#MovingInWhileBlack: Former White House Staffer Accused of Breaking Into His Own Apartment

Here’s an updated list of reasons why the cops have been called on black people: #BreathingWhileBlack, #WalkingWhileBlack, #HoldingACellPhoneWhileBlack, #EatingAtTheWaffleHouseWhileBlack, #SittingAtStarbucksWhileBlack … and now you can add #MovingInWhileBlack. And that’s just what happened to former White House staffer Darren Martin as he was moving into his Upper West Side apartment in New York City.

Martin, a native of the city’s Bronx borough, was moving into his new apartment Friday when a future neighbor called the police about a suspected break-in. But, of course, Martin wasn’t breaking in, he was moving in. Martin took to Instagram to document what was happening, according to WPIX-TV. 

“I’m in my apartment, but you know—you can’t go nowhere without the cops following me,” Martin said.

The police showed up at Martin’s apartment on West 106th Street, and according to the dispatch, a large weapon was involved in the burglary. Yeah, maybe that large weapon was the furniture Martin was attempting to move into the door?

“Somebody called the cops on me in my own building,” Martin said while standing in his hallway with cops. “About how many are y’all? About six of y’all showed up, rolled up on me.”

Of course, this is what many feel is the new face of the ramifications of gentrification. The colonizers will assume that the only people who belong in the apartment building are the ones who look like them.

So somewhere there’s a neighbor peeping around their door, staring oddly at Martin. However, he says he’s not going anywhere. And he shouldn’t. What he should do is bring some more black people along with him.