This weekend, I experienced the most abusive verbal street harassment of my life. I was walking with my sister in Chinatown to get coffee, and a man who appeared to be homeless was sitting in front of the Goethe Institut and asked us for money. I very politely apologized and said that I didn’t have anything to give him (which was true–I very rarely carry cash). We continued walking, and the man glared at us and said, “You won’t give a white guy money, but you’ll spread your ass cheeks and bend over and let some coon stick it to you.” My sister and I were shocked. We turned around, mouths wide open, and I said, “Excuse me, that is not OK.” We continued walking, and the man shouted after us, “I hope you choke on a coon dick.”

After we had gotten our coffee, we started walking back. We were going to bypass the guy to avoid any trouble, but we saw someone about to leave him some leftovers. I quietly said to the guy, “Excuse me, I know you are trying to help, but I think you should know what this man just said to my sister and I.” The man looked as shocked as we had been, took his food, and said, “Man, you can’t talk to women like that.”

Submitted by AS on 5/24/2010

Location: 7th and I Sts NW, right in front of the Goethe Institut

Do you have a personal experience with gender-based public sexual harassment or assault you would like to submit? Just click here and fill out the online submission form. All submissions are posted anonymously unless you specify.