Long story short...

...I was racially profiled while shooting these pictures around the very neighborhood that I live in. While walking home, I was stopped by some cops who told me they received a call from someone saying that a person was taking pictures of buildings. Now, the street I was walking on is a busy thoroughfare lined with tress and there are no buildings on that particular stretch. I told them that I was not taking pictures of buildings and even showed them the shots I was taking. They apologized for stopping me and were on their way.

I was not upset at the cops. They were very cordial and mild-mannered. I'm not even upset now. But I am a bit disturbed at the person who made the call. Considering the location, the surroundings, and the timing of the police response, whomever called had to have done so from their passing car. What kind of paranoid, ignorant state were they in to think this was cause for alarm? I know that Islam has not been portrayed in the best light over the past decade thanks to the Bush administration, the ongoing Middle Eastern wars, and the media terrorist hype, but I never thought it shook the general public that bad and reduced them to this. And I know the cops were very cool but how would've they have responded to even a minimal display of annoyance? Would this even ever have happened if I decided to not wear my kufi? Just a sampling of the ignorance that I am consciously and constantly aware of every day. And people wonder why I'm the angry Black man.