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Nancy Smith

President Obama, You Were Economically Profiled

July 24, 2013 - 6:00pm

Not to pick on President Obama today of all days, when he's in Florida trying to reacquaint us with his economic policy ... but I'm still stuck in the I-was-like-Trayvon speech he gave at the White House last Friday.

I think the whole premise for his address on the killing of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin and Stand Your Ground laws was wrong.

He was speaking as a black man when he should have been speaking as a poor man.

The president captured us straightaway when he said, "Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago."

It was a major point of emphasis.

It didn't just play on the heartstrings for the throngs of Americans affected by Trayvon's death, it made the president of the United States human and vulnerable. It was hugely effective.

But here's where I have trouble with it.

He went on to describe incidents that happened to at least a dozen people I've known in my life, and only one of them was black.

Those people I remember had one thing in common: They were poor. And you could spot their empty pockets a mile away.

Once upon a time the president was also poor and looked it.

Said Obama, "... I think its important to recognize that the African-American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that doesnt go away.

"There are very few African-American men in this country who havent had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. That includes me.

"And there are very few African-American men who havent had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. That happens to me, at least before I was a senator.

"There are very few African-Americans who havent had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off. That happens often."

No wonder these blatant acts of profiling stopped when Obama became a senator. Of course they did. Men in blue serge suits and polished black Florsheims from Abercrombie and Fitch seldom are, I don't care what the color of their skin.

Most of the time anyway, race be damned -- it''s all about money.

Some years ago my friend who happens to be white -- let's call him Daniel -- was stopped at a red light in the city of Stuart. It was his wedding night. He was hauled out of his car, patted down and detained briefly at the police station because he looked suspicious to the arresting officer. Why? Daniel had long hair, a beard and he was driving something one step up from a junker. The officer was convinced he was on a drug buy. He had been economically profiled -- and it continued until he shaved, put on a suit and bought a late model car. Today Daniel is a successful stockbroker. Police call him "sir" and mean it.

When our neighbor John was out of work, he went door to door looking to mow lawns or do yard work. He needed a haircut, wore cutoffs and a T-shirt with a motor oil stain. That's all it took for doors to lock and occupants to hide as he came up the path. And twice police showed up to sweep him along. Another white man, but profiled for looking like a vagrant and terrifying the residents.

One of our five sons -- the one who wouldn't pick up a $5 bill if he found it on the road -- was routinely followed up and down Publix supermarket aisles because of his beard, shaved head and insistence on collecting and selling aluminum cans using a bicycle with a black trash bag laced on the handles. An easy victim of profiling, not only in the supermarket.

I've got more stories of more people, but you get my point.

The fact is, all of these fellows could say exactly what the president did: Trayvon Martin could have been me ...

Bad things happen to the economically disadvantaged, folks -- especially if you're youngwith it.Black, brown, white, yellow, red -- all we have to do to be profiled -- or, targeted -- is fit the description of worthless.

And worth in America isn't determined by the color of your skin, it's determined by the size of your wallet.

Maybe this multimillionaire president has in his life been the victim of racialdiscrimination. To some extent, surely every African-American has. But the examplesPresident Obama gave don't make him a Trayvon Martin grown 34 years older, and ifanything, they would be more appropriate woven into the speech he will make today in Jacksonville on thestate of the economy and how it affects Americans of all colors, under water and under-respected.

Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423.

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