Photo courtesy of CBS Sacramento
The other night I heard the tail end of the news which reported that a woman was arrested for talking too loudly on her cell phone while traveling on Amtrak. Intrigued by this story, I went online to get the full scoop and as I usually do, I scanned the reader comments and was quite surprised to see that a number of readers felt that the charge for disorderly conduct was somehow due to the fact that she was African American.
The issue of following public policy and whether the offender is of a certain race should never be the consideration. This story is about a woman who blatantly ignored a public policy and multiple announcements which clearly stated “no cell phone use” and became belligerent when others pointed out the cell phone policy on the train. Just like unruly airplane passengers are escorted off the plane in order to maintain safety in the skies, this woman presented the same security challenges to train passengers and as a result was escorted off the train. The woman’s failure to follow policy and the potential harm to others got her arrested, not her race.
What do you think? Would love to hear your comments!
