Today I got a ticket from NYPD because of jaywalking on Queens Blvd (Union Turnpike). It sounds normal, but it's not. Many people crossed the street on the same line as me, but only some people got the tickets especially Black, Asian, and South American. Is it equal? Do they have prejudice?
About 4:30PM, my boyfriend and I went to Thai restaurant on Queens Blvd. by taking E train. When we left the train, we saw the exit that we always use were closed. So we had to go to the other side and crossed the street. We saw many people crossed the street at that side. Then we were following them. A policeman came to us and asked for our IDcard, and we gave them immediately. I asked him what was happening, and he said I crossed the street on the prohibit way. And, I accepted that it's my fault. I believe in laws and I graduated from laws school in my hometown, Thailand. Therefore, I think that's fine for me. I respect the laws, and also I expect officers who run the laws to use them equally.
Just about 5 minutes left, we saw a large group of people crossed the street like we did, but 3 policemen ignored them. What is that? And there were a lot of people crossed that street after that, but the cops didn't give them any tickets. The thing is groups which including any white people didn't get the ticket. Is it racial discrimination? Is it acceptable in this country? Is it fair?
Every people who got the tickets tried to ask the cops about this, but they escaped by closing all the car's windows and staying in there. In addition, when one of the policemen got out of the car in order to give a black woman ticket written already, there were about 4-6 people crossed the street on the same line. The woman asked him whether he saw them and why he didn't give them the tickets as her. The policeman said nothing and went back to stay in the car. My boyfriend and I ask another cop when he gave us the tickets how about people who were crossing the street (in the same line) at that time. He said he wrote our tickets, so he couldn't do another job at the same time. However, 2 policemen just sat in the car to see many people crossed the street like the way we did, and the reason they gave us the tickets.
"...All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights......"
"...Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty......."
(from http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html)
Are all these words just ideal?
I plan to get into laws school here, the US, in order to study about International Human Rights Law. I have chosen this country because there are a lot of tries to promote and to make the world be concerned about human rights, yet this situation makes me disappoint. I'm pretty sure that there are a lot of good policeman here. Don't let a bad part of your organization makes all of you be dirty!!
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