White chick: They’ll believe you raped me when I was drunk!
Black guy: Baby, don’t play that game with me.
White chick: Why not? I can — you’re black!
Black guy: Aw, shit!
–29th St & 1st Ave
Overheard by: Scott
White chick: They’ll believe you raped me when I was drunk!
Black guy: Baby, don’t play that game with me.
White chick: Why not? I can — you’re black!
Black guy: Aw, shit!
–29th St & 1st Ave
Overheard by: Scott
Guy: I can’t believe they used an Indian family for that commercial. For the love of God, their last name was Kumar-swami!
Queer: What kind of name is that? They definitely should have used a white family.
Guy: It was a Verizon commercial, for Christ’s sake. If you want to get racy, use a black family. But Kumar-swami — that is just too much!
–Fordham University, Rose Hill
Asian girl #1: So Alicia is, like, half-Portuguese because her mom is Portuguese.
Asian girl #2: I thought she was Brazilian…
Asian girl #1: Yeah, Brazilian. And her dad is Italian. Like from Italy. He’s, like, a hundred percent.
Asian girl #2: Wow.
Asian girl #1: I know! It’s, like, unbelievable.
–Astoria
Smart girl #1: I didn’t know Lady Sovereign was white.
Smart girl #2: She’s not white, she’s British.
–Virgin Records
Hipster #1: Okay, so I am going to tap out a song on the table, and you are going to guess what it is!
Hipster #2: Okay, go. [As #1 taps] Oh, oh! I know! ‘Hakuna Matata,’ right?
Hipster #1: Um, no! God, you are so racist — just because we’re in a Japanese restaurant, you think it’s gotta be a Japanese song! It was ‘Death Cab for Cutie,’ you fool.
–Nobu, Hudson St
Overheard by: trying not to laugh behind them
Girl on cell: I’m in this ethnography class. And I thought it would be, like, really easy, but there’s all this vocab — they use language in this different way that I’m not used to. So I said something, and this girl repeated it and made me look really bad. Well, we were talking about race, you know? And I just said that every race has their specialties, right? But now everyone in the class thinks I’m racist… Who knows?!
–Washington Square
Gilchrist, founder of the Minutemen, moments before students stormed the stage: What did you say? I don’t speak Mexican.
–Columbia University
Bouncer talking to people in front of Webster Hall: First, I have been nothing but a gentleman in talking to you. Your racial bullshit is not needed here. Second, I am a spic, not a nigger. If you’re gonna insult me, get it right.
–11th St between 3rd & 4th Ave
Overheard by: AJ
Black crackhead: Spare some change, Miss? I’ve been asking the niggers, but they don’t give me shit.
–Broadway & 11th St
Overheard by: Miss I Am Not a Nigger
Model wannabe: You should forget about him, he’s just a racist spic.
–Steinway & Broadway, Astoria
Overheard by: Crash
Black girl: That was the most racist, sexist movie I have ever seen, and I loved it!
–Kaufman Theaters, Astoria
Overheard by: A White Guy
White guy #1 as stray dog passes by: Oh, that dog looks vicious… And hungry.
White guy #2: Well, I hope it does not like white meat — only dark meat.
White guy #1: Yeah.
–Staten Island
Overheard by: Dark Meat
Chick: I think James* hit on me but I’m scared because I don’t know what his orientation is.
Dude: He’s Caucasian.
–Pace University
Ghetto girl #1: Yeah, ‘Ashley’ is a popular American name.
Ghetto girl #2: The only girls I know named ‘Ashley’ are skinny white bitches.
Skinny white girl sitting next to them: Uh, that’s my name.
–Downtown 3 train
