Encounters with the Master Race

As I watched the video of a white woman calling the cops on a black man for asking her to follow park rules and leash her dog, my mind went back to the only ugly counter I have had with strangers in England so far. The time when I accidentally knocked a dog into the river with my bicycle. The dog owners were livid, and a screaming match between us ensued. But, luckily for me the were mixed-race lesbians and didn't appear to be middle-class. If it was a hysterical white middle-class woman in their place, things could have turned out very differently. I reacted angrily out of instinct. If I am in a similar situation again, I am pretty sure I won't react in the same way. As a recent immigrant, I wasn't aware of my "station" and the possible repercussions of messing with people above my station. Just like the black British writer who lost his way on a car trip in rural America and approached a house for directions, only to be chased away with a shotgun. I was aware of racism in Britain even before I moved here. But, I wasn't aware of how racism manifests itself and the various social mores that one must familiarize oneself to minimize the chances of ugly encounters.