Wednesday, November 26, 2014

...

Few weeks ago, on our way back from Lassen National Park, I made Paul pulled over to the side of the highway so I could take a picture of the full rainbow.  As I was getting back into the car, a police car pulled up behind us.  I was slightly nervous, but not worried.  I smiled and said, "Just wanted to take a picture of the rainbow."   The police smiled and said, "Take your time, just want to check if everything is OK."  He was very nice and left us alone.

The thing was, not for one second was I worried.  That was my right, knowing I did nothing wrong. But, but, in this country, this country I love more than the country I was born in, That is not always the case for everyone.  I once read in an article, as a black man the writer had to teach his son before his driving lesson, when he gets stop by a cop, make sure to put both of hands on steering wheel. No one ever taught me that.  I never felt the need to do that.  Paul said, as a white man, he was never taught that either.

No matter what one thinks what really happened at Ferguson, one cannot deny it is a sad reality that many minorities in this country are automatically assumed to be a criminal by law enforcement, even, even if the person was just walking down the streets of San Francisco minding his own business.  It happened to my friend, a Filipino with very dark skin, he was made to sit at the sidewalk for an hour when he was just walking home from work. If it was you, would you be outraged? what about if it happens to you again and again?


2 comments:

  1. well put. the situation in ferguson fills me with an ineffable sadness and rage. i commend the people there for managing to protest peacefully

    ReplyDelete