‘Permit Patty’ called the police to report an 8-year-old black girl for selling water on the street. (Twitter)

I recently read a Fast Company article compiling all of this year’s incidents of black people being harassed for doing everyday things. The incidents were filmed and the person, usually white, is given an Internet nickname and shamed on social media. Racial profiling is a sad reality for black people (and other People of Color) living in the United States.

Everyone has their story. I was regular racially profiled when I lived in Oklahoma, even when I was driving the junkiest of cars. (One time, I was pulled over in my own driveway.) The cop told me I had made a bad lane turn, three blocks away! This kind of thing happens so often, you end up getting numb to it or trying to laugh it off. (I included a racial profiling joke in my stand up act.)

I remember an incident when I was in college attending a friend’s party and she got a call from a neighbor to inform her that a black man was sitting in her living room. (We ended up laughing at the situation.) This happened about 20 years ago, so I couldn’t have created the hashtag #attendingpartywhileblack.

But to put things in perspective, in 2016 Ving Rhames, a veteran Hollywood actor, was almost shot in his own home after one of his neighbors reported a large black man had broken into the house next to her. According to Rhames, police arrived at his house with guns drawn. He opened the door and was met with laser sights painted on his chest. Fortunately, one of the cops recognized him and defused the situation. This situation could have been deadly. Eric Garner, was choked to death by the police, after someone reported him selling cigarettes on the street. When white people call the police for minor incidents like this, they are literally putting black people’s lives in danger.

Now, I live in Southern California, I get pulled over less, but racial profiling by the police is still a problem. I know several black lawyers and doctors who drive high-end cars and they regularly get tailed by police. And it’s not a new phenomenon. As, Will Smith said, the only difference is now it’s being recorded. Camera phones are racial profiling’s kryptonite. Today, everyone has a phone in their pocket that can document these ugly acts. I’m surprised that people still do this when they know one of these incidents captured on camera can ruin their life. You would have thought it would have made people extra nice, but apparently not.

These incidents happen on such a regular basis, it’s difficult to keep up. The latest incident involved Chika Okafor, a Bleacher Reporter social producer, who was harassed by a white man in his New York apartment complex. The white man, dubbed “Hallway Harry,” demanded to know what he was doing and why he was in the building. During, the encounter, Hallway Harry claimed he owned the building, and generally acted like he was a security guard. His whole attitude gave off the vibe of, “I don’t believe that you can afford to live here.”

In 2018 black people shouldn’t have to prove they can afford to live in a certain neighborhood or afford to drive a certain kind of car. If you’re still calling the police to report black people for doing everyday activities, you’re buying into an ugly stereotype.

The arrogance of this attitude is shocking. It’s hard to believe that in 2018, many people still have such a low opinion of black people. Do they think that we’re all hoodrats, who spend all day watching “Maury” and cashing welfare checks? That’s a rhetorical question because I know the answer is yes. Our idiot president once remarked that he was surprised when he saw the figures about people on welfare and learned that not all of them were black. And this is from a man who worked alongside Omarosa Manigault Newman, a veteran of the White House, and Dr. Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon.

Even in the post-Obama era, many still have a low opinion of black people. You could point the finger at the media, but images of black people on screen are not just welfare moms and gangbangers. There are positive images out there, you see images of black television anchors, military personnel, entertainers, athletes and professionals. So why does the negative stereotype still exist?

In 2018 black people shouldn’t have to prove they can afford to live in a certain neighborhood or afford to drive a certain kind of car. If you’re still calling the police to report black people for doing everyday activities, you’re buying into an ugly stereotype. And yes, it’s racist.