I was racially profiled at Disney Springs. What to do if it happens to you.

Privilege implies someone received something that wasn’t earned. No one ever gave me anything that wasn’t earned. I often worked 40 hours/week at McDonalds (until close often) during the school year in high school. I worked very hard for everything I ever had and hate when people cheapen my efforts by claimingI enjoyed a privilege. If you did fine but I didn’t. .

There are many good articles on white privilege if you google it. It is not what you describe.
 
There are many good articles on white privilege if you google it. It is not what you describe.
Look I worked in Equatorial Africa for some years. Did I enjoy a privileged skin color there? May I Google that and find out?

The logical basis for these views are fundamentally racist. These posters know nothing at all about me and yet they claim because of my race that I enjoyed privileges. That is a racist argument. How could I possibly have enjoyed privileges because of my skin color vis a vis the dominant culture in Equatorial Africa?
 
I worked in equatorial Africa for some years so I really find these arguments about skin color and dominant culture racist.

I think you may have unintentionally stumbled into the point. Yes, racism does exist and people of different skin colors are treated differently in America.

Did I enjoy my privileged skin color in equatorial Africa do you believe?

You could probably speak to that better than me. I have no idea how the various societies of equatorial Africa are structured. But I'm very confident that white people are afforded privilege in America, which was the original milieu you were describing.
 
I don't know how this discussion turned into white privilege.

Anyways, FWIW I think the OP's information about what to do can apply to multiple different scenarios so I appreciate the OP taking the time to discuss their situation.

I have no doubt the OP believes they were racially profiled and it's what prompted (at least from what I read) their complaint.

I lack the ability to be able to discern if it was or wasn't; that doesn't mean it wasn't what happened I just lack the ability to know if that is what happened-that will be for IA to investigate.

OP if you ever hear back from them regarding the outcome of the investiation please come back and let us know. It's probably a very big long shot in actually knowing but I thought I would put that out there just in case. I really don't know if any of IA investigations are made available or kept in-house--apologies on my lack of knowledge on that front.
 


As serious of a subject as this is, I don't think these boards are where to productively discuss it. People are "profiled" in daily life for race, weight, sex, mental health, etc... It sucks when you feel you are being singled out and treated differently, but the benefit in this case should be weighed with the "cost". Security vs. inconvenience?
 
I think you may have unintentionally stumbled into the point. Yes, racism does exist and people of different skin colors are treated differently in America.



You could probably speak to that better than me. I have no idea how the various societies of equatorial Africa are structured. But I'm very confident that white people are afforded privilege in America, which was the original milieu you were describing.
Speak for yourself because that is a racist argument. Maybe you enjoyed privileges but I did not.

The US is about the levelest playing field for race and all nationalities that the world has ever seen. That is the reason that Africans and Asians and Latinos are flooding across the borders. In equatorial Africa people with sufficient money send their pregnant wives to the US to have babies.

What you state is completely at odds with reality. I am sure you will not accept it but it is the fact of the matter. Never once in Equatorial Africa did I hear the claim that the US is racist. Quite the opposite of what you state and they pay whatever it takes to have their children have US citizenship. I don’t believe parents can make any stronger statement then when they dream and execute a plan so their children will be US citizens.

I know it is pointless and that ideologues will never be swayed so no continuation of this useless back and forth for me.
 


Speak for yourself because that is a racist argument. Maybe you enjoyed privileges but I did not.

The US is about the levelest playing field for race and all nationalities that the world has ever seen. That is the reason that Africans and Asians and Latinos are flooding across the borders. In equatorial Africa people with sufficient money send their pregnant wives to the US to have babies.

What you state is completely at odds with reality. I am sure you will not accept it but it is the fact of the matter. Never once in Equatorial Africa did I hear the claim that the US is racist. Quite the opposite of what you state and they pay whatever it takes to have their children have US citizenship. I don’t believe parents can make any stronger statement then when they dream and execute a plan so their children will be US citizens.

I know it is pointless and that ideologues will never be swayed so no continuation of this useless back and forth for me.

You are more worldly then most people that are born/raised/ and have never left America. Most Americans have no clue what the rest of the world is really like. America comes across as a very racist country because people yell about it the loudest here. Almost all cultures, in some way, discriminate against others not like themselves. And you are right that there is a reason why so many people, of all nationalities, want to come here and even risk their lives trying to do so. In a perfect world everyone would be judged by only their actions. And many do look past skin color differences but we hear most loudly about those who do not. And discrimination has never been only about dark colored skinned people. Just read true history of this country. Irish people where the first slaves that were brought over long before Africans. Why don't we hear about that? First is was the Irish that were "beneath" others, then it was the Italians, then the Chinese. Egyptians enslaved their own people. It goes on and on. This is one of the worst parts of human nature. You would think that humans would have evolved by now. The best thing that anyone can do is to act like you want to be treated. If you want to be treated with respect and dignity, then act with respect and dignity and be above the racist. FYI, I am in no way saying that the OP was acting in any way wrong. This is just a general statement learned from being raised by immigrants to this country that have dealt with discrimination.
 
You are more worldly then most people that are born/raised/ and have never left America. Most Americans have no clue what the rest of the world is really like. America comes across as a very racist country because people yell about it the loudest here. Almost all cultures, in some way, discriminate against others not like themselves. And you are right that there is a reason why so many people, of all nationalities, want to come here and even risk their lives trying to do so. In a perfect world everyone would be judged by only their actions. And many do look past skin color differences but we hear most loudly about those who do not. And discrimination has never been only about dark colored skinned people. Just read true history of this country. Irish people where the first slaves that were brought over long before Africans. Why don't we hear about that? First is was the Irish that were "beneath" others, then it was the Italians, then the Chinese. Egyptians enslaved their own people. It goes on and on. This is one of the worst parts of human nature. You would think that humans would have evolved by now. The best thing that anyone can do is to act like you want to be treated. If you want to be treated with respect and dignity, then act with respect and dignity and be above the racist. FYI, I am in no way saying that the OP was acting in any way wrong. This is just a general statement learned from being raised by immigrants to this country that have dealt with discrimination.

I'm not going to respond to most of your post because no good will come of it, but we have to acknowledge that facts are facts and lies are lies. The Irish were not enslaved in what is now the USA. That is a myth promulgated by white nationalists and others of ill-character and is patently and provably false. Many Irish came to this country as indentured servants, which resulted in terrible treatment but was not slavery. So, in short, we don't hear about "Irish slavery" because it is a lie. If you were unaware of that, please educate yourself. If you truly believe it to be true, then...
 
I’m a 69 year old white woman married to a white lawyer. And based on my husbands experiences with a lot of clients I can say with a good deal of certainty that Profiling happens a lot. Maybe even the police don’t realize they are doing it but driving or sometimes even walking while black or brown is much more likely to get you stopped. My husband has preached to young guys who are minorities time and again that if you have a group of young people in a car, a policeman is far more likely to find a reason. To stop you than a carload if white kids. Is that a general statement of how all cops are. Of course not. But it happens a lot. And young men of color need to do exactly what grillman89 said to do. It’s a sad state of affairs but we need to keep our young and older people of color safe.
 
I'm going to START by believing the POC and go from there.

So, I guess you think this is somehow noble or something, but it is disgusting. Horrific actually. That you would choose to believe or not believe someone, solely on the basis of their skin colour. That is what we do NOT need in the world. We should want to fix this mindset, not perpetuate the cycle. The thing about cycles is, they come around again. So how about working to stop stereotyping and racism, rather than just try to invert it into a different victim?

You are also the one who said you would believe this officer was racist because you read the news. Well, I also read the news. In my city there is a huge outbreak of gang gun violence, all of the perpetrators are black. Does that mean I should say I don't trust any black people because I read the news?? Really? What would your response be if anyone did try to say that?

But then I am also a female who doesn't necessarily believe all female accusers are always telling the truth in sexual harassment or sexual assault cases. I've been around too long to blindly believe ANYONE.
 
Look I worked in Equatorial Africa for some years. Did I enjoy a privileged skin color there? May I Google that and find out?

The logical basis for these views are fundamentally racist. These posters know nothing at all about me and yet they claim because of my race that I enjoyed privileges. That is a racist argument. How could I possibly have enjoyed privileges because of my skin color vis a vis the dominant culture in Equatorial Africa?

I'm talking about in this country. Thought that was obvious.
 
I’m a 69 year old white woman married to a white lawyer. And based on my husbands experiences with a lot of clients I can say with a good deal of certainty that Profiling happens a lot. Maybe even the police don’t realize they are doing it but driving or sometimes even walking while black or brown is much more likely to get you stopped. My husband has preached to young guys who are minorities time and again that if you have a group of young people in a car, a policeman is far more likely to find a reason. To stop you than a carload if white kids. Is that a general statement of how all cops are. Of course not. But it happens a lot. And young men of color need to do exactly what grillman89 said to do. It’s a sad state of affairs but we need to keep our young and older people of color safe.


The first time I was aware of this was when I worked in New Jersey in a somewhat ruralish area...large corporate headquarters building. I had 5 lawyers working for me, one of whom was African American. We were having a conversation about driving to work, and what a pain traffic could be, and the AA guy said "well, at least you don't have to build time in to get stopped by the cops." I was a little taken aback, and he tells me that he had been pulled over a 1/2 dozen times in the first few months he'd lived/worked in that area while driving to work. I NEVER got pulled over in the 5 years I lived in that area. We drove a similar type of nicer vehicle. He never got a ticket. Not once. But, they would pull him over on what I will call a pretense (failure to signal a lane change....for example). See his license and registration and let him go on his way. He knew exactly what they were doing...what's the black guy doing in a nice car in THIS part of the state (overwhelmingly white). And, it wasn't just me who had never been pulled over. No one else in the group had either. But, oddly enough, the black guy gets pulled over repeatedly. It was an eye-opening conversation to me. I'll never forget it.
 
Speak for yourself because that is a racist argument. Maybe you enjoyed privileges but I did not.

The US is about the levelest playing field for race and all nationalities that the world has ever seen. That is the reason that Africans and Asians and Latinos are flooding across the borders. In equatorial Africa people with sufficient money send their pregnant wives to the US to have babies.

What you state is completely at odds with reality. I am sure you will not accept it but it is the fact of the matter. Never once in Equatorial Africa did I hear the claim that the US is racist. Quite the opposite of what you state and they pay whatever it takes to have their children have US citizenship. I don’t believe parents can make any stronger statement then when they dream and execute a plan so their children will be US citizens.

I know it is pointless and that ideologues will never be swayed so no continuation of this useless back and forth for me.

It never ceases to amaze me, the complete ignorance of people denying that racism is a problem for people of color in this country. Absolutely outrageous. I'm not blind, I'm not deaf - it exists.
 
That is my wife. I worked in equatorial Africa for some years so I really find these arguments about skin color and dominant culture racist. Did I enjoy my privileged skin color in equatorial Africa do you believe?
That is my wife. I worked in equatorial Africa for some years so I really find these arguments about skin color and dominant culture racist. Did I enjoy my privileged skin color in equatorial Africa do you believe?
You should alert people in the rest of the world that they are wrong in coming here and you especially have an obligation to warn them for the sake of their children.

Well since CNN is so pervasive I guess they do hear these views from the US but must discount the importance of them for some reason.
 
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I was taken out of line going thru airport security and the security officer (female) put gloves on and frisked my entire body. I am a white female and she was an African American female. It happens both ways.
 
But isn’t there a difference between what you describe and being asked outright whether you are carrying a gun? I would be terrified if a police officer in any country approached me and those were his/her first words to me.

Just wondering, why would you be "terrified", if you weren't carrying a gun??? Wouldn't you just say "no"?
 
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I was taken out of line going thru airport security and the security officer (female) put gloves on and frisked my entire body. I am a white female and she was an African American female. It happens both ways.
I’ve been ‘frisked’ by TSA too. Frankly, I don’t remember the race of the woman who searched me. Just so you know, the person who searches you is usually not the one who makes the decision that you be searched. So, the profiling is done by someone else.
 
This all reminds me of when I was pulled over several years ago. I was a female in her thirties and I am a blonde white woman. It was dark so I doubt that he could see me well. What was really interesting was that a second police car pulled up too.

The officer looked at my drivers license and then told me that he was just checking to see if I was ok and to have a nice evening. DH said that it was likely my car that fit some kind of profile.

It happens to all kinds of people for many reasons. I do believe that it happens more often to minorities particularly males though. It's impossible to know if the OP was racially profiled or not.
 

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