I Was a U.S. Diplomat. Customs and Border Protection Only Cared That I Was Black

[vz71]

I’m sorry, but when many people at the consulate are doing the same thing every day and not getting secondary searches, but she is, it’s racial.

How so?
Why should the only thing that separates her out be a racial thing? What evidence do you have that her race was actually a factor in what was going on?

By the way, if you think she “stands out more”, that’s racial, too.

Nice accusation.
I think she stands out, therefore it’s a race issue…

 

[vz71]

That’s not exactly a better scenario.

No, but it is not racist.

 

[PaulinVA]

Why should the only thing that separates her out be a racial thing? What evidence do you have that her race was actually a factor in what was going on?

What other thing do you think it could be? The only other possible reason is that they were retaliating because of her complaints. That doesn’t make CBO look any better. And it doesn’t answer the original stops.

 

[vz71]

What other thing do you think it could be?

There are quite a few things it could be besides race.
Perhaps the computer did actually flag her at random and she gave them a bad attitude because she assumed racism.
From there it is simply a matter of retaliatory issues that have nothing to do with race.

This would seem reasonable given how many people appear to assume racism without knowing all the facts.

Or perhaps, as I posited earlier, there was an issue with her ID that caused her to be flagged.

Or perhaps they were looking for a Nissan rogue.

Catholic charity requires that we exhaust all possible options before making an accusation of such sin.

 

[PaulinVA]

Catholic charity requires that we exhaust all possible options before making an accusation of such sin.

Done. Because there were complaints and the CBP agents were aware of the complaints, I think my assessment of racism followed by harassment is true.

 

[vz71]

I think my assessment of racism…

You do not have all the facts.

Your charge that the agents were racist is both uncharitable and premature.

 

[PaulinVA]

Your charge that the agents were racist is both uncharitable and premature.

I will leave you to your opinion.

 

[Victoria33]

You do not have all the facts.

Your charge that the agents were racist is both uncharitable and premature.

Totally agree. She also rejected passengers, co-workers, going to the border with her, thus, we only have her word and an investigation was done showing no wrongdoing. It seems wrong then to just make accusations that have no backup.

 

[Victoria33]

How so?
Why should the only thing that separates her out be a racial thing? What evidence do you have that her race was actually a factor in what was going on?

It may be racial but it is not racist.

It’s like, say, one drives in a neighborhood and one thinks they need to get out of there as soon as possible because it is known as a bad area. Coincidentally, maybe it is predominantly one minority.

I guess the NAACP is a racial organization but not racist.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

First of all, I agree something went wrong here, and based on my personal experiences there probably is some profiling going on in the border area. However, I agree we don’t have all the facts here. I’d be inclined to think there was some reason she was stopped the first time or two, she didn’t react to it well, and somebody retaliated by putting her on some “contempt of cop” list so she got stopped every time. That’s just my speculation though; there’s always three sides to every story and we’re mostly only getting hers, told in a highly emotional context.

However, what bugs me about the story is that when her white colleagues at work did try to give appropriate supportive responses the best way they knew how, she found something wrong with all of them. I realize they will never be black and therefore will never totally understand, and she also isn’t required to agree with or accept every suggestion (such as cross at another spot or have a white person ride along). But at least give people a little credit for caring and trying to help. None of her colleagues were in a position to just wave a wand and make CBP stop the behavior, but they offered what they were able to do.

When one tries to be supportive and gets put down for trying, it not only makes one less likely to offer help in the future, because everything you offer is wrong/ not good enough, but also because it leaves the impression the person doesn’t want support and has some other personal issue going on.

 

[Ridgerunner]

We continue to assume her story is true.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

We continue to assume her story is true.

Because giving people the benefit of the doubt in a situation like this, unless we can prove otherwise or there’s another reason to doubt them, is the Christian thing to do.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

It should also be noted that this woman has also had her story in the New York Times, writes a blog on race where she tells the whole story again in a slightly different way, and is running a Gofundme for nonprofits in Durham, NC for those who wish to “help” after reading her stories. She seems to be trying to launch a career as a creative writer. I suspect a book will follow.

 

[PaulinVA]

She seems to be trying to launch a career as a creative writer. I suspect a book will follow.

Well, she needs to do something now that her dream State Dept job is gone.

I’ve been reading your posts and haven’t been responding because I’ve been thinking.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Yeah, I know she needs a job, and it’s not a bad thing to be a creative writer who focuses on themes of what’s it’s like to be black in USA. Perhaps this is even where her true dreams and talents are, rather than the government job.

At the same time, I’m uncomfortable with her rejection of her white co-workers’ offers of support but she’s very happy to take everybody’s money for nonprofits and other charity causes. Yet I suspect if her colleagues had said, “I’m sorry you’re having trouble. What’s your favorite charity that deals with this sort of thing? I’d be glad to write them a check,” she would have said, yeah, you think your money makes up for everything, you can’t buy your way out of this. Sometimes people just want to have their “rage” (she expresses a lot of that on her blog).

 

[Ridgerunner]

Because giving people the benefit of the doubt in a situation like this, unless we can prove otherwise or there’s another reason to doubt them, is the Christian thing to do.

Not necessarily. We’re not obliged to believe every story everybody tells.

I suspect a book will follow.

Probably. The main problem I have is that the other people would have have dedicated a remarkable amount of attention and energy to hassling her, and over an extended period of time. The FBI does that sort of thing in criminal cases, but ordinary people don’t have time or motivation to do it.

 

[Victoria33]

I would not wish to impugn her integrity, but I would not dismiss that we have had a number of hoaxes, Jussie Smollet and others. I am willing to hear facts. We should also remember, the good book tells us not to bear false witness against others.

 

[PaulinVA]

At the same time, I’m uncomfortable with her rejection of her white co-workers’ offers of support but she’s very happy to take everybody’s money for nonprofits and other charity causes

I think she rejected her coworkers offered to ride with her because that would be her acknowledging that to get through the border she needed a white person with her.

I would not wish to impugn her integrity, but I would not dismiss that we have had a number of hoaxes, Jussie Smollet and others.

And yet, you just seemed to.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

the other people would have have dedicated a remarkable amount of attention and energy to hassling her, and over an extended period of time.

I worked for the government for a brief time and I had a lot of interactions with people who worked for the government.
My mother also worked for the government for a couple of decades.
There are some incredibly petty little people who work for the government. One thing about the Federal Government is that it’s harder to just fire people from there than it is to fire them from Private Company XYZ. So a lot of people’s pettiness can go on, and on, and on.

Again, this doesn’t make her story true, but it means it’s not far-fetched either. It’s a “could happen”, not a “did happen”.

 

[RolandThompsonGunner]

We continue to assume her story is true.

I think there’s an implicit acknowledgment that we’re discussing it on the assumption she’s not lying. Obviously, if it turns out she’s making all this up, that’s a horse of a different color.