To think he’s being racially profiled.

[LetMeSpeak]

Ok so Dbrother and I went onto the metrolink yesterday and there was a ticket inspector there while we were getting on. I don’t often see them on the metrolink. So a few of us enter the tram by the same door. The inspector points and then stops and asks to check my DBs ticket and only my DBs ticket. I don’t think they realised we were together, so DB shows the ticket but the inspector doesn’t look at anyone else’s who was getting on. I found that rather strange and asked DB about it. DB has said that they have been inspecting more this week and the times he has seen them they only inspect his ticket and nobody else’s .

Aibu to think there is some sort of profiling going on. I really am eager to complain to them about it. My DB is mixed race and I’m white. It’s the way the inspector just pointed at DB. For me it’s a clear indication they were looking for a certain profile of people. DB is telling me to just leave it. I asked DH and he doesn’t seem as convinced but wouldn’t be surprised if they are.

I just think it’s so unfair to be targeting specific people when everyone is meant to be paying to get onto the metrolink.

The problem largely isn’t overt racism (though obviously it still happens and can have a devastating impact when it does). What is far more insidious is the everyday, covert and institutional racism that is embedded in society as a whole and that impacts on all aspects of a persons life.

It’s this racism that leads to young Black men being more likely to be pulled over by the police, to young people being less likely to succeed in school and go on to universities, to PoC having less opportunity to succeed in their careers etc. it’s everywhere and it’s horrific.

So if the scenario had been totally different and in a different context?

Learn to read.

I think you're probably right.

When I was on the metrolink a couple of weeks ago there was a ticket inspector on. There was an issue with the contactless and when the ticket inspector checked my payment method it was not showing as paid (even though later that day it was then showing the payment taken from my account) this also happened to two other people and he let us and them get on. Two stops later a young south asian lad got on the tram, the ticket inspector had the same issue and made him get off to buy a ticket.

It wouldn't be surprising. Though I would expect being a young male is also a significant element.

It's very hard to pin this stuff down though, because there are so many variables, and by it's nature individual experiences are anecdotal.

There is also the fact that there are real demographic trends in this kind of petty crime. It may be that young black/mixed race men are over-represented in terms of travelling without tickets where you live, especially if they are more likely to be poor. That will tend to affect the behaviour of people making checks because they know that is the case. Whether it is a bad thing or not to let that drive their choices is a complicated question. It can easily become self-fulfilling, on the other hand if they don't they will probably catch fewer people, if there is a real trend.

I would tend to ignore it like your brother, or possibly just look at writing a well-thought out letter to someone higher up saying that this is an issue etc. It's not something where complaining to someone low-level is likely to have a satisfactory result.

I can read I just don't care 😁

Cool head.. DB is a big boy and can handle it himself.

We moved to a new rural area and in the first fortnight, local police pulled over and stopped DH three times as he was driving near our house. Exotic brown person in suspiciously beat up old car. He was variously asked to show his licence , wait while reg plate checked, open the boot, explain why he had a crowbar in it. He remained cool, calm, polite. No probs, and for the next 20 years our local cops could not have been more helpful.

I've been stopped by security far more often than DH. Its a family joke that its palest and only blue-eyed pure caucasian member , me, so frequently gets stopped at airport security.I've been stop-searched
by police (going into hospitaloutpatients)and even had my baby in arms strip searched ( dirty weapon found in nappy).

Last week( transiting five airports) I got "step aside madam" twice for hands-on touchy-feely body pat down search, and hands and shoes explosive-swabbed once.

So watch your step, bitches. I 'm obviously a real hard case and probably armed.

People just love to complain now about everything.

Move on, your own brother asked you to leave it.

What race was the inspector?

Of course it was profiling. White people have no idea how much privilege they have to navigate society so seamlessly because of their whiteness. I've often told my dad it's like a super power.

Why shouldn’t people complain about unfair treatment due to their skin colour?

If you don’t think racial profiling is an issue then we can probably safely assume you don’t suffer because of it (tick for white privilege).

My children’s dad gets it all the time when flying. I started carrying bags into theme parks on a recent holiday as I’m white - as they stop him every single time. It is racial profiling and it’s shocking once you notice it going on.

i am indian origin (and female) and have been 'randomly selected' consistently for every flight i have ever taken! you're likely not wrong about the profiling.

leave it if he's asked you too but it's good that you notice it and aren't trying to gaslight POC into thinking it's not intentional

I travel on the metro link all the time. I have never seen a solo ticket inspector checking anyones ticket. They always work in pairs or in groups - a team of them get on at one stop and check the whole carriage’s tickets.
if your brother believes he’s being racially profiled, he can always complain. All teams have CCTV, so they will be able to check the CCTV from the specific tram you were on to see what happened. Here’s the contact details.
tfgm.com/public-transport/tram/contact

FWIW, the greatest number of ticket dodgers in the metro link is school boys - school girls come second. Local high schools have been contacted by metro link staff to see what can be done to sort out this matter.

My DD has just reminded me about the time she got stopped by 2 Metrolonk ticket inspectors coming home from work and had to pay a fine 😂

@MangyInseam how odd! In my area of London when they target everyone the people they frequently find those without tickets/paying a fare are young British sounding white women.

I only know they are British sounding because they were having loud arguments with the ticket inspectors.

I guess racial profiling worked because it made all the visible ethnic minority university and college students plus hospital and other workers pay their fare. Though I have seen elderly white men giving ticket inspectors and station staff a bollocking if they unfairly target people who are visible ethnic minorities.

What about if the inspector had been a child and the passenger an adult?
don’t be daft!

I always hated the term white privilege as its thrown around all the time without sufficient context but I still remember some time ago a lady posted on black mn that she didn’t get a job and she wondered if it’s because she’s black and honestly my first thought was ‘don’t be so stupid, you probably didn’t get the job because they simply didn’t like you’, but then I was reading all the comments and I had a realization that it must be really shitty to wonder if the reason why you didn’t get a job is because of the color of your skin rather than your qualifications and experience. I think the point is if you’re white you don’t have to wonder about those things but if you’re black you do! Hence the term white privilege.

Or if the inspector had been a dwarf and the passenger a teapot.

Or any other combination that didn't fucking happen.

Of course it’s profiling. It’s shit.

My friends husband is black and it happens a lot. It’s now started to happen to their 14 year old son. The racists will always deny it and do their whataboutery.

I'm married to a black man, he is constantly stopped and ticket checked on trains, pulled over in customs at airports etc even though we are both fairly mature now.

I am almost never stopped when travelling solo.
It gives me a huge awareness of the unfairness of racial profiling.

Yanbu. But as long as the stupid and racist are willing to come up with any old shite to explain why ‘it’s not racist but’ it’s never going to be publicly acknowledged as something that needs to stop.

How is that odd, you've just said that in your observation there are demographic trends in terms of who comes on without a ticket?

I could certainly see young teen girls doing that, having once been one myself, it's also not hard to imagine young men who are short of funds doing the same thing.

But those are just impressions in any case, neither of us know what the statistics would say, and I don't imagine they'd be the same in every city or on every route.