When I heard my POC neighbor calling 911 because “her kind” was in her yard, I knew I had to do something

Walter was an old racist from the south. I heard him calling 911 and making remarks about niggers. It was Coronavirus season and I had the day off of work because of social distancing. I didn’t know what to do until I seen them in the backyard. <br><br>There were three of them. Dark skinned people. I seen them walking around in the dead of night, like they were illegal immigrants from some distant land. I heard them talking in their own dialect, saying “my n*gga”, “we gon’ f*ck this place up”. I knew they were bad people in Walter’s yard. Walter meant well. <br><br>I looked out the window at Walter’s house until the police pulled up. Two officers got out of a car. In my initial shock, I thought the police were black. Days of social isolation had gotten to me. The officers were just wearing black riot gear, in case the Coronavirus infected people had gotten violent. <br><br>“Walter, what seems to be the problem?” the black police officer said in a deep voice. <br><br>“My n*gga, it’s these black people man, they’re in my yard stakeout my house and ransacking my things”. <br><br>“Alright black man, calm down. We’re here for you now”. In my head, I thought the cop said “my n*gga”. It must have been the bad lighting in Walter’s house. <br><br>“What’s going on here? Why are y’all in this man’s yard?” the black police officer said. <br><br>“I’m trying to get Coronavirus testing. Me and my entire family are in here and this man is calling 911 on us saying he doesn’t want us in his yard. My n*gga, we ain’t doing nothing but trying to get tested man”. <br><br>“Alright n*gga, let me check your name on the testing list”. I felt like the police had been saying “n*gga” in a loving way when referring to the black man in Walter’s yard. Why else would an officer be saying that word? <br><br>“Alright my n*gga, it looks like you and your family are on the list. I’m going to call the Coronavirus testers to come test your family”. <br><br>“My n*gga, is Walter here gonna get in trouble for calling 911 on us? Asking us if we were his kind?” <br><br>“Don’t worry n*gga, I’m going to have this guy taken away in cuffs”. The black Coronavirus testers pulled up and got out of their car. An officer grabbed Walter and placed handcuffs on him. <br><br>“My n*gga, we’re taking you to the police station and going to charge you with making a biased 911 report”. <br><br>“My n*gga, this is bullshit. You can’t arrest me for calling the police on black people. They shouldn’t have been in my yard anyway”. I heard the officer taser Walter and pull him away. <br><br>I heard the Coronavirus testers walking around in Walter’s house. Saying things like “Yooo, my n*gga, there’s a PS5 in here, my n*gga you going take it with you”. <br><br>“Nah my n*gga, I ain’t touching anything. It ain’t worth it. You feel me my n*gga?” <br><br>“Yea my n*gga, you right. Let’s keep testing them until the police officer man comes back”. <br><br>I was confused. I thought I had seen three black people in Walter’s yard. I thought the Coronavirus testers were black men. I thought the police were black men. Why else would they be calling each other “my n*gga”? But now, I thought the Coronavirus testers were white and calling each other my n*gga. <br><br>“Hello is anybody here? I’m here to test y’all”. A white man was talking at the front door. The dark-skinned people were at the back door. <br><br>“Hello my n*gga”. <br><br>“My n*gga? What the f*ck? You heard? Oh my n*gga you heard me talking to my peoples? My n*gga you my peoples too. Why would you say you ain’t my peoples my n*gga?”. In that moment, I realized that everyone in Walter’s house was black. The dark-skinned people in Walter’s yard calling the Coronavirus testers were black. The Coronavirus testers were black. The officers that took Walter away were black. The person in Walter’s house calling themselves “my n*gga” was black. <br><br>“You heard me n*gg*”? <br><br>“Yea my n*gga, I heard you talking to my n*gga saying I’m your peoples”. <br><br>“Yea my n*gga, we your peoples. Why you saying you ain’t our peoples?” <br><br>“My n*gga, I ain’t calling y’all my peoples, I’m calling my peoples my peoples. Y’all my tester peoples. Y’all ain’t my n*gga. Don’t nobody call the tester my n*gga”. <br><br>“Man I thought we were homies. Thought we shared a little bond”. I heard them laughing and slapping hands. <br><br>“Man n*gga, you got me thinking we ain’t homies man. You know what my n*gga, I’ma just call you my peoples from now on”. <br><br>“Yea my peoples”. <br><br>“Yea my peoples”. <br><br>“My peoples, do you have Coronavirus?” <br><br>“No my peoples”. <br><br>“My peoples, well you look like a criminal to me. You’re f*cking with my peoples man. All of my peoples are my peoples. I gotta test you now”. I heard a long pause and the white tester man scream in pain the rest of the night into the morning.