Racist advice to avoid Black and Arab people spreads on X

A message circulated on X, written in Polish, advises pedestrians to cross the street or discreetly move away when encountering Black or North African individuals in open spaces, adding that one should never turn their back on them. The text provides no data or source to support this recommendation.

## What the message says and its language
The circulating text is written in Polish and presented as practical street advice. It recommends crossing the street upon seeing a Black or North African person, moving away without alerting them if the encounter occurs in an open space, and never turning one's back on them. The person spreading it claims to have applied this "all their life," without specifying city, date, or circumstances.

The original **X** post does not identify its author nor provide any data supporting the recommendation. There are no crime statistics, police reports, or studies backing the association between these individuals and pedestrian risk. It is a behavioral instruction, not news.

## Why circulating without data matters
The message functions as a social norm: it turns subjective perception into a rule of conduct for strangers. By presenting itself as advice rather than a complaint, it avoids the burden of proof. No one needs to demonstrate anything; repetition suffices.

This format has measurable economic consequences. Discrimination based on origin in access to housing, employment, or services reduces labor participation among affected groups and makes integration more costly. There is no official figure quantifying the effect of this specific tweet, and it should be stated clearly: any number attributed to it would be invented.

## The legal framework in Spain
Spain classifies discrimination based on racial or ethnic origin as an offense under **Law 15/2022**, dated July 12, on comprehensive equality of treatment and non-discrimination. This regulation contemplates administrative sanctions and also protects against behaviors that incite avoiding or segregating a group.

The text does not formulate an explicit threat but fits the logic pursued by the law: targeting a group by appearance and prescribing physical distance. The boundary between opinion and discrimination is not set by tone, but by the criterion of differentiated treatment based on origin.

## How to read unsourced advice
The practical rule is simple: if a message prescribes how to treat a group of people and cites no data, it is not information, it is a slogan. The Polish language of the original changes nothing; neither does the translation. What is missing remains missing in any language.

No safety recommendation based on someone's physical appearance replaces the criteria used by the police themselves. If the matter leads to a specific incident, the appropriate action is to report it, not to generalize.