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Homie the Clown Photo Credit: Wiki

Homie the Clown
Photo Credit: Wiki

I’m not a Black parent but if I had a Black child, I certainly would not let her or him dress as a clown for Halloween.

Not this year. Not next year. Not never for that matter.

And especially not while everyone is seeing creepy clowns in bushes and dark alleys everywhere.

And I’m not just talking about Donald Trump.

According to MIC, there have been over 100 clown sightings this year in the U.S alone. How do they know that?

Well apparently there is a map, courtesy of the website Atlas Obscura (you can view the map here), which has been tracking the phenomenon for months.

The sinister clowns, whose nefarious acts range from attempting to lure children into wooded areas to standing under light poles and looking like scary a–clowns, have also been spotted in the UK, Canada and Australia.

The mysterious clown sightings are causing so much alarm, police departments across the country have begun issuing warnings. And there are already reports of violence. According to the Mexican website Posta, two men dressed as clowns were savagely beaten to death after scaring passerbys on the streets of Ecatepec.

The hysteria has gotten so bad, the McDonald Corporation is making Ronald McDonald lay low until everything blows over. No, I’m not kidding.

According to the Associated Press:

“McDonald’s Corp. said Tuesday that it is being “thoughtful in respect to Ronald McDonald’s participation in community events” as a result of the “current climate around clown sightings in communities.” The company did not provide any other details about how often its red-haired mascot makes appearances, and how that will change.”

Poor Ronald. He ain’t even do nothin’. Besides, everyone knows Burger King’s King Mascot is the real creep…

Anyway, what does any of this have to do with Black people?

I’l tell you.

Basically, what is usually considered normal, fun and, at the most, mischievous behavior for White folks becomes menacing, criminal and downright threatening when Black people do it.

Think I’m lying?

We already know Black people can’t hold toy guns without getting real-life gunned down by police. We already know we can’t knock on doors at night, asking for help, without getting shot in the face. We already know that Black kids in particular are under surveillance and being preyed on by wanna-be town watchers. We already know that Black people get the police called on them for looking suspicious. We already know that white people like to invent crimes against Black people. For instance, the “knock-out game,” which was eventually proven to be nothing more than a figment of the white racist imagination. And we already know that, generally, Black kids are seen as older and less innocent than their White counterparts.

So what do you think might happen if little Raheem in a clown mask finds himself on the doorstep of a clown hater – who also has a fear of Black people?

The odds are he won’t be getting a treat.

Listen, I know I may sound a little paranoid, but can you really blame me?

The media is already playing on the anxieties people have about clowns. And when you think about the era we are currently living in – from All Lives Matter to cops pledging their allegiances to Donald Trump’s racist, sexist and xenophobic campaign –there is certainly enough probable cause for us to be concern.

At least for the children’s sake.

I mean, if McDonald’s doesn’t think it’s safe for Ronald McDonald out in these streets, why have your kids out here as painted-up targets?

Charing Ball is a writer, cultural critic, free-thinker, slick-mouth feminist and the reigning queen of unpopular opinions. She is also from Philadelphia. To learn more, visit NineteenSeventy-Seven.com.

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