Essay On Right Place Wrong Face A Response

This essay is written in chorological order and is a personal account of something that happened to the author. There is a lot of description, dialogue and reflection on the author’s feelings, the essay, however, has a completely serious purpose – which is to highlight the racism that can still exist towards African –Americans, particularly where the police are concerned. The author is partly a victim of circumstance – he is in the “wrong place at the wrong time”, he is informed at the end of the essay when the police give him a “pseudo-apology” from the police. However, the very title of the essay shows that he disagrees with this; as far as the author is concerned he was in the “right place” – the apartment block where he lives – and he is taken to the police station because he has the “wrong face” – he is black.
The essay starts in an optimistic mood. The author is a well-known actor and has the starring role in a Broadway musical, Ragtime. The musical’s protagonist is Coalhouse Walker Jr and is, according to the author, a “victim of overt racism.” Walker is “hardworking, successful, talented, charismatic, friendly, and polite. Perfect prey for anyone in authority and not even a fraction of those qualities.” The author identifies even more strongly with Coalhouse Walker Jr after the events of Friday, June 16th, 1999. He is wrongfully arrested and taken to the police station. He even misses that night’s performance of the play, even though the detectives knew who he was:
The rest of the nearly five hour ordeal was like a horrible dream. I was handcuffed, strip-searched, taken in and out for questioning. The officers told me that they knew exactly who I was, knew I was in Ragtime, and that they already has the men they wanted.
This is a frightening account of the power the police have and the arbitrary way they use that power, especially where racial minorities are concerned.