Paul Kusuda’s column
Racial Profiling shoplifting suspect
Racial Profiling shoplifting suspect
Arizona’s recent approach to dealing with undocumented aliens (illegal immigrants)
brought to mind something that happened to me about seven or eight years ago in Monona,
Wisconsin, a continguous city to Madison. The Monona Police Department had recently
applied for and received a federal grant for a program titled “Business Watch” that was
geared to alert store employees to become more aware of shoplifters or suspicious
characters who might be “casing” a place of business. I used to do most of our grocery
shopping in a Monona supermarket that since changed ownership.
It was a warm summer day when I went to buy canned goods, so I didn’t need a jacket
with pockets in which to put my shopping list and grocery wallet. My usual practice is to put
my list, wallet, and store coupons in the left side of my shirt. Being right-handed, that made
everything easily accessible.
I wheeled my grocery cart from aisle to aisle as I shopped. Canned baked beans were
on my list, so I went to the appropriate area and studied labels on the cans. My wife prefers
canned goods with minimal salt and fat. Brand labels require scrutiny since companies are
not consistent in listing contents. Fat contents vary quite a bit from brand to brand. So too with sodium. That means I
have to pick up can after can to make comparisons. I also refer to coupons to see whether I have the proper ones to
redeem after I choose the brand with the least fat or salt.
My actions must have been observed by someone looking at the ever-present eye-in-the-sky camera. As I was
peering at a can label, the store manager (female) asked what I was doing. I explained my reason for picking up and
returning canned goods to shelves. Then, I became aware of two large-sized males who came up behind me as I faced
and talked with the manager. Here I was, a slightly-built, five-foot tall, 80-year old Asian who apparently posed a threat
to the manager. She had the two clerks back her up in case I raised a ruckus.
Later, I could say, “What a laugh!” At the time, it wasn’t hilarious. I didn’t feel threatened because I wasn’t
belligerent. However, I felt a bit of sympathy for the two young men to have had to accompany the manager for a
potential confrontation.
The occasion was obviously related to racial profiling because a White person would have attracted little attention of
the eye-in-the-sky observer. I was not embarrassed. I did not think it was an ignominious situation (1. “marked with or
characterized by disgrace or shame, dishonorable; 2. deserving of shame or infamy, despicable; 3. humiliating,
degrading.”—Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.) Instead, I thought the manager to be an ignoramus, one worthy of being
ignored. Incidentally, the next time I shopped there, she apologized. I suppose she was relieved that I had taken no
legal action.
If I were in Arizona, I might be racially profiled and asked for some form of identification showing that I’m a U.S.
citizen. I’ve been seen as a Hispanic recently by a Latino store clerk, so looks are deceiving even to another non-White.
I’ve been seen as a Native American also. In fact a representative of the Oneida Tribe in Wisconsin told me I looked
enough like his supervisor to be mistaken for his brother. That was about 30 years ago when I was still a state
employee. Before that, I was thought to be a Winnebago (now Ho Chunk) Indian by a Native American I met at a
conference. Years before that, when I lived in Chicago in the late 1940s, a subway train passenger asked if I were a
Navaho Indian. He was surprised when I told him my parents came from Japan.
The point is that racial profiling is not only wrong, it’s full of false positives. In Arizona and other places, persons
racially profiled as undocumented aliens (or illegal immigrants) could well be U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents,
or non-Hispanic.
have to pick up can after can to make comparisons. I also refer to coupons to see whether I have the proper ones to
redeem after I choose the brand with the least fat or salt.
My actions must have been observed by someone looking at the ever-present eye-in-the-sky camera. As I was
peering at a can label, the store manager (female) asked what I was doing. I explained my reason for picking up and
returning canned goods to shelves. Then, I became aware of two large-sized males who came up behind me as I faced
and talked with the manager. Here I was, a slightly-built, five-foot tall, 80-year old Asian who apparently posed a threat
to the manager. She had the two clerks back her up in case I raised a ruckus.
Later, I could say, “What a laugh!” At the time, it wasn’t hilarious. I didn’t feel threatened because I wasn’t
belligerent. However, I felt a bit of sympathy for the two young men to have had to accompany the manager for a
potential confrontation.
The occasion was obviously related to racial profiling because a White person would have attracted little attention of
the eye-in-the-sky observer. I was not embarrassed. I did not think it was an ignominious situation (1. “marked with or
characterized by disgrace or shame, dishonorable; 2. deserving of shame or infamy, despicable; 3. humiliating,
degrading.”—Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.) Instead, I thought the manager to be an ignoramus, one worthy of being
ignored. Incidentally, the next time I shopped there, she apologized. I suppose she was relieved that I had taken no
legal action.
If I were in Arizona, I might be racially profiled and asked for some form of identification showing that I’m a U.S.
citizen. I’ve been seen as a Hispanic recently by a Latino store clerk, so looks are deceiving even to another non-White.
I’ve been seen as a Native American also. In fact a representative of the Oneida Tribe in Wisconsin told me I looked
enough like his supervisor to be mistaken for his brother. That was about 30 years ago when I was still a state
employee. Before that, I was thought to be a Winnebago (now Ho Chunk) Indian by a Native American I met at a
conference. Years before that, when I lived in Chicago in the late 1940s, a subway train passenger asked if I were a
Navaho Indian. He was surprised when I told him my parents came from Japan.
The point is that racial profiling is not only wrong, it’s full of false positives. In Arizona and other places, persons
racially profiled as undocumented aliens (or illegal immigrants) could well be U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents,
or non-Hispanic.
The racial-discrimination aspects of hounding
persons who look Latino cannot be hidden behind
assertions of security and reduction of illegal drug
traffic. Efforts should be made to develop a
national program to deal with justice for
undocumented aliens who are law- abiding and
who want to remain in the U.S. Naturalization
processes should be mad a possibility for those
who desire to become U.S. citizens. They
comprise a valuable part of our society and our
over-all economic structure. Members of
Congress should be made aware that many
voters want to see justice accorded to
undocumented who truly want to be citizens of the
United States.
persons who look Latino cannot be hidden behind
assertions of security and reduction of illegal drug
traffic. Efforts should be made to develop a
national program to deal with justice for
undocumented aliens who are law- abiding and
who want to remain in the U.S. Naturalization
processes should be mad a possibility for those
who desire to become U.S. citizens. They
comprise a valuable part of our society and our
over-all economic structure. Members of
Congress should be made aware that many
voters want to see justice accorded to
undocumented who truly want to be citizens of the
United States.