Lock doors on habit, not on cue
Culture Science
Niketa Reed
Issue date: 9/5/08 Section: Opinion
Sometimes I forget about race. I hate to think brown skin is a reminder for "danger," but it happens.
So when local news teams warn students to secure their car doors because September and October have the highest reported car thefts and burglaries, I wince. Locking your door should become routine; this isn't Mayberry.
Rewind to an incident during my first two weeks at the UA. One evening, I was walking toward a Walgreens and approached a dated station wagon that was parked at the door entrance. The owner, a middle-aged white man who was seated in the car, looked into my face and immediately locked his doors.
My first reaction was "He should be robbing me!" Then the shock settled in. The shame and embarrassment from that day created a paranoia for phantasm racism. Let's call it my "Crash" moment.
That man had a choice. He could have taken a risk to appear politically correct or act to protect himself. And, of course, he chose the latter.
What would have happened if the "better safe than sorry" came too late? Perhaps that would have been written off as a fluke in the system.
All I've ever known is the Midwest, so stories of white privilege and discrimination became urban legend. I never so much as had one detention throughout my whole life, and here I was subconsciously labeled. So this is how black men often feel.
In a past article in The Morning News on the misconceptions of immigration, Jim Miranda of Bella Vista told reporters that he was "a little surprised to learn Hispanics were not responsible for a disproportionate number of arrests" after he requested arrest records from the Rogers area.
Further, he remarked, "If we wiped out white males, you could get rid of auto theft," in response to the argument that tougher immigration enforcement meant lower crime rates, which he found "preposterous."
He has a point. It's no secret the media engages in racial profiling, scaring viewers into thinking "minority" is synonymous with "malicious." We're people, too, and not all of us have criminal backgrounds or live in the 'hood. To disproportionately report crimes involving minorities in comparison to the hundreds of faceless white offenders is a crime within itself.
So when local news teams warn students to secure their car doors because September and October have the highest reported car thefts and burglaries, I wince. Locking your door should become routine; this isn't Mayberry.
Rewind to an incident during my first two weeks at the UA. One evening, I was walking toward a Walgreens and approached a dated station wagon that was parked at the door entrance. The owner, a middle-aged white man who was seated in the car, looked into my face and immediately locked his doors.
My first reaction was "He should be robbing me!" Then the shock settled in. The shame and embarrassment from that day created a paranoia for phantasm racism. Let's call it my "Crash" moment.
That man had a choice. He could have taken a risk to appear politically correct or act to protect himself. And, of course, he chose the latter.
What would have happened if the "better safe than sorry" came too late? Perhaps that would have been written off as a fluke in the system.
All I've ever known is the Midwest, so stories of white privilege and discrimination became urban legend. I never so much as had one detention throughout my whole life, and here I was subconsciously labeled. So this is how black men often feel.
In a past article in The Morning News on the misconceptions of immigration, Jim Miranda of Bella Vista told reporters that he was "a little surprised to learn Hispanics were not responsible for a disproportionate number of arrests" after he requested arrest records from the Rogers area.
Further, he remarked, "If we wiped out white males, you could get rid of auto theft," in response to the argument that tougher immigration enforcement meant lower crime rates, which he found "preposterous."
He has a point. It's no secret the media engages in racial profiling, scaring viewers into thinking "minority" is synonymous with "malicious." We're people, too, and not all of us have criminal backgrounds or live in the 'hood. To disproportionately report crimes involving minorities in comparison to the hundreds of faceless white offenders is a crime within itself.
Be the first to comment on this story