TIFU by moving out of the way
My friend and I were standing on a staircase outside of a building. I am white (relevant) and my friend is white passing. A black woman (also relevant) approached and said something I didn’t hear, but I assumed she was trying to get by since we were blocking the stairs, so I moved behind my friend so she could get past.
The woman looked flabbergasted and said, “I’m not gonna hurt you guys or anything, I was just looking for a light.”
I realized that I indeed looked like I was cowering behind my friend.
I was mortified. My friend was mortified. I quickly explained I didn’t hear her and I thought she just wanted past, but I’m not sure she believed me. My friend told her we didn’t have a lighter for her and she went to ask someone else.
My friend told me if I had stepped in front of her instead of behind her, maybe it wouldn’t have looked as bad, but of course, I wasn’t thinking about that, I was thinking, “Oh, we’re so rude and blocking the entry for this woman, I should get over!”
TL;DR - I tried to move out of the way but ended up looking hella racist instead.