Profiling- To complain or not to complain?

[Ami]

I'm a sophomore in high school and today was my first day back. I was eating lunch with a friend at a table full of people. My friend and I are part of what's considered the "gothic" subculture. We were sitting in a corner at a back table, talking quietly, minding our own business, and doing nothing to draw attention to ourselves. We're good students, make the grades, never get in trouble, that sort of thing. Today we were wearing all black. About halfway through lunch two administrators approached us out of nowhere and started going off on us. Namely, about the chains and straps hanging off our pants. (We were sitting at a back table now, mind you.) We were informed (a bit forcefully) that they were a violation of dress code. (And these are really big, intimidating guys.) My friend explained that we've worn them before in front of administrators and had no complaints. They made us take them off (the chains, not the pants). That's all good and well. We understand that it's their job to enforce the rules. But when we took a good look at the people sitting at the tables around us, we noticed something was up. There were numerous skaters, Hispanics, and African Americans sitting around us- who had chains on their pants. My friend and I felt that we were unjustly profiled as two young female Caucasians who happen to be gothic. There was no way from a few tables away that you could tell we had chains. There were people at the tables in front of us who were wearing chains. We were the only goths there. And we feel we were picked out because of this.

Are we right to be agitated? And would we be stepping out of line by sending in a letter of formal complaint?

[Tamaska]

You definitely are not stepping out of line by writing a letter if you feel you have been discriminated against. As long as the letter is tactful and well-written (and judging from your post, I doubt you'll have a problem with that), your complaint should be taken seriously. Maybe have your parents look over the letter as well to give some advice. I had a similar incident when I was in high school-- make sure to send a copy to your counselor, the administrators in question, and your principal. Let them know exactly how you feel and make sure your voice is heard! Good luck!

[Lunacie]

I don't think I would accuse anyone of profiling or discrimination, but I would certainly ask why I had been singled out when others were dressed the same.

[stella01904]

Write it. Either it is okay to wear chains, or it isn't.

[Ami]

I don't think I would accuse anyone of profiling or discrimination, but I would certainly ask why I had been singled out when others were dressed the same.

No, it's not about the chains. We felt discriminated against because they went after the only two goths there- who happened to be wearing chains.

[Lunacie]

No, it's not about the chains. We felt discriminated against because they went after the only two goths there- who happened to be wearing chains.

<shrug> Same thing I was saying. I just think you can ask why you were discriminated against without fueling the antagonism by calling it "profiling" or "discrimination".

[stella01904]

<shrug> Same thing I was saying. I just think you can ask why you were discriminated against without fueling the antagonism by calling it "profiling" or "discrimination".
Exactly. You have to write these things a certain way. If you throw out the P and the D words, they get resistant and run all over you making the case that "NO WE DO NOT DO THAT".

Just state what happened, like the Dalai Lama does when he talks about the Chinese invasion of Tibet. I know this isn't on THAT scale, but you can learn a lot reading that guy. ;)

[Ami]

Thanks you guys. :)

[Djiril]

The letter sounds like a good idea, and see if you can get your parents sign it as well.

[Jenett]

I might start with a letter of inquiry, first.

It's the beginning of the school year. It's possible that the policy for dress code has changed (or that specific administrators have been energetically reminded to enforce it more consistently.) Saying "The outfit I was wearing was okay with administrator's last year, this year [name] and [name] said it wasn't. Has it changed? What is considered acceptable? Who could I talk to for clarification?" should get you more information.

At that point, if you see details being enforced inconsistently, you have a lot more space to complain about it. Right now, you don't really know if there as a change, change in attitude about enforcement, etc.

Your parents asking would also do much the same thing, too (and perhaps easier as they can do the "Hey, you know kids do weird clothing things: I just want to make sure she won't get in trouble, so what're the limits?" in a way that students can't usually do.)