Melina, welcome and thank you for your input. You are absolutely right. This is not just a Greek phenomenon. Sadly, it is widespread and very common in England. I had forgotten to write that the experiences I wrote about above occurred in England not here in Greece. Thank you.Scruffy American, I understood that the comments you wrote were about your friend. I think that people were troubled because seemed to be trying to explain the police behavior. That’s how I read it anyway. I can’t speak for other people.

I am a resident both of Athens and of Beverly Hills.  I have been the object of racism and have witnessed it during my seven years in Greece; however, African Americans driving down the street in Beverly Hills are routinely stopped and questioned about their business there.  The police have been brutal with people who have dark skin and assume if they are in that neighborhood they must be up to no good.  It is not just a Greek phenomenon, unfortunately.

What happened to the Nigerian man in Cyprus were despicable. My comments were only related to my friend and his experience here in Athens.

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I have black friends who have been arrested numerous times and locked up overnight on occasion because they were…. well, just because they were on the street and they have black skin. It had nothing to do with criminal activity. It is racism. Plain and simple. Black skin equals bad.

That’s all good, scruffy American, but it doesn’t appear to have been about selling CD’s, unless you think marrying a British woman is the rough equivalent of selling a briefcase full of CD’s.  I think it’s about racist-ass cops beating up people for racial intermarriage.
Yeesh.
Thanks for posting this, Devious Diva, just wish I hadn’t read the comments!
Heart

Zardoz,
Yep, you are right.  All over the world and not right to do it.   At least for my African-American Army retired friend, when they see his American passport they tend to treat him a bit nicer after that.  So, now when I see him, I kid him by asking if he has any CD’s I can buy and he tells me "Yeah right!".

In New Jersey, they call that "routine police work."  Although the courts have called it "racial profiling," and declared it unconstitutional.  They did that after a group of state police officers shot up a car full of unarmed young black men, who had broken no laws other than "driving while black."  Luckily, no one was killed.
At least we can say we don’t have the market on illegal behavior by the authorities completely cornered.  Yet.

thats what the police do ,,,,or am i wrong ,,,?

Point was that they were looking for illegal activity based on a perceived stereotype.

zardoz says :

Diva,
I have an African-American acquaintance here who is retired from the American Army and he’s doing quite well for himself financially and otherwise, and he still tells me of occasionally being stopped by the Greek police who want to search his bag.  After they realize he’s American, their demeanor immediately changes, and the last time, he even asked the cops why they stopped him and they said that there are a lot of illegal peddlers of CD/DVD and since he had a black bag, that’s why they stopped him.  So, my friend seems to think that although he was stopped because he was stereotyped as an African CD peddler, he believes that if Red Haired Asians were the ones selling CDs, maybe they would be stopped.  Just mine (his) two cents.  Doesn’t make it right, but at least an explanation.