My brother and I had an uncomfortable encounter doing some fine dining at the Brown hotel in Louisville. Our waiter was white, but his assistant was an older black man. At some point, the assistant came up to clean the table. He complimented us on our suits, complaining that nowadays a lot of people abuse the dress code. He made a bit of small talk and left, but what was uncomfortable was the feeling that he was aping for us. It is interesting that an exaggerated display of deference made us feel as ashamed as being called out

Check out other work in the Racists of America series here.