Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 4 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 24 years, 2 months ago by
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I am a young white corporate executive who likes to skateboard on the weekends. For a while now, I have noticed that when I go shopping in my ‘work’ clothes, I’m fine. Doors open, salesmen smile, etc. But when I go shopping in my ‘street’ clothes, I am almost always treated as a potential shoplifter. My black/minority buddies, most of whom dress ‘street’ all the time, think it’s all about racism. While I know firsthand that being a minority can sometimes result in the unfair treatment, I don’t think this situation is that cut and dry. Hey, I sometimes dress like a ‘hood,’ and frankly am not surprised at the treatment I get. Of course I wish it weren’t that way, and that those businesses somehow knew I wasn’t going to steal from them, but after so many kids who dress like me have done just that, can you blame them?
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Name : Ric-M30045, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 28, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : Communications, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I guess it’s just the way the world goes. Now imagine if the problems still existed when you were in your work clothes. Wouldn’t that suck! We can’t just pull off our skin as easy as clothing. It’s like I can’t even go get a bottle of water without all eyes being on me (and I don’t dress “hood” at all). Sometime I just feel like saying: ‘I can use my trust fund to buy 20 of these stores. I don’t have to attempt to steal.’ It really, really sucks!
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Name : Toni, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 17, City : Las Vegas, State : NV, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class,Although it might seem justified for certain groups of people to get profiled in stores, usually there are no real basis for prejudices against them. For instance, the profile of the typical shoplifter is a white, suburban, middle-class housewife. Yet these people are rarely ‘spied on’ when they enter stores. This is not fair at all. It is unfortunate that people rely on stereotypes to form judgements, but there is a difference between getting unfair treatment due to things you can help (dressing like a ‘hood’, for instance) and things you can’t help (like race). So racial profiling, whether in stores or on the NJ Turnpike, is cut-and-dry racism. And it’s cut-and-dry wrong, period.
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Name : TR24208, Race : Black/African American, City : Newark, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : Ph.D student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,I’m a contractor and I had a service call in an unfamiliar city. I was lost in an urban area and so I went into a gas station to ask directions. The attendant couldn’t help me, but a young black guy overheard and told me that he knew the place that I was looking for. As to the ‘cover’ I mentioned in the subject, this young man dressed ‘street’ with baggy clothes, tatoos and cornrows. He also very politely started to give me directions and then decided it would be easier to show me. He got in his car and led me across town for 20 minutes. He turned off a mile before my destination, but not before he stopped and made sure I knew where I was going. This isn’t the first time I have been helped by a good samaritan that the media and popular culture says should be my enemy, but I try my best to return the favor when I can. Still, I would imagine that a very, very large majority of of the people who shoplift or rob stores dress more like this young man than your typical corporate executive. In theory everyone should be dealt with as an individual, but if you’re a store owner or a shopkeeper I imagine that you have to play the odds a bit even if it seems unfair. I see video of hold-ups and the like every night on the news. I have never seen someone dressed in a business suit shown as the perpetrator. I think it is terrible that a man such as the one I described above should be lumped in with criminals just because of the way he chooses to express himself, but I also don’t think it’s fair to accuse someone of racism or being a hate-monger for reacting with fear to a familiar image. Ultimately, you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, but if you grabbed 100 books off the shelf and guessed what they were about by the jacket you’d probably be right far more than you are wrong. Be discreet and sensible and treat all with respect.
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Name : Kris, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 36, City : Rochester, State : MI, Country : United States, Education level : High School Diploma,Hi I’m a 29 year old black Employment Law Advisor. I have two black children and am well spoken. I am often followed around stores by security guards. Once while wearing a very expensive suit I walked past a lady at a bus stop and sat down. She immediately put away her newspaper that she was contentedly reading until I came along and rammed her bag tightly under her arm. Her actions were obvious. I confronted her and said that I wasn’t going to rob her, I had a good job and was well paid. Of course she denied it. When I refuted that she said ‘you people are all the same anyway’. My boyfriend is white though – and we are in love. N
User Detail :
Name : N. Gordon, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 29, City : London, State : NA, Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : Employment Law Advisor, Education level : 2 Years of College,
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