27: Assumptions

I share an allotment on Grange Lane, Sydenham hill in South London. I have noticed that most of the people I see on the allotments are white. There is a locked gate into the car park. A couple of weeks ago, it was busy with little space in the car park and the gate was open. I parked up and noticed a woman of colour in a car looking for a space to park. A white man was pointing at the gate and trying to ask her whether she knew this was a locked car park for allotment use only. He didn’t feel the need to see if I knew this. He then drove off, she parked and then walked over to the gate and locked it. I was struck by the assumption he made that I belonged and that she didn’t. It shocked me, as I don’t think he was conscious that he was making a racist assumption, and I feel my white privilege at that moment.