Is there more racial profiling today or am I just more sensitive or is the media more attuned to these situations? In recent weeks we have heard four allegations that Macy’s and Barney’s erroneously held African American shoppers after they made large purchases.
This week in Texas, an Oklahoma teen who was traveling with two young Black men (one who had temporary guardianship papers for her) on her way to a hip hop dance contest was handcuffed and taken into custody when the three were found sleeping in a car a 3 am. Grounds for suspicion? Probably. However even after the trio explained themselves and the police talked with the young girl’s mother who verified the purpose of the trip, the three were still handcuffed and she taken to child protective services. The police officer reluctantly talked to the girl’s mother and said: “Are you aware your daughter is in Houston, Texas, with two Black men?”
Thousands of miles away in Rochester, New York, three African-American high school students were arrested while they waited on a bus to take them to a basketball scrimmage.
A police officer asked the group to disperse, but they refused and told the policeman that they were waiting for a school bus. The players were arrested. When the coach attempted to intervene, he was told that he, too, might get arrested if he continued to protest the officers’ action.
The coach, who also works as a guidance counselor at a Rochester high school, said he told the police officers: “Sir, I’m the adult. I’m their varsity basketball coach. How can you book me? What am I doing wrong? Matter of fact, what are these guys doing wrong?’’
The district attorney dismissed the charges against the young men and there is an ongoing investigation of the police actions.
There is a popular phase in the black community…“driving while Black” to describe the disproportionately high rate that police stop Black motorists. It seems now we have to add to the list, “shopping while Black”, “waiting while Black” or “standing while Black” or in Trayvon Martin’s case “walking while Black”.
