Racial Profiling

Jacob Prunés

Pahomov

English 2- systems

9/21/18

I had just left the youth program and was waiting for my parents to pick up my older sister and I. We were outside trying to find our parents but couldn't see the car because it was extremely dark. We decided that they must be down the alley around the corner because we couldn’t find them.

When we went around the corner and was walking, we saw a very bright light. My sister and I think it’s a car light so we jogged back to the house we were staying in because the alleyway is very narrow. I noticed that it was only one light instead of the usual two, but it didn’t think anything of it. While we waited for the car to pass we realized it isn’t a car but a bike with an extremely bright headlight. The man on the bike was going slow and then he stopped in front of us.

“What are you guys doing here?”, he asks

We weren’t really sure what he meant because it’s such a strange question to ask.

“We are just coming back from a youth group.” my sister says.

“Show me, prove it. Go knock on their door.” the man says.

That’s when I finally realize that he doesn’t trust or believe us.

“Why were you guys running away?” he asked

“I thought you were a car, your light is very bright.” I said, now getting angry that this man stopped us because we were “running.”

He then made a noise that says, “yeah right!” and biked away.

My sister and I just stood there angry and annoyed. It then goes through my head that this man was racially profiling us because we were in Germantown, a mostly white neighborhood. We hadn’t done anything wrong, but the way he was talking about us made it seem like we did. I don’t like to get involved in situations so I just call my parents to find out where they are.

We finally find their car and we climb in.

“How was it? Did you have a good time?” My mom asked.

“Well, it was good until now.”, my sister says, starting to tear up.

My parents ask what's wrong. She then explains the whole story to them, about how we were racially profiled. Now, my mom is not shy or calm in these situations, especially when it comes to her kids. She instantly hops out the car, slamming the door behind her, and goes up to the man, who turns out to be the neighbor of the house we were in. We can’t really hear what’s going on and we couldn’t see very well because it was still dark but when my mom comes back she explains what happened.

When she confronted him she tells him what he did. He obviously didn’t think he did anything wrong and doesn’t really care what my mom was saying.

After she stops talking the man said, “Well, why were they running.”

So my mom explains about the flashlight on his bike.

“What flashlight?” He asked, which is ridiculous because his flashlight was almost brighter than the sun.

“That one!” She exclaims, pointing to the light on his bike. “My kids felt very uncomfortable.”

“I did too,” he said, pretending that he was the victim.

Seeing that he doesn’t care or really know what he did, my mom heads back to the car. When she tells me what happened, I get very upset about the bull**** I just heard. Eventually, we drive away after we talk to the family that we were with.

This was the first time I have ever seen blatant racism and racial profiling, first hand. I knew that people thought that way but I couldn’t comprehend that it could happen to me too. This moment really changed how I see the world. This moment shouldn’t happen to anyone. This needs to stop. I just hope one day I can walk through an alleyway with not a worry in my mind.