Chip on my shoulder? Anyone who knows me beyond a couple words on a screen just knows that I dont do police. If Im pulled over I dont say to my friends "Oh, this fucking pig just swooped on me because Im black, down with the man!". If Im speeding, damn, Im speeding, get the ticket, buck it up. You have never seen me call the cops pigs, pricks and dicks, none of that. I have problems with the law because I say its not impossible for a cop to be racist? LOL, only in GA.
Why do I get harrassed by the police so much? One reason I know for a fact is that I stand out. I drive a lexus and have owned an Aprilia Mille R but I am too young to rent a car at the airport. None of mommys money. Ive sat down and ate at restaurants like Chops, Lobster Bar, and Ruth Chris before I was legal drinking age and people do the same things you see in movies. Ever go to eat and have somone tell me you the average price of a meal when you enter or ask to pay upfront when you order. All my life since I was first able to work Ive always saved so I can have some things nicer than the average person. When I moved to GA, I see people by some of the same things I like. But its like I am the only one gets pulled over, stopped and questioned, car VIN checked, car searched and researched.
So how am I wrong there? Am I not supposed to have nice things if I work hard for them? I get looked at multiple times because of people judging a book by its cover. Am I supposed to dress and talk and act like everyone else? Im not loud when I talk, but I talk with a up-north accent. I wear Sean John and Phat Farm instead of Abercrombie and Finch. I moved to GA and used to catch it from everyone. I stand out. I am who I am. I have to change who I am? I have to bleech my skin? Take down all of my flags?
When people who havent had as many situations as I act like everything is cupcakes I get offended. I have a good good good Cuban friend who moved here from Tampa. You would never in our life guess he was Cuban, looks like your average UGA college boy. He will tell you quicker than anyone else that there is a difference. Like I said many times over, how can someone white gripe over things like racial profiling and "the race card"? Never am I saying that use race as a crutch, but realize that you must work a bit harder than the next man to make it to their same position.
I would need reams and reams of paper to write about every situation that I or my family has encountered. HOw can I not help but think about things like
my father being called a nigger at work and he goes through the proper avenues of reporting it and nothing happens. Yet, Im the upitity guy that always has a couple pennies to toss when something racial happens.
I respect police officers. Even recently in Creative Loafing there was an article about the "Californication" of Georgia which touched on issues similiar that Ive been through. Being hispanic in the US is hard, and you are seen as less than human.
Your Puerto Rican? So would you outraged by someone calling you a burrito brother, or calling your kids little border jumpers? My grandfather looked white, played the white role. My mother looks black, she played the black role all of her life because she felt its a lot better being considered black than dominican [just another mexican to most]. It worked for them because there is a difference. I work in the club business. I go to clubs like Wild Bills and I am amazed at how things like fights are handled there, compared to how some of the securities and police react at the spanish clubs. I dont know what type of events or activities you go to, but next time you go out, take a look.
Ive never said that its impossible to prosper in society being a minority, but there is a difference. Its seems like I have a problem because I talk about it! So many people get pissed when I talk about how let cops do their job and get out their way, but I guess that is all forgotten now. Whatever... Of course, we are in America, racism doesnt exist. Its impossible, its like crushing an egg with one hand. Everybody who gets the short end of the stick and says because they are black, brown, yellow or orange is making it up. That one guy in Texas, deserved to be dragged by a truck. That one haitan guy in NY who was shot with over 20 odd shell reaching for his wallet by 3 cops, hey, dumbass should have learned english before getting off that damn boat! The clan rallys and Neo Nazi events here in GA as recent as 2003, those guys are faking the hate!
And criminals are being let off too easy? How many of you have actually been locked up? How many of you have served 15 year sentences? Think about where you were 15 years ago. Do you think a man can go back into society after living in a state prison for even 5 years? Every night fearing rape? Being in a room the size of your bathrooms 20 hours a day? Man, being locked up is something that cant be described. And they dont lock medium criminals up with big criminals, understand? The guy that is there for DUI is locked up with the guy for murder. The guy from forgery with the guy for sodomy, the guy for insurance fraud is there with the guy for armed robbery. So who do you think the ones who are getting "Butt Raped" are?
Then think about it, a lot of these criminals cant serve life in jail. What type of citizens are getting released from these jails? Citizens who have lived based on the laws of survival, not the laws of the county. Do you know how hard it is to get a decent job with a felony record? One that makes it possible to pay $123/mo in probation and find somewhere to stay? What if you have kids? A sickness? And you cant find anything for more than $6/hr? Is that person omre likely to take up the $6/hr job or trying one of the ways of making money he learned while in jail, like selling drugs? Hmm... There is more to it than just locking people up. I think the current penal system is all messed up. But I guess I will be criticized for being too kind to criminals, but my point is that just throwing people in a box doesnt work. The system needs reworking. Things like NOLO/1st Offender need to expunge arrest when the terms are finished seeing that A NO LO OR 1st OFFENDERS PLEA IS NOT AN ADMISSION OF GUILT. Look it up, dont assume it.
