Race & Candy in the New York City Subways

" Ladies and gentlemen,I am sorry to disturb you, my name is .... I am out here selling candy not for no basketball team. I am selling candy to stay out of trouble and put money in my pocket. If you want to buy some candy or make a donation, it will be gladly appreciated. I gaht Starburst, Peanut M & Ms and Jolly Ranchers."

If you been in the New York City for a few days you may know that this is the typical pitch you hear at any time of day in this great city's subways. Though I have heard this countless times, the salesmanship has generally never moved me to part with my hard earned dollar to indulge myself in these sweet things. But for some reason, the salesmanship did move me last week. But it was not into my pocket to retrieve my pass to indulgence- the dollar bill. Instead, the salesmanship moved me into introspection and a great deal of mental exercise trying to figure out why the way things were the way they were. So here is what went down. I am sitting in the train when one of these guys walks in with the same old tired pitch. Some lady signals that she wants to buy these sweet things, but the guy did not have what she wanted. As a discerning consumer she tells the guy that she will not part with her dollar since he does not have what she wants. But the guy wanted the money anyway and he asks her to donate, to which the lady refuses. At that point the guy makes a comment that just ground my gears: " So you want me to be out there in the streets robing people?" the guy replies. Now that really ground my gears.

While I do recognize the fact that a large number of black males in the city are without jobs, I think it is a cheap shot to say that the only option for such people is to rob other people. I mean I do not want to discredit the guy's experiences, but I have heard that line in so many subway cars. And it bugs me because I think it is an attempt to psychologically manipulate people by instilling fear by exploiting the image of the dangerous black man. Can't these guys have any alternative to robing people? I mean, is that the only available avenue for a black man to survive in this city? I was appalled not because I think I am better than this guy, but because it is these same things that hurt the black community when others use such stereotypes against the race. Besides these reasons, I think the ...I am out here selling not for no basketball team is a tired line. It doesn't pass the salesmanship test and worse still it dismally fails the grammar test.