Two journalists were just doing their jobs near Davis Elementary School in Texas. Then, they had an unexpected encounter.
When you get the cops called because a 'Hispanic-looking woman & black man with a suspicious white truck & camera' are near a school pic.twitter.com/6wuMmXzliV
— Homa Bash (@HomaBashNBC5) October 12, 2016
The police officer who responded, Laurie Hunter, immediately recognized that reporter Homa Bash and photographer C.J. Johnson were not a threat, Dallas News reported.
But the tweet struck a nerve with a lot of people on social media, gaining tens of thousands of retweets and many responses detailing similar experiences with racial profiling.
Michael Baldwin, a black reporter from Cincinnati, shared his experience in New York City:
@HomaBashNBC5 Had the same thing happen to me once in New York. So whenever I knock on doors I always have my station micro phone out
— Michael Baldwin (@baldwinreports) October 12, 2016
Tony Aiello, an Italian-American reporter in New York City, tweeted about a similar story:
@HomaBashNBC5 3 cop cars rolled up on me during a door knock in ritzy Sands Point NY. Would've been perfect time to rob a bank there
— Tony Aiello (@AielloTV) October 13, 2016
Previously, police officers have also complained about these types of calls on social media. Last year, a police officer on Reddit asked people to stop calling in “suspicious activity” just because they see a black person:
Ya know, I'm just going to complain and get some stuff off my chest.
So I'm working last week and get dispatched to a call of 'Suspicious Activity.' Ya'll wanna know what the suspicious activity was? Someone walking around in the dark with a flashlight and crow bar? Nope. Someone walking into a bank with a full face mask on? Nope.
It was two black males who were jump starting a car at 930 in the morning. That was it. Nothing else. Someone called it in.
People. People. People. If you're going to be a racist, stereotypical jerk...keep it to yourself. Don't call the police and make them get involved into your douchebaggery.
That's all. End rant.
It’s just another reminder that for all the talk about progress in the past few decades, racism is still very much alive in America.
