Running while Black

Running while Black is a sardonic description of racial profiling experienced by Black runners in the United States^[1] and Canada.^[2] In the United States, jogging gained popularity after World War II, and has largely been portrayed by American media as an activity typically engaged in by White people; joggers of color are treated with suspicion.^[3] Black runners report taking precautions such as wearing bright colors to appear non-threatening, avoiding running outside of daylight hours, running in groups for safety, and avoiding running fast enough to appear to be "running away from something."^[4]

In 2021, Lyndsey Hornbuckle found that the issue was particularly common when Black people were running in White neighborhoods, and especially higher socioeconomic White neighborhoods.^[5]

Sonia Sanchez's 1968 play The Bronx is Next includes a scene in which a White police officer arrests a Black person for running while Black.^[6] The 2001 US Supreme Court case Illinois v. Wardlow, which upheld the legality of a police search of a person based on the person running from police, has been described by civil libertarians as creating a new criminal offense of "running while black."^[7][8] Examples of racial incidents due to "running while Black" also include the 2015 death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore,^[9][10][11] the 2015 arrest of Jimmy Thoronka in London,^[12] a 2019 incident in Vancouver, Canada,^[13] and the 2020 murder of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, U.S.^{[14][15][16][17]}