Everyone is a Little Bit Racist

I made a right, when I should have made a left.

And I found myself smack in the middle of a Baltimore slum. There was no sign saying Caution: You have entered an economically depressed high crime area. There was no statistical posting of the number of drive-by gun shootings. I instead gleaned the nature of my location by observing my surroundings: The brick buildings and streets were poorly maintained. The populace was comprised of largely African American males wearing do-rags or shower caps. Rap music blared from portable stereos. The women wore visibly inexpensive clothing and oversized hoop earrings.

I knew I was in the “hood” via racial profiling.

And part of my fear as I navigated back to the non-ghetto area of the city was that I too was being observed and profiled. Clearly my daughters and I were non-residents. We were three expensively dressed white women in a new Lexus with New York State license plates.

We, without a doubt, did not belong in that area of town.

Which is why upon making an illegal left turn at an intersection I prayed that in doing so a policeman would flash his lights. I would have been at ease to have received a traffic ticket and in return had the armed police officer escort us back to the low crime area where three white women driving a Lexus with New York license plates ought have been driving.

And while George Zimmerman was doubtlessly hunting for prey and Travan Martin did not deserve to die for whatever transpired in their physical altercation, the cure for biased collision is complicated.

Because truth be told, everyone is a little bit racist. Everyone is guilty of racial profiling. We cannot help but use our eyes to accrue information. We all engage in either healthy or unhealthy skepticism. And the likely first step in moving forward is acknowledging that harsh information and using it productively.