YOU'VE BEEN TAGGED!!
A friend I work with was visibly upset when I saw him last. He is usually in the best of moods after his weekend trips to Edinburgh to see his girlfriend so when he told me that he was reduced to tears over an unpleasant encounter I wanted to know more. No, it wasn't his relationship that was causing him anxiety. It was something else. Now, let me tell you a bit more about D. He is doing a Phd in Genetics and is a rather laid back, calm and gentle sort of person with an infectious Jamaican drawl. He unlike me hardly gets annoyed when dealing with rude and drunken students at all strange hours of the morning ! He is from Jamaica and has the most wonderful mixed heritage. Both his grandfathers were of Chinese stock while one of his grandmothers was Irish and the other Black Caribbean. He looks Asian and has lovely Afro curls which is probably a reason why he sort of stands out in a crowd. There is a point to these details as his 'appearance' is of significance to what happened. I guess 'how you look' has always been important but it has assumed a bigger role in society today which is very suspicious of people who look different!
Now, D has traveled widely in Europe as his girlfriend is from Luxembourg and although he notices that he gets pulled aside at security checks in airports and train stations he is somewhat reconciled to it. However, it is more frequent when he is traveling by himself than if he is with his 'respectable' and non-suspicious white partner. D doesn't mind and makes jokes about German officials asking him whether he is bringing drugs into the country. I guess it is pretty standard at airports nowadays for extra checks on asian / black men and women.
Now, when D was traveling to Edinburgh this weekend he was accosted by a policewoman at the train station in Aberdeen. The policewoman started off with reciting the new anti-terror laws which give the police rights to stop and search anyone suspicious. However, she did not give him a proper reason as to why he was selected. D says he was fine with her checking his stuff but he began to get uncomfortable when she wanted his details. She made a note of his address and said that it would be put into a database. D was then given a card with his name and his ethnicity printed on it which he will now have to carry about in case he is stopped and interrogated again. D was specifically put out by the fact that it said 'black caribbean' on the card when he is only a micro percent of that heritage. Furthermore, it says 'self-defined ethnicity' on the card and the constable did not think to ask him and verify it before making an assumption about him being black caribbean. Also, having your name put in a database when you've never done anything criminal in your life is a bit much to take. D will now have to carry around a card which he doesn't want. I think he was quite right to be indignant although he cooperated with the police. I am aware that the policewoman was simply doing her job and carrying out orders for the sake of national security but that does not make the person being interrogated feel any less violated. It is hard for someone who has never been pulled aside at airports and train stations to understand what D went through. He was upset as he felt unsafe.
Forget the embarrassment of being pulled aside from a crowd at a train station, it is just that these checks are not random and are based on certain external assumptions that annoy me. One feels victimised at being interrogated over and over again despite a clean record. I went to the British Transport website to check out the details and it says that if one feels that they have targeted on the basis of their race or religion they can complain. Aha, so are they trying to suggest that these checks are not a form of racial profiling? D said that he saw another policeman pulling aside another black man at the train station.
Are we inhabiting a police state? Some incidents do make you think as they force you out of the safe university bubble and make you recognise the increasingly polarised nature of the world around you.
Now, D has traveled widely in Europe as his girlfriend is from Luxembourg and although he notices that he gets pulled aside at security checks in airports and train stations he is somewhat reconciled to it. However, it is more frequent when he is traveling by himself than if he is with his 'respectable' and non-suspicious white partner. D doesn't mind and makes jokes about German officials asking him whether he is bringing drugs into the country. I guess it is pretty standard at airports nowadays for extra checks on asian / black men and women.
Now, when D was traveling to Edinburgh this weekend he was accosted by a policewoman at the train station in Aberdeen. The policewoman started off with reciting the new anti-terror laws which give the police rights to stop and search anyone suspicious. However, she did not give him a proper reason as to why he was selected. D says he was fine with her checking his stuff but he began to get uncomfortable when she wanted his details. She made a note of his address and said that it would be put into a database. D was then given a card with his name and his ethnicity printed on it which he will now have to carry about in case he is stopped and interrogated again. D was specifically put out by the fact that it said 'black caribbean' on the card when he is only a micro percent of that heritage. Furthermore, it says 'self-defined ethnicity' on the card and the constable did not think to ask him and verify it before making an assumption about him being black caribbean. Also, having your name put in a database when you've never done anything criminal in your life is a bit much to take. D will now have to carry around a card which he doesn't want. I think he was quite right to be indignant although he cooperated with the police. I am aware that the policewoman was simply doing her job and carrying out orders for the sake of national security but that does not make the person being interrogated feel any less violated. It is hard for someone who has never been pulled aside at airports and train stations to understand what D went through. He was upset as he felt unsafe.
Forget the embarrassment of being pulled aside from a crowd at a train station, it is just that these checks are not random and are based on certain external assumptions that annoy me. One feels victimised at being interrogated over and over again despite a clean record. I went to the British Transport website to check out the details and it says that if one feels that they have targeted on the basis of their race or religion they can complain. Aha, so are they trying to suggest that these checks are not a form of racial profiling? D said that he saw another policeman pulling aside another black man at the train station.
Are we inhabiting a police state? Some incidents do make you think as they force you out of the safe university bubble and make you recognise the increasingly polarised nature of the world around you.