This blog will be a venting session of something that I witnessed first-hand last week. This is NOT another punching bout against the majority culture of our country. However, this IS a challenge to all, both those of the majority and minority cultures, to take a more active and responsible approach to making our cities, states, and country, a more welcoming environment for ALL individuals regardless of how they look. Racial profiling is not restricted to only being done by the majority so, this is why I opened this blog up as such to help with understanding that anyone can perpetuate racial profiling. The next paragraph will briefly explain what I encountered on last week.
As I was leaving my office one day last week, a Middle Eastern middle age male, was outside of my office almost in tears. He stated that the police at an academic building on campus had racially profiled him. The man stated that he had a daughter who attended the university and often drive her up for classes from Lawrenceville, GA, which is approximately 45 minutes away. Since the beginning of the school year, he drives his daughter up and walks around the campus and around the building his daughter takes classes. According to him, he was merely sitting outside of the building on a bench when the police drove up and questioned him about being near the building. They identified the man, then drafted documentation barring him from being within 90 ft. from the building for 90 days. The police stated that they had received a call from someone in the building about him loitering around the building. Again, the man was in tears and wanted to know how I could help him, as he merely wanted to know a place where he could wait until his daughter finish with classes. I suggested that he try waiting in the library as this could pose a less threatening act to the campus community.
In my previous blog entitled Christianity & Islam: Are We Heading To Another Crusades?, I examine briefly the relations of between Christianity & Islam, however, this fear that I refer to of supersedes religious warfare. Since September 11, 2001, so many Americans have feared another terror attack. The focus of this fear has been against Muslims, particularly those with any ethnic visible traits people in Middle Eastern countries. Many Muslim in America have been hated and even kicked out of stores, etc. Why is it that people assume that all Muslims are Terrorists or “anti-American?” This assumption and fear makes Americans group anyone that looks as if they have any ties to Islam or Middle Eastern countries with the terrorists and extremists who were responsible for the attack in New York. Given that we are, naturally, creatures who like to categorize everything to help our minds make sense of the world, a lot of these assumptions are simply in result of our minds simply trying to process and make sense of our society. However, we must continue and always challenge this thinking to help educate the greater community that all people with Middle Eastern decent are not terrorist and not even Muslims, not all Hispanics are illegal immigrants, not all Blacks are thugs, lazy, athletes, or any of the other stereotypes that comes with these ethnicities.
Police typically don’t feel as if they are being wrong in profiling individuals after all, they are merely trying to keep our neighborhoods safe. However, according to Harcourt (2006), racial profiling is ineffective because it assumes that terrorists are not going to adapt to changing circumstances, and, as a result, putting the police one step behind. Now according to this source, they are referring to using profiling as a counterterrorism approach. However, this can be applied to any racial profiling situation. For example, the police can’t assume that every Hispanic is an illegal immigrant because if that’s the case, then those from other countries could “dress” themselves as a citizen when they themselves are illegal.
Harcourt, Bernard E. 2006, Muslim Profiles Post 9/11: Is Racial Profiling an Effective Counterterrorist Measure and Does It Violate the Right to be Free from Discrimination? The Chicago Working Paper Series. http://www.law.uchicago.edu/Lawecon/index.html
The writer's description of this incident seems very much accurate in terms of what I told him and what he concluded. It was not my intention,however, to publish this. I needed help from anywhere to find a safe place/or method of waiting. The police suggested Athens library and since then I joined that library and even volunteered my services...but that volunteering did not materialize. However my membership with that library has so far yielded a lot of benefits.
ReplyDeleteObviously the suggestion by the police proved very beneficial and I owe him a gratitude. And indeed I have conveyed that gratitude to the commanding officer.
For me this incident was very upsetting and it brought out the tears for a long period of time. Such occurrences would indeed deeply affect the recipient...especially when the recipient is an honest law abiding folk, humble and meaning no harm to any one. I am only a poor father dedicated to the welfare of my family.
The police spent a lot of time talking to me and after they learnt whom I was they seemed sympathetic, but they had to do their job in response to the type of call they had received.
After the depressing waves of this incident receded, I looked back and with hindsight, I concluded that the police did what they had had to do. And they should be commended for that.
We need,perhaps, to look into the workings and processes of the minds, who, in the first place,based their decision on assumptions. Their decision making processes were flawed with predetermind concepts ...a psycological brush which can easily be used without due consideration and examination of the facts. Many times in our lives we often are victims of hasty decision making..it is a standard personality trait....for the untrained decision maker. Those who are in responsible positions involving the making of crucial decisions which would affect their businesses /or community/or country should received effective training in psychology which would help them develop the right personality and intellectual trait which would then help them to step back for a moment, get and examine the facts...not just allowing their intuition and predetermined, preformed concepts to guide them. In such positions many of us are being affected by a sort of CONFIRMATION BIAS and in the short term run away in celebration with a "popular"/or admired decision.Such decisions in the long term is more degrading than uplifting and hence not good for a business, a community or a country.
Mind you...I have to respect such persons whose noble intention is for the over all good. So its not them I am saying...I am saying that their decision making process was flawed.
We all need critical decision making training in this area for our personal success, for the success of our businesses, for the success of our community, state and country.
I have come a long way since then and I have to say that the UGA campus is a very safe campus. The police are there frequently.
I would definitely commend the police for their work in this area and also commend the authorities for looking out for the safety and security of the students.
I commend them all.