This blog entry is a bit off topic from the whole genocide issue. Regardless, it deals with blind prejudice. I am upset and disgusted by what I am witnessing.
At this very moment, I am sitting in Ogilvie Station in downtown Chicago. For whatever reason, I always sit in the same spot when I wait for this train. I know what track it always leaves on and I know what time it departs for I take it very often. I sat down to do some homework and an African-American, man approached me. I would guess this gentleman is in his mid-twenties. He very kindly asked me which train was departing from the track that I was seated most near. I, also kindly, responded. He also asked if I knew where the men’s restroom was located. He thanked me generously after my replies and went on his way.
About ten minutes later I saw him walk across the station and sit. His position was also near the track and still in my plain view. A security guard approached him. The guard asked him where he was planning to go so late on a Sunday night. He asked the young man to empty his pockets, show him identification, and provide proof that he paid for a ticket to ride this train. I was near enough to hear all of the conversation and yet the guard did not approach me, a Caucasian student typing on her laptop.
A woman walked past him. He looked up, smiled, and said hello. After looking him right in the eye, she blankly looked straight ahead, quickened her pace, clutched her purse more tightly, and spoke no words back to him.
I’m watching people in this station judge this gentleman based on his race. They are treating him as though he is a threat. They do not see him as an individual but rather a black man who fits into a category with all other black men. The judgment, otherness, and categorizing that we’ve been talking about in class is happening before my eyes.
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