Driving While Black, Flying While Arab, Walking While Latino

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Posted by Race-Talk at 9:56 am
June 9, 2010

Driving While Black, Flying While Arab, Walking While Latino

By Marcia Alesan Dawkins, Ph.D.


Driving while Black. Flying while Arab. Walking while Latino (in Arizona). Not everyone has to worry about raising “reasonable suspicion” in all these settings. As someone who does, I’ve come to appreciate the complex natures of race, identity and a sense of belonging in the U.S. From “random” security checks, to unnecessary delays, to getting escorted off planes, to general harassment, I’ve seen it all. No matter how American I might feel inside, these experiences coupled with the questions “Where are you from?” or “What are you?” remind me that I’m not “really American” and that I will always be viewed as a stranger.

As a child I remember being in the car with my father and getting stopped several times for speeding tickets. Though my Dad undeniably had a lead foot, I always wondered why we got stopped so much. It wasn’t until I was older and learned about racial profiling as a technology of modern policing that I figured it out. According to Professor Oscar Gandy, “racial profiling is characterized as a troubled technology because of the way in which the use of racial identification as an index of criminality contributes to the cumulative disadvantage that shapes the life chances of African Americans.”

In other words, there is physical, psychological and economic danger present when law enforcement agencies use racial classification to identify people as members of a suspect class that is subject to special attention by the police. There is also the danger of differing perceptions. According to a 2004 Gallup poll, “perceptions about the prevalence of racial profiling differ by racial and ethnic group — Hispanics and blacks generally believe it is more common than whites. For example, a majority of black Americans (67%) feel racial profiling is widespread in traffic stops, a sentiment shared by nearly the same percentage of Hispanic Americans (63%). By contrast, only half (50%) of non-Hispanic whites feel the practice is widespread.” .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/06/09/deterred-and-discouraged/