https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-44167760

In April 2018, in the designated grilling area of Oakland, California’s Lake Merritt Park, a black family was hosting a midday barbecue. The family-hosted barbecue, which should be a seemingly innocuous activity regardless of race, or any other demographic measure, resulted in two racially fueled phone calls to the police by a bigoted bystander. Jennifer Schulte, the woman who called the police, was recorded by a benevolent passerby as she rattled off a laundry list of fabricated violations and criminal offensives by the back family. The 24-minute recording of the phone calls, which has close to 10 million views on YouTube, took the internet by storm, engendering the hashtag: bbqbecky. At first the hashtag was only associated with Jennifer’s racially biased phone calls, but quickly came to represent any and all deranged interactions by racist whites on the internet. #bbqbecky was a harbinger for policy change on racially biased phone calls to police; since the incident, several states have made it illegal to make discriminatory 911 calls.

Schulte’s racist motives, which she attempted to cover up by claiming her call was due to the family’s charcoal grill, are a vivid demonstration of whiteness, reflective of the themes in Butler’s Mirrors of Privilege, McIntosh’s White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. 

McIntosh introduces us to all the daily privileges we have as whites, implicit conditions that we take for granted. The instance of BBQBECKY juxtaposes white privilege with the discrimination blacks face in their daily lives. A white family gathering for a barbecue, following all park guidelines, would not have to think twice about a passerby calling the cops on them. Yet, a black family, like who gather that April day, has to be aware of potential prosecution and discrimination at all times– even when they are abiding by the law. We are unable to determine whether Jennifer phoned the police out of “fear” of the black family, which is very plausible as media mostly portrays blacks negatively (highlighting criminality while seldom presenting accomplishments or positive social impact), or out of mere racist sentiments. Whichever the case, the actions taken are active forms of racism, which show how even the most pedestrian moments can result in unwarranted harassment for blacks (Mcintosh). 

The fear and racial sentiment captured in the BBQbecky clip has existed within whites for centuries, as it has been disseminated via education systems, media, and legislation. In Butler’s Mirrors of Privilege, one participant describes the overt police presence on a college campus whenever a group of 5 or more black men gathered. The presumption that a gathering of blacks means some sort of violent or criminal activity is present in BBQbecky. Although, thankfully, there were consequences for the racially fueled phone call, BBQbecky shows that such sentiment is still present within white conscious. 

  abcnews.go.com/US/white-long-island-couple-charged-harassment-complaints-black/story?id=72441328.

The captured event and subsequent hashtag have brought increased attention to the harassment of blacks on a global scale. It is positive that the discrimination and harassment blacks face on a daily basis can be witnessed by the masses. It triggered a chain of similar postings and hashtags. Although I don't think it needs to be said, significant change does not happen electronically or via social media. A repost or like only reflects one's sentiments; the impact is rarely transferred in everyday life. Until the energy put towards posting, sharing, and hashtagging racist events is translated towards law making (harsher consequences for racist action and police phone calls) and on the ground activism, calls from racist pedestrians will persist. 

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-news-white-people-frivolously-calling-police-danger-20181023-story.html

88Nine Radio Milwaukee. INVISIBLE Lines | Darren AND Vedale: Coded [EPISODE 1]. 15 May 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTqcSSQpiQY. Accessed 1 May 2021.

Hutchison, Bill. “White Long Island Couple Charged Following Harassment Complaints by Black Neighbor.” ABC News, ABC News Network, 10 Aug. 2020, abcnews.go.com/US/white-long-island-couple-charged-harassment-complaints-black/story?id=72441328.

McIntosh, Peggy. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack (1989) 1.” On Privilege, Fraudulence, and Teaching As Learning, 2019, pp. 29–34., doi:10.4324/9781351133791-4.

Snider, Michelle Dione, director. White Woman Called Out for Racially Targeting Black Men Having BBQ in Oakland. YouTube, YouTube, 29 Apr. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh9D_PUe7QI.