I am a white woman of European ancestry. I have never been and no doubt will never be questioned and detained to prove that I have a legal right to be in this country. I have traveled close enough to the Canadian border to run across highway checkpoints set up by the Border Patrol. I have never been stopped and asked to show my credentials - I have always been waved on. It is assumed by my appearance that I belong here, that I am innocent. No one has given me a curious glance, or paid the slightest bit of attention to me. I go about my life in relative peace.
My cousin and her husband adopted an American baby of South American descent. He is a natural born citizen of the US, educated here, now an adult who works here, and has just as much of a legal right to be here as me. He is not guilty of breaking any US immigration laws. But in appearance, he bears strong resemblance to the native residents of his parents' country of origin - black hair, dark brown eyes, dark brown skin, short and stocky in build. He stands a much greater chance of being stopped and asked to prove his legal right to be here, to prove his innocence.
To put it simply, I will not be asked to prove my innocence because of my appearance and the race I belong to, but the same can not be said about him. That is unequal treatment based on appearance/race/skin color - it is suspicion based on guilt by association.
What has saved him thus far is that he doesn't live anywhere near the southern border or the northern border. He does not live in any of the 'hot spots' in the US such as a sanctuary city. He is still at greater risk than me of being regarded with suspicion, thus being asked to prove his innocence simply because of his genetics.
In my way of thinking, that's dead wrong. He (as all of us) should be judged on his behavior and factual evidence, not his skin color and not because he looks like someone who may be from South America.
- Dancing Digits July 17, 2025, 7:20 pm