Real-Time Racial Profiling


On a recent trip to my local Kroger, I witnessed an event that not only surprised me, but it also left me thinking hard. What better time to share this story than now - considering the fact that it fits perfectly into what we have been discussing in my English class lately. As Brent Staples puts it, I witnessed a human being’s ability to “alter public space in ugly ways.”

                I was waiting in line at the self-checkout area one night and a young African American male was standing in front of me. He fit the stereotypical description of a black man from Detroit – saggy pants, a hoodie, boots, the whole look. Needless to say, he seemed a little out of place in a predominantly white area (Troy). I didn’t notice this at first until after the incident. He seemed to me like any tired person just waiting to pay for their groceries and go home to their family. However, I started to realize people staring at him strangely as they walked past. Was it his look? His skin color? The slight odor of smoke? Some strangers deliberately avoided crossing paths with him, others ignored him. But what shocked me the most was the way the Kroger employee treated this man. She automatically assumed he was a risk, and I could tell by the way she followed him to his check-out station and stood behind him as he made his purchases. Keep in mind there were other customers in the store and she hadn’t done this to a single other person before the man. She even made sure he actually scanned all of his items and watched him pay.

                I was completely taken aback by what I had just seen; real, silent racial profiling in front of my own eyes. I felt shocked, angry, upset, a tidal wave of emotions. The man didn’t say a single word the whole time, but he knew what was going on. He knew he had the ability to alter public space negatively. In this day and age, the disgusting act of racial profiling is honestly becoming far too common, even, dare I say, endorsed by our own fool of a president.  This creates the discrimination we worked so hard to eradicate in years past, yet here we are again. History could quite possibly be repeating itself.
My reaction...WHERE IS THE LOGIC?!
 

 

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