by White-Night

Created on: June 29, 2007   Last Updated: September 29, 2011

If you asked me this question about a month ago, I would have said yes, racial oppression does exist in todays society, but I wouldn't have had any facts to back this up. However, after an experience which I had with an African-American friend of mine and a couple of police officers, I now have that evidence.

I am a Caucasian white male ready to turn the ripe age of twenty-two. I live in Paterson, New Jersey, where white people are the main minority of the town. My friend J lives in Manhattan, but originally hails from a town over from me and is in his mid-twenties. He comes up to visit me and a few other friends every weekend to party with us, and keep himself updated with everything going on in our lives.

The other important piece of information here was the attire that we both were wearing. J was wearing a pair of loose-fitting jeans with a hooded sweat shirt and a fitted New York Yankees hat, while I was wearing a pair of over-baggy jeans with a short-sleeved baggy black, red, and white hooded sweat shirt and a matching fitted cap. Needless to say, J had more of a urban, classy style to him, while I had more of a street-urban style to myself.

That evening we decided that we were going to go to the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, New Jersey. The town is primarily of the wealthy whites, and the law enforcement in the area is not much different. While there, a couple of cop cars and undercover vehicles were in the parking lot around my car. Me and my friend were in front of the mall talking while I was having a cigarette. An officer approached me and asked if J and I could take a walk with him to my car, and we did. Once we got there, a pair of detectives began asking us questions while the officers were using their flashlights to look inside my car through the windows. After a few questions, I decided to ask what this was all about. The police officer who was peeping in my car stated that there was an anonymous tip that we were dealing drugs in and outside of the mall. I laughed, as did my friend, but J got ridiculed for his laughter with the detective screaming in his face "Do you think this is a joke", while I was nicely asked if they could have permission to search my car.

While the car was searched, I had a pleasant conversation with one of the officers about baseball, Barry Bonds, and a few parties on the Jersey Shore that were going on this summer. J, on the other hand, was being given a hard time. The detective was screaming at him, making a scene in front

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