How do I explain getting racially profiled…again? I thought I had understood the “routine” of
getting looked at or even followed at a grocery store, but getting profiled
throughout the race has been a whole new experience. How?
When? …all these are legitimate questions that deserve an explanation or
a story.
In India I almost got arrested because I was walking too
close to my team members. The cops
thought I was scheming Americans accusing me of trying to be their guide and
scamming them for money. Me! You would think the person who would blend in
the most on our team would do just that….blend in. Nope.
What makes the story even better is that we were in a pretty touristy
part of town. I guess being Indian in
India can get you in trouble even when you are minding your own business. Who knew?
The first night our squad got to Romania I was followed in a
local grocery store. Yep, just a few
hours after landing in Europe I was already on the radar. We walked into the grocery store. I had just finished walking down the first
aisle by myself when a woman at the end cap got up from where she was and
followed me. Aware that I had set off
her spidey-sense I immediately made my way back over to my team. So because of this experience, I had a fear
of being mistake or associated with gypsies.
It was hard to walk the streets or really go anywhere knowing that this
might actually be the case. So, in
Romania heading to Moldova I was yelled at in a train because a passenger
thought I was a gypsy until my friends on the squad told him that I was with
them and that I was their friend.
Gypsies have a bad reputation in Romania so rightly so the man thought I
was gypsy because of my darker skin, darker eyes, and darker hair. Although I had a fear of being associated or
even mistaken for a gypsy I had no idea I was going to be scolded.
My latest profiling came in Mozambique. A little fact about Mozambique – there are
Indians there. So with that small tidbit
of information, you will understand why this “insignificant” fact is vital to
the story. Being Indian, I for the most
part camouflage with my surroundings (because of my color). On our way to our debrief in Mozambique three
teams rode a 16 hour bus together. We
all had a large batch of seats together (18 in all). In the middle of the night we stopped at a
check point where a guard walked through the aisle of the bus doing whatever he
needed to do. This particular guard
walked through the entire aisle and makes his way back to the front of the
bus. But of course he picks me out of
everyone on the bus to check documents.
Now mind you of what I said before that there are other Indians on the
bus. This one guard taps me on the
shoulder and asks for my documents. He
says nothing else. With poise I get up,
not surprised at all by what is happening.
Yes, I am being profiled. What
makes the story even greater is what my team mates says to me as I pull my
passport out of my bag. The bus is
completely quiet, but as I pull my passport out of my bag, April, in a loud
whisper say,” John. Are you being
racially profiled?” My response,
“Probably.” He looks at my passport
without a word, carelessly flips through it and hands it back. Really?!?!?!? Out all the people in the bus and you pick me?! A guy who’s half-asleep sitting…hm…interesting.
So the moral of these stories is that even though I have gotten
profiled in a few countries; God is still good.
He has definitely saved me from some major-league drama. Am I offended for getting profiled? Not in the least bit. Besides, it’s a good laugh and makes for some
great stories too. : )
