By the time the white people showed up on Sunday, the rain had stopped. The food line for the needy that once snaked around Chilly Waters barber shop had significantly shortened. Buffalo police no longer needed to direct traffic to protect the steady flow of mourners bringing flowers, cards and trinkets memorializing the 10 lives lost at Tops Market, the community’s only supermarket, a week earlier. The local chapter of Black Lives Matter was long gone, as were the sorority passing out feminine hygiene products and the teen volunteers.
Had someone unfamiliar with Buffalo’s demographics ventured to the site of this makeshift community memorial over the past seven days, they might have left with the impression that Buffalo was a majority Black city. However, as someone who has covered these kinds of tragedies – from Freddie Gray to George Floyd, Charleston to Charlottesville – I can assure you that this noticeable lack of white presence in the aftermath of Black tragedy is not unique.
