My classmates and I were having a good time at a gaming bar. At the conclusion of the night a small group of us who are black decided to grab a slice of pizza before we headed home. When we arrived at the shop we were greeted by a worker behind the counter and we proceeded to skim the menu options.

When my classmate was placing his order he jokingly (and in all seriousness) asked if he’s getting a discount. The worker laughed and asked, “why would I give you a discount” to which my classmate replied, “Because we’re graduating”. The worker then said, “You graduating from Howard!?”

Just because we’re black students and are in D.C. doesn’t mean we all go to Howard. Howard is a great school, but we didn’t like being profiled. We were taken back by how quickly we were assessed and thrown into a tiny box.

My classmate responded, “Why would you think we go to Howard especially when I’m wearing a hat with my schools name on it”. We could tell that the guy was a little embarrassed because he didn’t answer us. We asked him a few more times and we still didn’t receive a response.

How would you have responded??