Published in The South Asian Times, New York, August 1, 2009
Many non-white residents in USA quickly identified with Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., a highly respected academician belonging to the African American community, whose arrest outside his home in Cambridge, MA, sparked a nationwide debate on race and treatment of minority groups by police.
Professor Gates' arrest was strongly criticized by none other than President Obama who later backtracked on a reconciliatory move. Both Obama and Gates belong to a generation that attended Ivy League universities at a time when the affirmative action policy was tested in this country.
It has been reported that the Harvard Professor, who lived in Cambridge, MA, known as a hub of its racial diversity, confronted a White policeman who had responded to a 911 call about a possible robbery attempt in the house that incidentally happened to be his home. The professor had earlier provided his identity but the officer was not satisfied and asked him to step outside of the house for further questioning. He was charged for disorderly behavior as he didn't respond to officer's questions properly and referred the White officer's mother in his outbursts.
The fear of being caught for traffic and other unforeseen violations are real for a common American who goes around his daily chores. As a non-white Asian man I have dealt with this fear and psychological turmoil many times in the past. A few years ago I was stopped by police for driving on yellow lines. On a rainy afternoon I was driving home from work. A long line of cars was ahead of me. As cars lined up in front of me I passed over yellow lines so that I could align in the left lane meant for left turn. As soon as the signal turned green, I turned to my left only to be followed and stopped by a police car. Shivers ran through my veins as I couldn't conceive the reason of being stopped until the officer informed about the reason while he handed me a ticket.
It is not uncommon to see people crossing over yellow lines. I am not sure if these violations are thoroughly monitored. I am not sure how necessary it was for the police to stiop me for a minor violation on a messy day at a time when everyone was impatient to reach home. When I reached the Municipal Court on the day assigned for me to appear and settle the case I could see that most of the 'violaters' were non-White people. The woman judge ordered me to choose between a higher penalty or being slapped with points on my car insurance policy. There was no scope for arguments. I choose to pay the penalty and avoid points on my policy.
Shivers run in my veins when I imagine being arrested and handcuffed in my own home. Once I called 911 after in the middle of the night when I saw two men on the roof of my neighbor's garage. They fled before the police came. I was pleased with the cops behavior as they assured me not to worry since they were going to petrol the area in the night time. However, the neighbors, a White family, never bothered to thank me for saving their garage from robbery.
Such experiences are common for people who can be identified as 'others' on the basis of their skin color. However, every one of us fail to notice it as we are too accustomed to make compromises for our livelihood. Most of us are too busy to recognize that we are being profiled on the basis of the color of our skin during the course of our daily routine.
“I am living in this country for three years but I never experienced any discrimination”, says Ravjit, a Sikh who wears a turban. “I work in a store and most of my customers are White. However, I am unable to recall if they threw any attitude at me because I am not one among them”, he concluded.
The experience of Jatinder Sethi is somewhat different. Sethi, a marketing professional, recalled the days after 9/11 when he was subjected to comments targeted at his turban. “I used to feel very concerned when people looked at me, first at my turban and then at my face. I could sense a kind of resentment on their faces”, he said.
The Indian American residents of Edison Township haven't forgotten the days when police was not treating them with respect. Indian Americans got agitated when they felt marginalized by the police. They were abused by supporters of police during a demonstration at the Municipal Boulevard while police stood silent. It was natural for the Indians Americans to agitate as they were abused with words like 'cockroaches'.
The issue of racial discrimination was a matter of contention during the 2005 Mayoral election in Edison. Subsequently the Township Mayor Jun Choi introduced a special program to recruit cops from the Asian American community and train the police force through cultural awareness workshops. “Now Edison police force understands the need to show respect to other cultures. Our officers value racial diversity and familiar with expressions like 'Namaste'”, Mayor Choi commented recently.
No comments:
Post a Comment