Did you check your race today?

With all the recent security threats and terrorist attempts, it has become indispensable that thorough checks are carried out at all public places specially airports to ensure greater good. Very well. It has also become important that we all need to be watchful and cautious and raise an alarm if we find something or someone suspicious. Fair enough.

But is it justified to consider race as the primary or motivating factor for suspicion of a particular crime? Is it justified to assume that someone is more likely to be a threat based on colour of their skin, their attire, the language they speak? Travelling while an Asian ,Driving while black,– Can law stereotype and generalise anymore?

Just in last few weeks, so many innocent people have been detained and caused mental agony at the immigration check posts. The worst of all the episodes I read so far was the passengers of a flight refused to board unless two of their Asian co-travellers dressed in their traditional attire were detained. Ironically later they were found to be innocent. Did they deserve to be humiliated just to pacify a bunch of paranoid travellers? Was their self respect and dignity worthless? Is it justified for a mob to bully two people because they looked ‘different’.

I am disturbed, truly disturbed by these recent chain of events. I read few forums about this issue and I was surprised that most people seem to be in favour of racial profiling. Some of the Hispanics/Mexicans/Brazilians are complaining that though they are not Asians they are facing same problems because they are brown skinned. Some of the Indians are complaining that though they have not been involved in the terrorist crimes they too are being alienated at airports because they look a ‘certain way’.

What are these people getting on to? Do they mean that they don’t care if a community is being victimised as long as it is not their own? Do problems matter and deserve to be addressed only when they are your own? How easily are we now able to turn our backs onto people, communities, countries?

Few extra hours spent on security check doesn’t worry me, the restrictions on the hand luggage doesn’t bother me, the blue colour of my passport making me feel like a third rate world citizen too doesn’t hurt me but it’s the hysterical behaviour of people in these present sensitive times of global crisis that makes me grim.

How much should this worry me? Well, I shouldn’t be complaining too much, should I? After all I am called Radhika and not Razia!!