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Racial profiling: it does exist
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The arrest of prominent Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates was one of the major news this week. All the media outlets were talking about it and even President Obama got involved. And now he’s being criticized for saying that the arresting officer acted “stupidly.” I suppose it is considered “normal” to arrest a person for breaking into their own home, especially after having established that it is in fact their home. But despite the absurdity of the whole incident and its aftermath, it did bring up the controversial issue of racial profiling.
The majority of people may be in denial, but the reality is that it does exist. After 9/11 for example, people of Middle Eastern descent were harassed and accused of being terrorists, and they still face harassment at airports around the country. Latino people are the main target of Immigration officials. In our society, when there’s talk about closing the border, putting soldiers there, or building a wall, the conversation always focuses on the Mexican side, never the Canadian one.
However, I am not trying to be biased when I say that the group more affected by racial profiling here are black people. The most likely reason for this is the negative stereotypes that affect us. Most of us are supposedly poor and so we supposedly cannot afford nice cars, cannot afford to live in nice neighborhoods, etc. We are supposedly criminals; therefore we are constantly stealing, selling drugs etc. As a result, black people face numerous situations of profiling, from police harassment to being followed in department stores. Even if these negative elements of our community may be in the minority, all of us suffer the consequences of those stereotypes, no matter who we are, as exemplified by this week’s incident.
I myself am speaking from experience. Twice I’ve been stopped by the police for the obvious reasons of racial profiling. The first time the officer said that I fit the description of some guys who had been robbing banks in that particular city. And to think that the “getaway car” was an old style Volkswagen bug. I wish I had checked out the validity of his claim.
The second time was even more absurd. I was at a red light, facing the officer. I suppose he noticed me and when the signal turned green he made a u-turn (despite the fact that he wasn’t even in the turning lane) and followed me. After stopping me and checking my license, he informed me that I was stopped because the lights on my “back” license plate were out. He must have been psychic because there was no way he could have noticed that when he first saw me (we were face to face and so he couldn’t see the back of my car). So I wonder what really made him decide to follow me in the first place.
I have faced problems in stores too. I had always sensed that I was being followed around whenever I’d go into a department store. Then my fears became reality. One time at a Wal-Mart store, I was followed and detained for a moment because they thought I had stolen some items that I had actually exchanged. They recognized their mistake and apologized, but the people who only saw the part where I was detained probably thought I was indeed a thief. It was such an embarrassing moment that I haven’t stepped in a Wal-Mart since.
We don’t have all the facts about Mr. Gates’ incident yet. But, whatever side we’re on in the matter, we have to agree with at least something that the president said: that race is still a problem in this country and that racial profiling does exist. It is an unfortunate problem that affects many, from the prominent people like the professor to the “little” people like me.
Even white people are victims of profiling at times, usually when they are in a non-white neighborhood (usually Black or Latino). However, their harassment pales in comparison to that of black people. Bottom line is: racial profiling of any kind and of anyone is wrong and it needs to stop. Unfortunately, we live in an imperfect world and I honestly don’t believe it’s going to disappear any time soon.
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