racist in campus
I’ve thought about posting this for a long time, and I finally decided to share it here.
On the morning of 5/5, I was walking to class at SSL and passed by the vendor fair. There was a booth selling pins (Hello Kitty, Stitch, etc.), so I stopped to look because I really like collecting pins. I wanted to take a picture to send to my friend. There was no sign saying photos weren’t allowed, so I didn’t think it was a problem.
The vendor, who was also Asian, suddenly told me I couldn’t take photos. I immediately stopped and said okay. But then she walked over and insisted on checking my phone gallery and demanded that I show her the photos and delete them.
At the time, I was alone and already late for class. I didn’t want to argue, so I showed her my gallery. The problem was: I literally hadn’t taken any photos. There was nothing to delete. But she didn’t believe me and kept insisting I scroll through my gallery to “prove it.” I felt extremely uncomfortable and honestly violated, so I just left.
What made this worse was that after class, I came back to the same area and saw an older white man taking photos at the booth. This time, the vendor only told him “no photos,” but did NOT demand to check his phone gallery.
That’s why I genuinely believe I was being singled out and racially profiled, even though the vendor herself was Asian.
I reported the incident to OEOD through email and even went to their office in person. The staff there redirected me to the Counseling Center. The Counseling Center then redirected me to Mental Health Services. Mental Health Services transferred me to campus police. The police officer told me clearly that nobody has the right to search my photo gallery, but since this wasn’t considered a criminal case, all they could do was document it. So basically everyone kept passing me around.
I also emailed departments like Campus Life and ASUCI. Someone eventually replied saying they would talk to the vendor. I posted about this experience on Chinese social media the same day, and many people told me they had similar experiences with this booth.
Later, OEOD emailed me asking whether I wanted to continue with a formal investigation, but at the time I was overwhelmed preparing for exams, and I heard the booth was already gone, so I didn’t continue pursuing it.
Honestly, what I regret most is not calling the police immediately at the scene. From what I understand now, in California it is generally legal to take photos in public spaces, and nobody has the right to force you to show your photo gallery.
I just want to share this experience in case it helps someone else protect themselves in the future.