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Crosscurrents

Racial profiling divides Oakland neighbors on social networking site

Courtesy of Bert Johnson/East Bay Express
Leland Thompson has experienced racial profiling in online forums and in his Oakland neighborhood.

Nextdoor.com is a website designed to bring neighbors together by helping them ask questions, get to know each other, and post local recommendations.

But recently, a feature of the site that allows people to report suspicious activity has divided neighbors in Oakland. East Bay Express reporter Sam Levin broke the story. He joined KALW’s Audrey Dilling to talk about what happened.

SAM LEVIN: The most frequent kind of racial profiling post that I have seen is someone saying, “I don’t recognize this person. They’re walking slowly. They look suspicious.” The kinds of thing where if you actually pick it apart and say, “What’s the behavior that’s suspicious?” There’s actually not much there. And the reason that folks feel like it’s clearly racial profiling is they might lead with “African American man in hoodie.”

For more on this topic, read Sam Levin’s article in the East Bay Express: Racial Profiling Via Nextdoor.com

Clips in this interview came from the video below, produced by Bert Johnson and Sam Levin. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HogxvuqCU5Q&feature=youtu.be

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Crosscurrents Oakland