Racism?
At my school, they check ID's as students walk through the door. Supposedly all non-students are supposed to show photo ID and check in. My rebellious nature has dictated that I test the system to see how many consecutive weeks I can pass by the security guard without being asked to show my ID. (I did manage to supress my rebellious nature enough to actually obtain a student ID - I wanted the movie discounts.) So far, we've been in class four weeks; four weeks have gone by without anyone asking me for any kind of ID.
What bothers me the most about this situation is not that I feel that I am in danger of suspicious people finding their way into my school and subsequently doing me harm. What does bother me is that the last two weeks, while I was slinking past the security guard without showing my ID, black students were actually stopped and asked to show ID before entering the building.
The security guard himself is black - is this racism? Racial profiling? A case of me being really good at being inconspicuous? (The security guard today actually looked at me as I walked past, but not one word from him.) Why do these black students get stopped and I don't? I am not sure, but I don't like it. In fact, I don't like it enough to continue my research into how many consecutive weeks will go by before I am asked for my ID (okay, I would have done it anyway).
posted by Shoshana @ 9:39 PM
4 Comments:
So, I often feel conflicted about this issue. One thing is that in this country it is almost impossible to have an earnest discussion about racial issues. So here goes a walk through a minefield...
I'm no socialogist, but I think it is safe to say that more crime will be found in the poorer elements of society. Due to a variety of historical factors, blacks and hispanics are disproportionately represented in the poorer strata of society mand therefore disproportionately involved in crime.
Is it racial profiling? - I'd guess yes. Is it wrong? It is unjust. The school may think they are doing this for the right reasons or it may just be local prejudices of the rent-a-cops.
e-kvetcher -
I don't disagree with what you are saying about crime being disproportionately high in those areas of high poverty. My thing is, if the school has a policy of checking IDs before people enter the building, they should check EVERYONE's IDs, not just the black students. That way, there is no basis for accusations of racism or discrimination, and I honestly don't think it would be such a hard practice to employ.
There is no way for you to know if there was a precipitating reason for this such as a problem in the past with black students bringing their non-student friends with them to school.
On another note -- student discounts! I never even thought of that! Thank you for reminding me! :)
There could be any number of reasons... perhaps you stick out as a Jewish girl, and the guards recognize you; but with a large number of black students, perhaps it's harder to remember who is a student and who is not.
Personally, I'm in favor of profiling (as long as it is warranted), but if there's no reason to assume blacks are sneaking in than whites, it would be wrong for the school to discriminate.
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