A great new hashtag called #CrimingWhileWhite is trying to shed light on the vastly unequal experiences different demographics face from the same system, so maybe people will stop saying things like thats what happens when you break the law or oh the cops Ive met seem like nice guys. Heres my story. One night Im coming back from a party in St. Boniface. Id managed to get far as across the river and was waiting at the bus stop across the MTS Centre. And I was STONE DRUNK. I retained just enough cognizance to figure out its almost 2:00 AM and the buses had stopped running, and I have no earthly way of getting back home. So I just sit there, merrily stewing in my own juices, having no where to go, publicly intoxicated. The classic definition of vagrancy. And this girl is sitting next to me at the stop, an Aboriginal girl about my age. Shes sober. She confirms with me to her dismay that the last bus had gone by. But shes responsible. She gets on the phone with her friends, explaining where she is, whats happening. She arranges a ride. And she waits for them, on a public bus bench, on a public sidewalk, which, as a responsible, law-abiding citizen, ultimately belong to her. For the sake of clarity, let me emphasize: she was doing nothing wrong, and I was doing everything wrong. Then two Downtown Biz officers — the red shirts, yknow, the pizza delivery guys — they stroll up. And they zoom right past me like Im invisible, and start talking to *the girl*, who theyd clearly had no prior interaction with, but they start interrogating and harassing her. Whats she been up to tonight? Whats she doing here? Wheres she going? She knows theres no buses right? Whats her name? Wheres her ID? Has she been drinking? Has she been doing anything else? Whats she doing at a bus stop when theres no buses hmm? Whats she doing at a street corner at night? Does she know she cant stay here? Does she have a ride? Do they need to take her with them? And the girl is so distraught, trying to explain she was just waiting for a ride and she wasnt drunk or loitering or anything else they were accusing her of. And Im sitting RIGHT NEXT TO HER, ACTUALLY intoxicated, ACTUALLY loitering, ACTUALLY with nowhere to go, and Im totally invisible to them, they dont give me a single word or glance. So I just sit there, too drunk and confused to protest, staring and thinking, Who are these racists pricks, and why arent they giving me my pizza? Anyway. Eventually I got a ride home with the girls friends. And I never looked at pizza guys the same way again.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 05:04:36 +0000
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