Thank you, Hannah! - Allyship

Tomorrow the 26th of October, 2020, I shall be participating in a panel discussion organized by the Science Cafe, Utrecht University on racism and discrimination within the Dutch health care system "Witte Medisch Blik" Being a person of color who trained, worked, and held educational and medical leadership roles in the Netherlands, the organizers felt that I qualified to join other invited panelists to discuss issues related to discrimination within healthcare delivery and teaching systems.

For this panel discussion, I had to fly into Amsterdam from Aruba. I was looking forward to participating in this event, as I had been actively involved in the diversity and inclusivity dialogue for quite a while. My involvement in this dialogue had intensified recently following the events surrounding George Floyd's death and the #Blacklivesmatter movement and my personal reflections on the current state of affairs.

Just doing my job

The night flight to Schiphol (Amsterdam) from Aruba was roughly 8,5 hours smooth and uneventful. Half-awake, we disembarked from the aircraft and slowly found our way to the counters where the airport security agents were stationed. It is worthy to note that passengers on most, if not all, flights from the Dutch Caribbean have to go through the so-called "100% security control" at Schiphol. In other words, all passengers and their luggage without exemption are screened. As we approached the security agents counter, a couple (a young man and an older woman) walked in front of me. These passengers slowly walked towards the counter, past the security agent, and continued their journey without being asked to show their passports. Walking right behind and in line with the previous passengers, I proceeded to walk past the security agent. Contrary to the other two passengers, I was pulled back and stopped by the security agent. He wanted to see my passport, which seemed odd to me since he had let the other passengers go without asking for theirs. I asked him why he stopped me while he had let two people who were obviously not black pass unchecked. To my dismay, he falsely claimed he had checked their passports, which I saw he did not. He asked me what the purpose of my visit to the Netherlands was and why there were so many custom entry stamps in my passport. Still visibly astonished by the inconsistency in the agent's action regarding the security procedures, I told the agent I was an academic and (before covid-19) regularly traveled to different countries for meetings and conferences. I informed him that the purpose of my visit to the Netherlands was to participate in a meeting as an invited speaker, which ironically was on racism and discrimination in the Netherlands. Clearly disturbed with the inconsistency in his actions and how he brushed off my observation, I told the gentleman that the inconsistency in his actions amounted to #racial profiling. His response to that was, "I am just doing my job."

Humiliation

It is not uncommon for many people of color to be singled or pulled out from the crowd by security or law enforcement agents in public places such as airports, trains, and traffic for additional security screening. For such individuals (including myself), no matter how often this happens to you, you never get used to the pain, distress, embarrassment, and humiliation these events cause you. While there is no debate about the need for security in our communal spaces, there is also no doubt about the disproportionate skewing of the focus of stopping and frisking based on color, size, and height, in which case blacks and Hispanics are the worst affected. The data shows that 9 out of 10 people who are stopped and frisked are innocent in New York. In 2019, 66% of the people who were stopped and frisked by law enforcement agents were innocent, of which 59% were black, 29% were Hispanic, and just 9% white.

Hannah

So as I left the scene of yet another episode of #discrimination and racial profiling, Hannah walked up to me, clearly upset about what had just happened. Hannah, a 12-year-old girl, happened to be on the same flight I was on and was nearby when the incident with the security agent happened. She told me that she was disappointed with the security agent's behavior. She empathized and consoled me, sensing how humiliating and distressing the encounter was. So to Hannah, I say a big THANK YOU. She epitomized the ray of hope for a world where equity, social justice, love, and respect could still exist.

Nb: the author was the only person of color in this narrative.