Camouflaged (Chapter 1)
Olu noticed two policemen coming in his direction. He has had three encounters with the police in the last two weeks, which inflamed his anger and imbibed in him a feeling of being a victim of discrimination and racism. He took a deep breath to calm himself as the policemen came closer and stopped him. “Passport please”, one of the policemen demanded. Olu normally did not take his passport with him whenever he was out of home unless there was a reason. He was afraid, he could misplace his passport. This time he had his Italian passport with him because he was at the Italian embassy to extend the expiration date of the passport. He took the passport out of his jacket’s pocket and handed it over to the policeman. The policeman opened the first page of the passport, turned to the third and fourth pages, gazed at Olu, and glanced at the passport saying barely audible, “Italy”, as if he was in trance. He turned to his colleague and asked, “Is Italy a member of the EU?” His colleague apparently trying to subdue his expression of surprise, looked down at him from the corner of his eyes and replied, “I would think so.” The policeman holding the passport gazed in the sky as if in thoughts, looked at Olu, handed the passport back to him and said, “Good day.” The German law requires everyone to have a passport or identity card, which could be demanded by the police in the public if the police deem it necessary as part of public security routines. However, foreigners, particularly people of color, have been most frequently stopped and asked to identify themselves. The law has been and still being exploited as a racial profiling tool. The more people of color are stopped and surrounded by policemen, the more the general public is presented with images depicting people of color as trouble-makers, law-breakers and criminals. These images are imprinted in the minds of the people and subconsciously form the basis on which most people interact with people of color. These images also provide arguments for racists and neo-Nazi groups to attract and recruit new followers.
To be continued!
Afritopic 2017
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