By Zolan Kanno-Youngs, News correspondent
Whether you were engaging in late night festivities or studying for upcoming midterms this Saturday night, chances are you took a moment to read an alert that popped up on your phone reading “armed robbery.”
At least that was the case for me as I read an e-mail on my phone describing two “black male juveniles wearing dark clothing,” stealing two Northeastern students’ phones around 10 p.m. The e-mail from the Northeastern University Public Safety Division (NUPD) went on to say that the suspects got the students to take out their phones by asking them for the time. When they did, one of the suspects brandished a knife.
I empathize with the victims in this incident and hope nobody within the Northeastern community ever experiences something like that. However, the actual robbery wasn’t the thing that disturbed me the most about the e-mail but rather, the last sentence:
“Members of the NU community are urged to be aware of this tactic and to be cautious of their surroundings while walking outside in public areas.”
With the only description of the suspects their skin color and “dark clothes,” what are the exact changes someone should make to be more cautious without racially profiling?
For someone that grew up in a city, I knew one incident wouldn’t change the way I go about my day or night. Many Northeastern students with a similar background seemed to feel the same way.
“Something happens to one person it doesn’t happen to everybody,” third-year civil engineering major Luke Prohaske said. “Like I said, life goes on. I’m not worried, I’m not changing my routine.”
Other students noted that the time of day and their location on campus are main factors in determining how they will act. However, some students said they will need to further evaluate approaching strangers before answering a question from them, such as third-year biology major Soleil Dogget.
“It kind of depends on how they look,” Dogget said. “If they look sketchy or on drugs, I’d probably make up some excuse but if it was a lady that looked suitable, I’d probably give her the time.”
While my roommate and I don’t find ourselves particularly sketchy looking, we do fit the description sent out by public safety (we happened to be wearing dark clothing that day and have dark skin) so we began asking various people in West Village for the time around 6:30 pm.
With the exception of one older woman who scurried around us as she said didn’t have the time, every student stopped to answer. However, fear and suspicion was always apparent either in facial expression or their hesitation to answer.
Who can blame them though? They’re only doing what they were told by the NUPD – to be cautious of anyone asking for the time that may fit the description of the suspects.
I am not saying the e-mail sent out by NUPD will cause racial profiling. In fact, when I asked my white friend, third-year international affairs major Nathan Cutler, to perform the same experiment just an hour later, half of the students he asked declined to give him the time.
What I am saying is that our reactions to this incident will require knowing the line between being cautious of a potential dangerous situation and paranoia-inspired profiling.
–Zolan Kanno-Youngs can be reached at [email protected].
