I was racially profiled while in the United States Navy. I empathize with the Binghamton NY school girls who were profiled for giggling and being too happy. Each time I came back from hanging with friends, I was chosen for "random urinalysis" because I "was too happy". I was even with my shipmates coming off deployment when we were stopped by California Highway Patrol. Five Black and Brown women looked like "prostitutes". After showing our military IDs, having our command verify who we were and that we did indeed come off deployment, we got an apology that didn't feel like one. Yes, folks my shipmates and I got that kind of reception.
In Alameda, California, there were a few clubs and restaurants, which would include Denny's, that service with open arms. It made me feel like the Darke County Ohio fair of 1986. My mother and I were invited by her friend to go with her. When we three got there, we got states like we didn't belong there. No one spoke to us. It was the most uncomfortable feeling I felt that night. I got more respect from the enlisted club than I did from those few clubs and restaurants.
Fast forward to Memorial Day 2002; I got off work early. I missed the bus going downtown Columbus connecting to the bus taking me home. I decided to browse in a CVS in Westerville Ohio. I was looking at the ingredients in hair products. I stepped out of the store when a police officer stopped me and asked me to empty the contents of my back pack and purse. There was nothing from the store. The manager of the store apologized for thinking I would shoplift. I had my workbadge on my clothes. I had twenty dollars in my wallet. The cop had the nerve to tell me how lucky I was to not have anything in either backpack or purse. Oh yeah did I mention the cop wanted me to give my Social Security number?
Why would I wrote this story? Stop and frisk was a policy that was enacted by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Donald Trump thought racial profiling was a good crime fighting tool. In this report going back to July 2000, there was racial profiling going on in Columbus Ohio.
Since this is an election year, I have yet to decide who I want to see I'm the general election. I'm hoping whoever wins the primary has the ability to beat Trump and correct his most egregious policies.