Safety first, but Trenton school security adds stigmatization to black people

The metal detector sounded as entry into the Rivera Middle School gymnasium eventually required a pat down.

If you want stigmatization then consider African Americans, Latinos and others receive strict security oversight when attending Trenton Central High School basketball games.

Step into any other Mercer County high school gymnasium and fans escape bias, prejudice and all other social invasions. Do black people finger ourselves with security measures, believing that a shooting in our gymnasiums or schools will receive more negative responses despite shooting incidents at Columbine, Marjory Stoneman Douglas Santa Fe high schools.

On Friday, Feb. 1, hundreds of fans, most of them African American, packed Emil Wandishin Gymnasium, as host Ewing High shocked Trenton High, 5755.

Fans were not subjected to any security measures for the Colonial Valley Conference showdown. Many of Trenton High supporters were the same fans who regularly attend games at Rivera Middle School.

If minorities get treated as peaceful human beings in suburban, predominantly Caucasian gyms but face extensive scrutiny in urban enclaves then have leaders in black schools turned the microscope on us, despite the fact that more guns are found in white households and most incidents of school gun violence occur in suburban education institutions.

Urban school students face metal detectors daily, learning early on that U.S. society considers them more prone to commit violent acts. Conversely, suburban students enjoy freedom, coming and going without much oversight. Sure, Officer Friendly patrols suburban campuses while urban students face a different law enforcement “enemy”, one where the relationship exists as antagonistic.

So, urban students, parents and other visitors receive their indoctrination of suspicion whether they arrive for a main office visit or athletic event. One rings a door bell, speaks through an intercom, walks through a metal detector, offers photo identification, signs an entry log and then states his or her business.

Shouts of racism would surface if suburban schools employed metal detectors when only Trenton or other urban schools visited. In the federal case against former Bordentown Township Police Chief Frank Nucera, allegations exist that the top cop would deploy police dogs near gym entrances when significantly black schools played the Bulldogs L.A. Parker is a Trentonian columnist. Find him on Twitter @ LAParker6 or email him at LAParker@Trentonian. com. in athletic events, especially basketball. My skin crawls and mind screams ‘foul’ during that potential perp walk through the metal detector after the removal of keys, wallet, cell phone, pen, coins and whatever other items that may sound alarm. May enter the next Trenton game wearing underwear and bedroom slippers to avoid all the fumbling for pocket items. Just want to watch basketball and loathe and love the fact that suburban schools offer free passes and entry into their gymnasiums and other campus areas while black schools add weighted stigma.