’ve seen an esso somewhere

This is heart breaking.. Being black in america has apparently always been dangerous.. Just cause

That's all down south because up North you pay for gas with a $50 and you get your change back!

I just really, REALLY detest idiots who pay for less then $25.00 worth of product with a $100.00 bill. I mean really people, when you are at a specialty store, it is just rude and we will ask you for a smaller bill.

This isn't a story about what's currently happening. It happened this way in the past (and thank you for sharing these as they are informative and educational). Racism and the experiences associated with it look different today. But they are still real and happening unfortunately.

I am a child of the 80’s and my mother still wouldn’t stop at a shell gas station .

I guess two thousand people think this is also fake history, or they really dont like hearing the truth.

Where is the rest? I wish there was more. There should be more.

In a time of racial division, it's apparently extremely important for the Washington Post to break out a bottle of alcohol and douse America's racial tensions.

Atlanta bought me here

Wait, that's why my mom made us do the thing with the two doors when we were little?

That is crazy.. the only diference is just pigment we are all humans. Just remember : Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.

Someone explain to me how this is clickbait? *I had my own experience like this a few years ago. I was driving from upstate N.Y. to visit my sister at college at Virginia State and I got lost somewhere in Virginia. I pulled over at a gas station to ask for directions. I approached the register to ask the cashier for directions and when i asked her how to get back to I-95, she just stared at me and didn't answer. Didn't say a word.....then when I looked over my shoulder, I noticed damn near everyone there was looking at me. I took that as my clue to back out of there but I was honestly scared for a few minutes. I've never experienced anything like that before so I can only imagine what these people lived through. And shit like this was only 50 years ago smh

Ridiculous that in a "free" society people have had to endure this humiliation.

Sad that these folks had to live like this. As a society we owe these people the safe and comfortable lives they were denied.

I am so sorry for your experience.

paying for a tank of gas with a $20 and still getting change back???

Title is misleading but the video is interesting.

$20 in January 1960 = $170.34 in March 2018.... Would you pay for gas with a $200 bill? I know some places in my small town that don't even carry $50 in change, and NYC taxis don't even have $20 in change... this isn't racism

Want to interview me about driving through Baltimore in 2007?

I'm sorry for what you went through.

No change for a paying customer is not just be racism... it is a sign of a selfishness that goes far deeper in the society than racism. It shows an underlying selfishness and greed in the community that would influence everyone irrelevant of race.

Now I see why my father would travel at night going to Georgia.

I am an Optician...It's killing me how high his glasses ride on his ears. I hate "Breaking Bad" for popularizing this.

i still dont get this can someone explain?

The title is misleading, given that this is a historical account from a named person.

Wow... That last one. Just wow.

So many thumbs down...for what? They're just telling the truth.

Never forget but there is also no need to live in fear anymore. Get strapped and drive anywhere in America. I've driven everywhere in the states and thought racism could happen but it never did. Too many people living in the past which they never experience.