Transoceanic Profiling: ongoing racism in Germany and the United States

Police brutality, particularly in altercations involving immigrants or people of color , has been on the rise in recent years. With immigration rising in both the U.S. and Germany, it appears that diversity comes with a cost.
(Photo courtesy of cagle.com)

Last week an unnamed German citizen, 26, won a landmark discrimination case in the Higher Administrative Court for Rhineland-Palatinate.

Here is the catch: he is black. 

Both a German citizen and a student at a university in Kassel, the man has been taken aside at least 10 times by federal police. On this occasion, he was traveling to visit family in Offenbach. The police took him aside, thinking he was another undocumented illegal.

However, when the police harassed him to hand over his travel documents, he finally decided to stand up to them. Other train passengers spoke out against the officers, but nevertheless, the officers continued to harass the student. Eventually, he was taken to the police station where he was finger printed and placed into a holding cell. They questioned whether or not he could speak English and had documents.

Eventually, he was released once he showed his driver's license. His reason for resistance? Due to his past experiences being taken aside, he found that police need to give at least one reason for questioning passersby. In his case, the police failed to do that.

Though the student did not seek monetary damages, he characterized the experience as "the worst day of [his] life."

In California, this experience is common amongst Latino immigrants, legal and illegal alike. Thus, racial profiling has become especially prominent, particularly in border states. Racial profiling is defined as taking a person's race or ethnicity into account when deciding whether to engage in enforcement.

In 2008, the ACLU of Southern California released a report, which analyzed Los Angeles Police Department pulling over pedestrians and determined that African Americans and Latinos were "over-stopped and over-frisked" by law enforcement, much like the officers in Germany.

According to this ACLU study, blacks and Latinos were 76 and 16 percent more likely to be pulled over and searched than whites. Twenty nine and 32 percent of blacks and Latinos were more likely to be arrested as a result of these searches.

What other trends have there been in regards to racial profiling in the U.S. and abroad? Are there any patterns you have notice?

Gay marriage abroad: policies in Germany and the United States

Angela Merkel, DE Chancellor, is part of the Christian Democratic Union. (Photo courtesy of CNN.com)

According to CNN writers Grep Pleitgen and Janina Bembenek, the German high court has granted same-sex couples the same tax benefits of heterosexual couples. Over the past couple years, there has been a heated debate between Christian Democratic Union (CDU), headed by Chancellor Angela Merkel, and the Liberal Democrats.

In the past, the Christian Socialist Union, a sister union to the CDU, has spoken out against equal tax benefits, saying that heterosexual couples receive those benefits because their relationship goes towards "making new life."

Much like civil unions in California and Delaware, German government officials passed domestic partnerships into law in 2001. Now, the Bundestag is permitting the same tax benefits for these couples at the urging of German liberals.

There is a similar situation in the United States. As the election closes in on U.S. citizens, the gay marriage debate is becoming even more heated. Religious groups are speaking out against same-sex marriage, citing the Bible as their moral reasoning.

In Washington state, Referendum 74 is up on the ballot. Should the bill be passed, gay marriage would become legal in Washington state.

Washington state candidates, Jay Inslee (left) and Rob McKenna (right). (Photo courtesy of KATU.com)

However, its passage depends both on the election of Republican candidate Rob McKenna or Democrat Jay Inslee. With much of Washington's gay population focused in Seattle, the King county vote will likely reflect their vote.

As a supporter of R-74 and a democratic voter, I can only hope that the United States government will turn in favor of supporting gay citizens' rights.

Gender Issues

As I was looking for interesting articles to share, I found this one by Der Spiegel, entitled "Berlin Conference Addresses Male Troubles" about a woman well known in Germany for her unusual stance on gender equality. It brings up interesting ideas about gender equality, especially men's place in the fight for equal rights. Is a conference like this likely to occur in America as well as in Germany? What kind of reaction would a conference like this receive here? Thoughts?