Being photographed by the authorities was the last thing on my mind as I walked our dog on Columbus Day. The feel of fall was wonderful. As I waited to cross a busy street while people were driving to work, a new gold sedan drove from my right to left. It pulled over a block away and across the street from me.
I saw the car stop and wondered what the driver was going to do. I soon found out.
He (I could see that the driver was a male) made a half-turn, stopped with his window down and took my photo with a flash. He then sped off, driving from my left to right, directly in front of me.
Daunted? Yes. Deterred? No?
Now it's happening to everyone,Ó a Middle Eastern friend said when I told him about being photographed twice in six days. Now I know what it feels like, in small part, to be profiled by the authorities. Not on the basis of my skin color, but on my politics that avenging the loss of innocent victims by inflicting violence on equally innocent people is wrong.
Stephen Philion Lecturer/PhD Candidate Department of Sociology 2424 Maile Way Social Sciences Bldg. # 247 Honolulu, HI 96822