USC student tells of racial profiling in South LA



Tobi Oduguwa looks out onto the street where he said he experienced racial profiling in the area near USC. | Lensa Bogale

Tobi Oduguwa looks out onto the street where he said he experienced racial profiling in the area near USC. | Lensa Bogale

Tobi Oduguwa is a University of Southern California junior double-majoring in computer science and physics. But as a black man two inches over six-feet-tall, he gets asked what position he plays on basketball team more often than his major. The question comes up so often that he has given himself his own, unofficial basketball number.

“If you hear about a point-guard named number six, that’s actually me,” said Oduguwa.

But the assumptions aren’t always so harmless.

Oduguwa learned the hard way when officers from the USC Department of Public Safety stopped him one night outside of his apartment and, without explanation, asked to see his ID.

After being question, Oduguwa realized that he was suspected of choking a young woman in the building across from his own. It wasn’t until a friend vouched for Oduguwa that he was finally released.

Hear more of Oduguwa’s comments in a radio story for Annenberg Radio News:

Oduguwa, who grew up in the Anaheim suburbs, said he believed it was a case of racial profiling.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, Black men in Los Angeles are 127 percent more likely to be frisked compared to White men. In order to prevent cases like Oduguwa’s, the American Civil Liberties Union has started a “Know Your Rights” campaign to teach minorities how to act when being confronted by law enforcement.

Gang intervention liaison Stinson Brown of the Los Angeles Police Department said racial profiling among officers has decreased significantly over the past two decades.

Still, Oduguwa said he is always careful about keeping up a good appearance on the streets. To avoid being profiled, he tries to dress “like a frat boy.”

“Wear those shirts with front pockets, wear those salmon-colored shorts and boat shoes, and people won’t assume you’re a criminal,” he said.

Oduguwa gives us a look into his closet for a lesson on what to wear — and what not — to avoid racial profiling by police: 

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