If you are a criminal, invest in a tie.

The other day mi compañero Martin accidentally locked the keys of our CapCorps car inside the car. We had just attained the very old, beat up Ford Tempo the day previous, and thus just gotten the keys as well. Obviously. But, that also meant we hadn't separated the extra copy of the keys from each other-- they were on the same ring that all got locked in the car. Whoops.

So, in order to avoid paying a locksmith money that we don't have for a car that came with empty bottles, cans, and a bag of opened chips in the back, we asked the help of Messmer staff to get into the car. First, myself and Joe (Shelly's husband... Shelly is one of the co-directors of CapCorps) took a crowbar to the window and tried to get a wire hanger through. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get the hanger close enough to press the unlock button. Then came Messmer Maintenance staff, who had their own wire hanger tricks, and better ways to crack open the car with said crowbar. Eventually, they were successful, and had a good laugh at our expense once they realized that both copies of the keys had been locked in. I think the exact words were, "Oh what it is to be young, and STUPID."

That, however, is not the point of this entry. The car was parked outside our house, which is the old rectory to the church next to us and right next to Messmer Prep. It's not exactly a big street, but it is right in front of a school, there is a bar at the opposite corner too. And there we were, trying to break into a car. What bugged me about the whole thing was that everyone assumed it was our car, and that we had locked the keys in. In fact, a police car drove by at one point and didn't even stop to ask us anything.

At first, it was myself and Joe, white male who was wearing slacks and a tie. The Messmer dudes were also white men. Did the police not stop because the group was mostly white men? Or because Joe was wearing a tie?

You know that if we were a group of black men or latinos, there would have been so much more suspicion.

You might be thinking, well YEA, someone wearing a tie is probably not trying to steal a car. But why do you think that? And why is it more suspicious if it had been a group of black men? What's the difference? There is no difference! That no one was suspicious seems to me to be a great example of white privilege. At the very least, discrimination based on appearance, because we didn't "look" like criminals.

So, all those who are thinking of turning to a life of crime, I offer a bit of advice. I know you cannot change your race and thus the racism you will experience. But you can invest in a tie. Apparently that might be enough to evade suspicion. Maybe throw on a pair of glasses, look smart.


think about it.