"I'm not a racist. It's reality."

All I could think about during my cab ride to the airport this morning was how my friend, Tjada, would react.

My cabbie was from Sierra Leone. After a good conversation about the state of that country's socio-economic/political development and his impressions of African culture vs. American culture, we turned to an interesting topic.

I'd heard before and raised with him the nature of the relationship between the African immigrant community and the American-born African-American/Black communities.

As he began his monologue, I couldn't help but think that if a white person was saying these things, he would be labeled immediately as a racist. No questions asked.

I will paraphrase the comments of this immigrant from Sierra Leone.

"The only time that Blacks call us 'brothers' is when they want something from us. Blacks are the only ones who will try and get away without paying for a ride and say something like, 'hey, brother, can't you help me out?'"

"The only people I will refuse to pick up on the road are Black men. If I see a white man and a black man hailing a cab, I will go for the white one every time."

"If you ask any cabbie how many times he's been robbed, he'll say about 10. And 9 of those will be by black men."

"I've never had problems with Hispanics or white or Africans, just Blacks."

"If I do pickup a Black man or woman, particularly late at night, I will ask for the money upfront."

"If it is late at night and a Black man says he wants to go to Southeast [the primarily Black part of DC], I will tell him no. What's more...I'll tell all of the other cabbies [all Africans] not to go to the Metro station, where he is waiting, so they don't have to turn him down to his face."

And he just kept going, based on his experience and opinion.

It was just such a bizarro-world moment because, in my mind's eye, I replaced this African with a 'redneck' from Alabama and thought how he would have been ostracized. I told him that.

"Look, he said. As an immigrant, you have to deal with reality. It's not racist. It's reality."