Racial Profiling Real at Providence College

6/8/2015

Cedric de Leon: Racial profiling real at Providence College - Gate House

By Cedric de Leon

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June 08. 2015 2:01AM

Cedric de Leon: Racial profiling real at Providence College In a May 16 letter (“No racial profiling by Providence College police"), Robert Lieder, president of the Rhode Island Security Guard Association, argued that there is no racial profiling by Providence College security guards. The Providence College administration agrees, and says that it is adhering fully to its nonbiased policing policy. The evidence for these assertions is that recent hires in the security department have been of diverse backgrounds, that there have been a few training sessions on diversity, that there have been few official complaints of profiling, and that an investigation of an incident involving Prof. Julia Jordan-Zachery found conclusively that her complaint of racial profiling was baseless. We beg to differ.  Jordan-Zachery has been profiled eight times during her seven years on campus. In the most recent incident, in September 2014, she entered the campus with her parking decal properly displayed and was waved through the guard booth without incident. After parking, she crossed the street on foot. A security guard pulled up, abruptly stopped his vehicle, and asked Jordan-Zachery if she planned to obtain a parking decal. She replied no since she already had one and continued on. The security guard continued to question her even after she identified herself as a faculty member, finally asking her, “Where are you going?” This is a blatant case of racial profiling. When “investigated” by the head of security, it was somehow found that there was not enough evidence to warrant disciplining the officer involved.  Jordan-Zachery is not the only person of color to experience racism on the Providence College campus. Two other members of our coalition who are faculty members of color report being stopped at the guard booth and questioned about what they do here, where their office is and what they teach, ostensibly to get to know them better. Do the security officers question everyone on campus in this manner? The answer is no. One of the white members of our coalition, Eric Hirsch, has been a faculty member at Providence College for 25 years and has yet to be stopped by a security officer for any reason.  Many other members of the PC community have testified to ongoing profiling and other discriminatory incidents at Difficult Dialogues discussions and at annual rallies for social justice. Representatives of the college’s administration have been present at all of these events. The continuing existence of racial discrimination has also been made clear in the results of a campus climate survey and an extensive survey of faculty attitudes.   Instead of responding directly and aggressively to such discrimination, the college administrators and spokespersons say that it must be a result of misunderstandings or that the perpetrators are actually “nice guys” who are just trying to be friendly. Some even say that people of color are hyper-sensitive and willing to jump at the chance to lodge unfounded charges of racism.   If there is profiling why are there so few complaints filed? The fact is, people of color do not file claims because they do not trust the security office to investigate and discipline itself. Because of this, the Coalition Against Racism is in the process of forming a Community Bias Review Board made up of faculty, students and community members, to offer a safe space for members of our community to discuss discriminatory actions directed against them.  CAR does not believe that racial profiling has ended on our campus. We call on the college president, the Rev. Brian Shanley, to take the following actions in accord with the basic principles of the college’s mission to ensure that all members of the community, regardless of race, are welcomed and made to feel safe:  -Name the problem by acknowledging that race discrimination, including racial profiling, is an ongoing problem on our campus. We ask that he release the full campus climate report results.  -Enforce the college’s stated policy against racial profiling by taking disciplinary action against all violators.  -Develop a restorative justice program to address the harm resulting from institutional racism.  Cedric de Leon is a sociology professor at Providence College. Eighteen CAR members also signed this statement.  

http://www.providencejournal.com/article/20150608/OPINION/150609510

http://www.providencejournal.com/article/20150608/OPINION/150609510/2011/?template=printart

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