A note on white privilege--my experience

[woolldog]

I know a lot has been posted about white privilege lately. And most of you are sick of hearing about it. But I wanted to relate a recent experience. Recent as in a couple of hours ago. Maybe it's relevant. Maybe it isn't.

I'm sitting at a bar in Alabama (I'm in Alabama apartment hunting for my new job as a civil rights attorney for the federal government) and the police walk in. There are about 10 other people in there. But they go straight to me. They don't look at anyone else. They make a beeline towards me.They ask me for my ID. I'm shook up but I give it to them. I've got nothing to hide. They ask me where im staying. I'm staying at the days inn next door. They tell me I "match the description" of a suspected felon. The (white) bartender tells them I've been sitting at the bar for 3 hours at least. Yes 3 hours. They ignore him. They are rude to hm. They tell him to shut up. I ask what the description is. They tell me the description is a "light skinned black man". That's it. No height. No weight. No clothing. No facial features. No hair length. No distinguishing characteristics.. Nothing except for a light skinned black guy. lol.

They run my ID...nothing, of course. I'm a former prosecutor and a Yale law school graduate. I graduated from Berkeley undergrad with honors. I'm more than well off financially (despite staying at a days inn) But that doesn't matter, you see. I'm a light skinned black guy and I "match the description". They bring in a witness. A white woman. They ask her if I'm the guy and without hesitation she says "yes, that's him". Im dumbfounded, nonplussed. I can't believe what's happening. I've never been arrested in my life. Not once. I've always done everything the right way. The way my parent taught me; the way white society taught me. They tell me to stand up and start putting me in handcuffs. I look the "witness" dead in the eye, like "wtf are you doing?" I'm tearing up. Then the "witness" has a change of heart. She's like "wait the guy was a lot taller". "He didn't have glasses" (basically he looked nothing like me....lol). She hesitates and says "I dont thnk it's him". The officer asks "are you sure" almost begging her to change her mind....lol. She pauses for an eternity and then says "noooooo I don't think it's him". Not nearly as definite as I'd like. This one white woman I'd never seen before and will never see again quite possibly held the fate of my life in her hands. It was fucking scary. I felt so small. I've done everything right in my life. It doesn't fucking matter. I'm not some "thug" who wears gold teeth and sags his pants". But it didn't fucking matter. The police let me go after confirming with the "witness" but I was shook up. Trembling. Shaking. I tried to talk to the officer who had almost arrested me so I could process what just happened. In a respectful way of course, lest I get arrested for "disturbing the peace" or some such. But he wanted none of it. He thought I was trying to blame him. And I wasn't. I was just trying to understand what the hell had happened. He got frustrated whe I was talking and said "you know what, here's your license I'm done with you" and gave me back my locense. Maybe he was right to be so impatient with me since there was a felon on the loose. But he was rude. To me. To the owner. To the bartenders.

The bar owner and bartender were super nice. They apologized in their thick Alabama accents. They went and talked to the police and complained. The owner said he would talk to the mayor of the town tomorrow (and I believe him). They gave me free drinks lol

I'm thinking maybe Alabama isn't the place for me.

[Suich]

1. Wow!

I'm really sorry this happened to you, woolldog. Absolutely frightening.

If there is any followup with the bar owner and the mayor, please keep us posted.

[woolldog]

3. Thank you.

I was tearing up as I wrote this. Frankly, I'm scared to leave my hotel room now.

[Behind the Aegis]

2. How horrible!

You shouldn't have had to endure that at all. As awful as it was, maybe Alabama isn't right for you, but as a civil rights attorney, maybe it is, it certainly sounds like that area needs a good one.

Good luck on your job search.

[woolldog]

4. Thank you.

I've been offered and accepted the job. Not sure I want it anymore though.

[Behind the Aegis]

5. I can certainly understand your trepidation.

You have experienced a scary and humiliating ordeal. But a good civil rights lawyer might be what others who experienced similar events really need. It could also be cathartic for you. It comes down to what is best for you though. There are other jobs out there. Stay safe.

[Live and Learn]

16. I'd have to be really hard up to take

a job there, white as I am.

Not a good place for progressives, in general and certainly not black ones. Then again, they sure need more of them. Seems like you need to decide if you are willing to stand your ground and demand change or run like most of us would do.

It really is a personal choice and it would be a sacrifice but Alabama could sure use some people of your caliber.

[RainDog]

20. what a horrible experience!

congrats on the job... I think. I hope. I don't know if I'd be brave enough to take on that culture after that.

Your situation would make a great article - the irony of interviewing for a job as a civil right's attn - 1st day there... bam. - and bringing the issue of witness i.d. to wider knowledge.

My ex is from another country, but was white - and he was, frankly, terrified of a certain sort of southern man who would do that sort of thing. His best friend in grad school was from Nigeria - and that guy said he would never live here b/c of his brief experience of the south. His wife was American so they, without him, moved to Nigeria when their kids were infants to live with his family so they wouldn't be subject to treatment that African Americans receive.

[Violet_Crumble]

6. I'm so sorry that happened to you...

That's a really horrifying situation to have found yrself in. I hate it that things like that can and do still happen

[Unknown Beatle]

7. What a terrible experience.

I'm so sorry you had to go through that and in Alabama of all places.

[woolldog]

8. This was my first night in Alabama.

Not an auspicious beginning.

[Exposethefrauds]

9. Welcome to Alabama and the South!

Having spend a fair amount of time in that part of the world and after reading your post I would recommend seeking employment in another part of the country.

As a White Male Liberal I would never, ever consider moving back to that part of the world.

If you stay good luck, you will need it.

[woolldog]

13. Would it be worth it to file a complaint

with the Vestavia Hills police department? I didn't catch the names of the officers, but surely there's a record.

[Exposethefrauds]

15. Well you could but don't forget how you were greeted by the welcoming committee

As an educated person of color you represent what the bigots hate and fear the most.

[Enthusiast]

10. That completely sucks.

I'm glad things didn't go worse for you, as it certainly could have.

[noiretextatique]

11. my sister is trying to get out of alabama

she got a promotion,but is contemplating retirement to atlanta...or belize. alabama, goddamn!

[bearssoapbox]

12. That's sickening.

Is there any chance that you will run into that cretin while you are doing your job?

He probably wouldn't remember you though.

[woolldog]

14. The officers conduct, while bad and unacceptable,

isn't what troubled me the most.

In law school I read many studies and papers on the problems with cross racial eyewitness identifications and was already very skeptical of those types of IDs. It's one thing to read studies on it; it's another to be the object of it and to witness the flaws firsthand. I was stunned when this "eyewitness" said so blithely said "yep that's him". She wasn't looking at me as a person. She only saw my skin color/race in that moment. It was only when I engaged her that she was able to see past that and realize I wasn't the guy. How many times does that happen where the "suspect" isn't so lucky? We hear all the time of people being released from prison who were falsely convicted based on eyewitness IDs.

[bearssoapbox]

18. I can't imagine how you felt.

From your experience,it sounds like you might be needed there.

Good luck and I hope your job goes well.

[whathehell]

34. My sibling, who is a lawyer says "eyewitness" testimony is

notoriously unreliable, even when race is not an issue and I'd bet

it's even worse when more than one race is involved.

That being said, I certainly understand your apprehensions -- It IS Alabama,

after all, and the cops ignoring the accounts of both the bartender & other

bar patrons regarding your three hour presence there is MOST suspicious.

I'm white and I'd be quite hesitant about moving to Alabama.

On the other hand, I'd probably have to weigh that against my level of interest

in the job.

Good luck to you, whatever you decide.

[BumRushDaShow]

17. That's been going on for hundreds of years

daily.

And people wonder why folks get upset and go ballistic about this. The daily outrages that might seem "minor" to others, but that accumulate over lifetimes, generation after generation.

[Squinch]

19. Oh my god! I would have completely lost it. I am so sorry you went through that.

And I am glad it turned out OK for you, but it nauseates me to think about all those "witnesses" who don't recant and all the people whose lives are blown up for no reason whatsoever.

I can't imaging what it must have been like for you.

[PeaceNikki]

21. Wow.

And we all know this is FAR from a unique situation and that this happens to tons of minorities every. single. day.

I am so glad that it ended ok for you and wish you luck in your position as a civil rights attorney. I know that this experience will remain etched in your memory as you do your work.

[JJChambers]

22. I've had nearly the exact same experience; I'm white

I was sitting in my vehicle outside a retail store talking on the phone about a work issue. I was in a nice, newer model vehicle and I was wearing business casual clothing. I was perhaps on the phone for 15 minutes when I noticed three police cars pull up and officers begin to approach me. They opened my car door, ordered my out, and two stood by, detaining me. They told me they were looking for a pale (I'm pasty) white man who had flashed a woman. A short time later, an older white woman was brought up and told them she thought it was me, then said she wasn't sure because the person who she had seen was in his 50s. I was 25 at the time. I later learned that the flasher was located and arrested in the bathroom of that same store.

I'm quite white.

[noiretextatique]

36. yep

and of course since that happened to you...to hell with op. you are quite white.

[JJChambers]

37. Who said to hell with the OP?

[redqueen]

39. What a coincidence!

You know, considering your posting history and all.

[PeaceNikki]

24. This has been bugging me and I have more to add.

Imagine that you weren't a well-educated attorney with a rock-solid alibi (confirmed by some whites) but instead a black young man who was dressed very casually. Maybe playing hip-hop in his car. That young man might have NO criminal record and get understandably pissed off at the blatantly false accusation. Angry words are spoken, it gets heated, and at the end of the day, he's in jail. Charged with a crime for mouthing off to the cops. Maybe he doesn't get charged with the crime of which he was initially accused, but now he is in the system. He has a record and it begins. It happens. Every day. The Pygmalion effect. We constantly treat people like they are criminals and that's what they become. Society makes them.

ugh. I hope you keep that position as a civil rights attorney and use this experience to make things better.

I live in the Milwaukee area and the police here are among the worst in the nation in regards to racial profiling. And to white people with anecdotes of similar happening to them... yes, it happens. Hell, it happened to my white son. But is happens to non-whites at a ridiculously higher proportion. It's almost expected. Honest to fuck, one has to be willfully ignorant to ACTUALLY think that white privilege isn't a thing.

[ScreamingMeemie]

26. +1

[myrna minx]

29. Good post.

[gollygee]

31. Very good point

And he could have gotten shot in that situation, and we'd have people here arguing about how of course the cops shot him because he was resisting arrest.

[AverageJoe90]

25. Sorry you had to deal with that trouble. =(

At least the bar owner and bartender ended up being pretty decent, it seems.

(P.S., you're a Civil Rights attorney? Awesome! )

[myrna minx]

27. What a horrible experience and such a violation.

I'm so sorry that happened to you.

[raccoon]

28. Thanks for sharing. Sorry this happened to you. nt

[gollygee]

30. Oh my God

Hugs to you! That sounds horrifying.

[marmar]

32. k/r

[giftedgirl77]

33. Your experience is the perfect example of why I must

raise my children with the mindset that I do especially living in the south. My boys are teenagers now but were essentially raised as military brats so they never really got exposed to this crazy shit. I grew up with it being Puerto Rican in Colorado as a young kid (I never knew another one & there was 2 black families) then in Florida as a teen & young adult.

I was 16 the first time we were swarmed by the police there was about 8 cop cars & they all had guns drawn. They claimed we were suspected of committing a robbery that had just occurred, even though we had been sitting in the park for at least 3 hours & patrol had driven by repeatedly. There were 3 of us in the car all 3 black or Latino. This was our life on the regular, traffic stops always involved the barrel of a gun.

[stage left]

35. I'm so sorry that this happened to you.

It must have been terrifying. Even more terrifying is that we all know it's not an isolated incident. Things like this happen every day. Your story should be required reading for those who claim either not to know what white privilege is or not to believe it exists. It sounds like this place could probably use a good civil rights attorney, but I could surely understand if you're reluctant to stay.

[progressoid]

38. As a civil rights attorney,

I wonder if you'll see these officers again...

[redqueen]

40. K&R

Thanks for sharing your story.

Such a horrifying situation where you're so painfully reminded that you're othered by society. It doesn't matter what you do. It has nothing to do with you as a person. You are marked as the other and many people just don't get it and never will.

[lumberjack_jeff]

41. When I read your story, naturally I was pissed.

Now that I think about it I'm annoyed for another reason. This is shit that people of goodwill should do something about.

"Checking my privilege" feels like doing nothing at all... because that's exactly what it is.

The owner and bartender who talked to the police and the mayor did something about the injustice they saw rather than simply navel-gazing, introspection and getting in touch with their own fundamental unworthiness.

If you decide to lawyer up at city hall tomorrow morning and kick some police chief ass, I hope you share the story.