On Ishbadiddle, I've tried to obscure my identity slightly so I can speak freely while still pursuing an academic career. It's no more than a fig leaf, but it's enough to hide me from straightforward searches, etc.
But ... I have to tell y'all ... I do have brown skin. This means that if I'm in the vicinity of a camera, whether I'm using it, or somebody else is, I'm asking for trouble.
Recently, I went up to the shores of Lake Michigan, to spend some time on the beach. It was amazing, a forest behind me, clean sand, blue water stretching out further than the eye could see. But it was also surreal -- to my left were the smokestacks of Gary, to my right was a nuclear power plant. I regretted not having my camera with me, and then I looked down my skin, which was the same color as what most of the people on the beach were trying desperately to achieve, and thought: "Oh"
This is why I don't have a digicam yet, because where would I use it? My small town has some beautiful old railroad bridges, factories, wearhouses, etc. It would make for great photography, but it's all infrastructure. And despite having introduced myself to the cops who are my neighbors, I still don't want to chance it.
I was trying to explain all of this to a friend of mine who is one of the smartest people I know, and who reads the NYT every day. She had no idea what I was talking about.
I told her about Ian Spiers, a photography student who lived near Seattle, and wanted to take photographs of the Ballard Locks, in the town where he lived, as part of a photography class. This is a major tourist attraction, with lots of people taking photos, and he even cleared it with the Army Corps of Engineers (since they run the locks) ahead of time. None of this mattered. He wasn't arrested, but he was repeatedly harassed and even (illegally) banned from the locks afterwards. And Spiers is a light skinned black dude.
And now? (Finally getting to the point, and thoroughly burying the lede) A senior at Boston college was detained and interrogated by the secret service for ... being next to somebody else who was taking photographs. Sundeep Sahni is an Indian national, who, along with a friend, was showing a guest around campus. The guest, former exchange student Siddharth Khotkar, was taking photos. He was detained for 5 hours as the secret service interrogated him. They searched his car for weapons and bombs, and made him sign a release form that gave them access even to any psychiatric records.
Why Sahni? All three were foreigners. Khotkar is an Australian, and a Hindu. The other guy, Shawaf, is a Saudi and a Muslim. But Sahni is a Sikh, with a turban and beard. As one of the agents said: "I don't want you pulling an Uzi from your turban." (why not from his beard?). This was an encounter based solely on Sahni's appearance, nothing else.
And all of this two months after FBI director Robert Mueller II met with Sikh representatives, in part, to discuss the possible recruitment of Sikhs into the FBI. One day after the NYPD dropped its opposition to a turbaned, bearded Sikh as a traffic cop. (yes, I have to blog on this too)
The administration of BC is trying to arrange a meeting between Sahni and the Secret Service, that would hopefully result in an apology for Sahni, but the Secret Service is refusing to respond. But, "[t]he Secret Service refused to meet with college officials or apologize, saying the case was closed."
At home, in NYC, I'm willing to take photos. But in the rest of the US, you'd better not be seen with me if you want to take snapshots.
| Turbans | Sikhs | Civil Liberties |
Photographing while brown--now read "The Suspicious things I do On An Airplane"" :
I thought I should write about some of the things I have done on airplanes for some perspective.
For reference, I am about 5'8", dark black hair and untrimmed beard length about three to four inches. I weigh about 160lbs and have brown skin. I am of Indian descent but am frequently mistaken for Arab. I often wear religious headdress when traveling (a white cotton cap with gold trim).
Here's some of the things I have done on an airplane, and why:
read the rest at:
http://unmedia.blogspot.com/2004/07/suspicious-things-ive-done-on-airplane.html
Or, Aziz, meet Ennis; Ennis, meet Aziz.
Comment #2 :: link :: August 6, 2004 01:09 PMI also have brownish skin and have done all the suspicious things that the Unmedia Blogger has done except speak in a foreign language. I, however have never been confused for a Muslim or an Arab (have been mistaken for an Italian and a Sephardic Jew). While people don't suspect me of terrorism, I do get requests to "put a nice cuff on these pants". Such work, you wouldn't believe!
Comment #3 :: link :: August 6, 2004 02:54 PMOh, I know now what to call these misplaced emphases on "security"--
"Here is yet another example of security theater (the illusion of effective or enhanced security) being pursued as a matter of national security -- in this case, an unbelievable 50% error rate in the security technology being implemented is deemed acceptable enough by the US government to track passports."
(from rick of http://www.infowarrior.org/)
Passport ID Technology Has High Error Rate
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A43944-2004Aug5?language=printer
I travel a lot by commercial airline, so as you might imagine, I talk to a LOT of cab drivers all over the country. Well, I mean, I wouldn't necessarily HAVE to talk to them but I find it passes the time and its interesting to talk to different people. At any rate, I remember speaking to a guy from India last year who told me that after 9/11 he just went back to India for a couple of years because he was harassed so much by the police. I said what? But you're Hindu right? I mean, even if you were Muslim it doesn't mean you would be involved in terrorism but you're not even in the same religious camp. And he said, yeah, but try to tell SOME people that. They make no differentiation.
Comment #5 :: link :: July 4, 2006 03:51 PM
