Weinberg junior Kwadwo Achampong said he was walking home from Technological Institute with friends around 2 a.m. two Thursdays ago when he noticed someone following him.
It was the police.
“They told me I looked suspicious because we had on hats and jackets,” Achampong said. “I was like, ‘Of course I do — it’s cold.'”
But Achampong said he thinks the confrontation with University Police had more to do with his race than with his hat and jacket. Achampong is one of a number of black males on campus who said they are afraid of being racially profiled.
Many crime reports released by NU describe the criminals as black males in their early 20s wearing sweatshirts. The information comes from reports taken by UP and Evanston Police Department that describe the incidents. The university then publicly discloses the information in crime releases.
Achampong said with the recent security incidents, black males now have the added worry of being victims of crime as well as being thought of as attackers — a stigma with which he said black males already struggle.
“I’m paying money to go here too,” Achampong said. “I don’t think it’s right to make me feel uncomfortable because I’m black.”
Achampong said he understands police must search for the criminals involved in the recent string of attacks, but he would like to see more specific descriptions of the suspects.
The available description fits “almost all black males on campus,” said Aaron Mays, a Weinberg freshman. Afraid of racial profiling, Mays no longer wears sweatshirts or “hip-hop clothes.”
“It’s scary because the clothes the alerts say they wear are the clothes I have in my closet,” Mays said. “I fit the description, but I don’t fit their intentions.”
Deciding on the best way to address racial profiling on campus is difficult, said Tracy Carson, coordinator of the black student group For Members Only.
“The African-American community is certainly for making sure people are safe,” said Carson, a Weinberg senior. “However, we hope that UP goes into their effort with the intention to find the perpetrator and not stigmatize African-American males on campus.”
When determining if someone is dangerous, Medill junior Rachel Stults said she does not consider race as an issue. “Everybody is the same color in the dark,” she said.
But Kevin Rodrigues said people can tell he is black, even at night. He said students are especially afraid of him when he wears a sweatshirt.
“Sometimes I put my hood over my head because it’s cold,” said Rodrigues, a Weinberg sophomore. “When I go around at night, people tend to tense up.”
As a result, Rodrigues said, he wears more NU clothing so people will know he is a student, not an attacker.
“If you’re not an African-American student, no one would ever be scared of you,” he said. “You definitely get a lot of strange looks at night.”
