Stand back of White Line.

I saw that written or rather posted by the MBTA [Massachusetts Bay Transportation Association] on one of the cars on the T returning to Riverside after a day in Boston, which in of itself has some comments to be made of it.

Most people aware or unaware of the issues in this nation would not think anything of it initially I believe, I know that I did not. This is a simple set of words and a simple line to keep people safe from falling off of a train and getting killed of course. Right? There are a couple thoughts that popped into my head after I thought about it again, the idea of the language and color used and what this symbolized on a deeper level. The second piece could not exist without the first.

Was white an arbitrary choice? It would be great if that was the case but I believe not. There has always been a power in words and in this case a power in the psychology of color. You will not see a white "stop" sign, a white "yield" sign, a white "men at work" sign, a white "blasting zone", a white "no merging" sign, a white "lane closed" sign or anything else that I can imagine from my experience. Yet here we have a caution here that is for the same purpose to keep people safe and keep order with a new element a line. With that simple change of shape we have a simple change of color with not so simple consequences.

Both yellow and red in color psychology have elements of excitement or energy if you will within them; hazards and quarantine (yellow) or danger, excitement, aggression (red). Nothing in this field suggests a logical turn to white other than the love of whiteness. A love that has made racism so integral and so important that it has become a part of every single piece of this nation's daily life. America does not run on Dunkin' it runs on racial oppression which last time I checked cost a hell of a lot less than a black coffee. These little pieces that drip into everything that is used for business or pleasure or both at the same time in the case of these trains are exact proof of such a claim.


I did the unthinkable last night and crossed that line to look at a map. The conductor said nothing.

I didn't cross the white line.