PoliceLink

Please read everything before you respond...don't just skim or you'll miss the point and your answer won't make sense, lol. And by the end you'll wonder if something triggered this post. The answer is YES, something did.

First, let me tell you something about myself before I ask the 'big question'. I'm of mixed race. My father is black, and my mother is white. My mother is also from Egypt, and everybody knows she's foreign the second she speaks. My real name is Wassime, which is Arabic (albeit Egyptian dialect). My family is Catholic, not Muslim, though people seem to assume the latter automatically. Because I keep my head shaved and I'm of a medium skin tone, most people don't know WHAT the hell I am racially. My accent is gone, although it slips out when I'm really tired or have been drinking. I grew up in the hood in Oakland, California. My mother's family lived in the Oakland hills in a huge $1,000,000+ home. I learned to live in both worlds, and eventually was sent to a boarding school to get me away from all the bullsh*t that was around where we lived. Didn't want me getting mixed up in gangs or any of that. My education was based on European Standards and was top notch. There I learned what it meant to be cultured, how to be a gentleman, and the true meaning of modern chivalry. Most importantly to me, there I made my final decision to work my way into law enforcement and to become a police officer. Yay. Now that you know a little of what I'm about, this is what is always in my mind: Racial Tension

I've been talked about and 'given the look' throughout my life for being bi-racial, black, or "Whatever he is...". The same thing for my Arabic name. Going back to Kansas to visit my family always brings that crap back to me. I go to a bar, or a store, drive through a town, or anyplace where the "good ol boys" dwell, and I get it. And after 9/11? Try getting onto a plane with my looks and a name like "Wassime". I've been pulled out of line and searched 'randomly' 6 out of the 7 times I've flown since that day. I flew 6 times a year for three years from CA to KS before 9/11 and was never searched once. Nowadays, when I'm out of uniform, I get treated differently. At restaurants, everything is great until the server goes to run my credit card, then its the cold looks and fake "Thank you, have a nice day" routine. Gas station attendants think I'm their buddy (I know, I know, its stereotypical, but hell its true!). As bad as it sounds, when all the ruckus about Mexicans and Illegal Immigration got hot, it felt refreshing to have peoples attention turned away from blacks and Middle Eaterners for a while. Until people started thinking I'm Puerto Rican or from south of the border! WTF! Having to deal with a lot of this crap professionally has helped me learn to ignore most of it, chuckle at some of it, and just eat sh*t on whatever manages to actually get under my skin. I've only exploded twice in my whole life for blunt in-my-face racism, and both were in my pre-adult years before I learned to really deal. My internal reaction? Honestly, its sadness and a little bit of hurt. And a slight bit of anger for the stupidity of some people who refuse to educate themselves.

Its not so much blatant racism that I'm talking about here. Its racial and cultural tension. Not so much hatred, but distrust and lack of understanding. Most of you being cops, you know exactly what I'm talking because you often get the same treatment and reaction due to your profession. So, here is the question, finally:

Regardless of what race you are, do any of you ever get treated in the ways I've described above? What goes through your mind at the time, and how does it make you feel? Understand that I'm not looking for debates here, or for people to get all mad. I'm looking for real heartfelt answers and experiences. Thanks for your thoughts.

(SEO sighs)

While my response does not directly address your point regarding racial tension (I am of Irish/English heritage, although some may consider this to be of mixed-race), I did want to make a point about your comment about police officers knowing what you are talking about because of our profession. Back in my patrol days we often walked a beat along the Main Street of the town in which I worked.  There were several occasions over the years where I would be walking that beat when I would be approached by a mother with a young child (usually between 3-6 years of age) and without so much as a "Hello Officer", she would point at me and say to the child; "If you don't behave that policeman is going to lock you up in jail and throw away the key" (or some similar sentiment).  That simple encounter would leave me shaking my head, and wondering what I had said or done to become the "Enforcer" figure for that mother.  To me, she was planting a very negative image of the police in her child's head.  It used to really bother me at the time, and I soon learned that this was a common occurrence among my fellow officers.

I also noted that after becoming a police officer I soon lost several friend that I had been close with all through school.  Most of these people dabbled in drugs (marijuana) for recreational purposes and were real party animals.  They all assumed that as a Cop I would arrest them, so the party invitations and picnic/barbecue invitations stopped.  This was only a small percentage of friends and not indicative of all my friends.  When I was working at a police academy with recruits, I would tell them that their new career would put them in a different light with some friends and family, as well as with the general public who made general asumptions about the type of person you were based solely upon the uniform that you wore.

As to the biases and stereotypes that people have, it is mostly based upon ignorance, fear of the unknown and misinformation.  There will always be, unfortunately, those people who make assumptions about others without taking the time or effort to know the person that they are making the assumption about. For far too many it is easier to fall back on their biases and stereotypes than it is for them to make the effort to learn about other people, cultures, religions, etc.  I often wonder how different our world would be if we, as different cultures, just kept to ourselves, and avoided all others.  How sad it would be if there had been no mixing of the cultures.  The list of things that we would not have is almost endless......music, foods, religious beliefs, art styles, scientific discoveries, etc, etc, etc........

I think I know what you are talking about SEO.  Here in my area we have fewer ethnic groups then most places.  We have mainly white, and native american.  Of course there are others but those two groups make up the largest percentages.  Every time I clear a call or a stop I have to use a Alpha code for the race of the person I was dealing with.  Our state tracks what races we are dealing with becuase there are some who claim we as LEO's are picking of minorities.  So as a cop it is automatically assumed that I am racist.  So much so that all LEOs are being tracked by the state.   I realize that is not exactly the same thing you speak of but it brings up the same feelings in me.  Just as some assume middle eastern people are muslim, and that muslims are terroists.  That Latino's are illegal aliens, ect ect.  Some people assume white cops are racist. 

Even though I count many people of many ethnic groups among my friends.

I am caucasian, my wife is hispanic (Spanish) I live on a reservation and was a cop on a reservation. Traffic stops sometimes went like this. Good eveing sir I'm ..,,WTF you stopping me for you snowflake, white mf'er?
You ain't got no F'ing jurisdiction over me. the rest of the conversation generally went like this. Wrong answer I do have jurisdiction now give me your D/L registration and proof of liability. FU white boy. You are under arrest step from the vehicle ,click click. Watch your head on the door sill have a seat slam.

I would have liked to slam someones head in the door or their nether parts. Possibly even beat the hell out of a few but I was a professional They went to jail and I went home.. I was embarrassed for the Tribal Officers I worked with and for the good people that I worked with the tension caused by the 10 % makes it hard for all.

SLICK418 says ...

I get what you saying...i get the same sometimes in a couple of different ways.....My mother is German, I was also born and raised there, and german was my first language. When people finds this out they make stupid comments such as "dont put me in the oven, or was Hitler your uncle, or do you know any Nazis."  Sometimes that pisses me off because i am proud of my heritage and yes i do know Nazis (my grandfather was one)but the shit is uncalled for.  Another way I can see your point is when im in plain clothes people talk to me with no respect as in "yes sir, please, and thank-you" but when they put 2 and 2 together and find out im a LEO they go out of there way to be polite and smile and things like that. Third and probaly more close to the things you go through is that my girlfriend is Egyptian (catholic) as you are and people always make comments about being a terrorist and always ask me if the FEDS know that an LEO is dating a terrorist...haha funny funny but i guess thats just the way shit is....sometimes makes me wanna punch someone in the face and see if they think that is funny...but i guess the best way to deal with it all is to let it roll of your back...remember the people in society will hate you and disrespect you UNTIL they need OUR help or UNTIL they were wronged by someone and they want  OUR assistance....

Slick, My late grandparents were from Germany.  Thier families moved to the US in the 1930's.   As a child they hid it from me.  I never heard a word of German from either of them.  They even changed their name to Morgan after they were married to sound more Irish.   I never understood why.  It is sad what racial tension will make some people do.  You should never be ashamed of who you are.

It would be my hope that conversations like these would open eyes, I know a lot more read than post, who knows MAYBE!!!

The first step to getting along would be to rid ourselves of race baiters, of every race and to rid the country of black liberation theology with the same zeal we put the KKK down!!!

Carlos Mencia said it best when he said,"If I'm in FL I'm Cuban, if I'm in TX I'm Mexican, if I'm in NY I'm Puerto Rican, if I'm on a plane I'm Muslim."