Adults should stop policing skateboarders

I would first like to give you my condolences to the fact that you feel as if you are a second class citizen. However I would like to say that the lady whom you've portrayed as an icy interrogator had every right to be suspicious. If i were coming home from a long day of work and i see two shadowy figures in front of my house (which is considered private property) i'd be highly suspicious as well. Her questions were highly appropriate and she did not actually threaten you in any way or make any references to the fact that you were skateboarders. It was an assumption of your part that she was treating you with a sense (if any in reality) of hostility due to the fact that you were skaters, and not the fact that she was merely trying to ask you some questions that would reveal any intentions. It seems to me that your cries of injustice are greatly exaggerated. You claim that skaters are second class citizens how ever i have yet to see anyone decline service or be denied the right to vote or religion, i have yet to see a skater being refused in a public place (if there are rules or laws prohibit skating for safety reason is a different story, how ever if a known skater is not skating within these premises and does not have his board with him and is still refused access this would be a case of civil liberties being disputed, i doubt however the likelihood for such an event to happen). I would like to also bring up the point that using a personal narrative to sway the voters is incoherent, as personal narratives tend to be extremely bias and contain a bare minimum of facts within it's contents, and thus it is the responsibility of the voters to vote according to the facts at hand rather then emotional impulse. I would like to now address the point which you made, stating that the persecution of large groups of people are often condoned by small elements within those groups. There is no disputing this, for man is ignorant and the common man shall remain ignorant because he resists change for he is told when he is young that it is unacceptable to be different or weird. Thus men often persecute those who they do not understand and are unwilling to try and understand far more then they persecute those who are similar in nature and culture to themselves. How ever it is unfair to compare a skaters "suffering" to those of Muslims, Irish or Jews or any other groups similar in nature. Many people who are ignorant see these groups as cancer and feel that they must be irradiated, while at it's height of prejudicial skaters are just seen as a minor nuisance rather then an actual group detrimental to society. Another point i feel that i should raise is that, many of the persecuted groups don't have much of a choice in their way of life. If you are born middle eastern or black or latino, it's not as if you could change your ethnicity on a whim. The same difficulties can be applied when dealing with religious prosecution as well. I am well aware of the police/security-skater disputes in public places that have arose in recent years and has been made quite popular via youtube. Although i will admit that in a few cases that skaters were treated with some form of prejudice, however in most of the cases skaters are repeatedly told to stop skating in the area, and repeatedly the skaters ignore these requests. This it is not the fault of the enforcement since the orders were clear, rather it was the fault of the the receiving party (in this situation the skaters) for not abiding to the rules and authority. As for adults who hold no position in law enforcement, it is their right to intervene in situations where the safety of the general public (such as skating down a sidewalk where a number of people of using, giving reason to believe that a collision is inevitable), or when they believe that liability issues may be at stake (such as skating on private properties such as but not limited to private places of business, parking lots or homes, for if the skaters were injured the private property owner could hold some liability,vice versa if the skaters damages anything they could be held responsible and compensation could be troublesome especially when dealing with minors). If neither of these applies to the adult "policing" the skaters then one of two things could be assumed, that the adult is a very nosy person and has nothing better to do then intruding into other people's affairs and/or the person is a dick. As for the issue of respect, remember that respect is earned. It can never be bought or forced, the best way to earn the respect of you community would to give back to the community. Physically show that the image portrayed of skaters is a false one. Do not idle around complaining about discrimination when you yourself are not contributing to battle such stereotypes. Sure it may seem that this task to pull the skating community together to remake it's image is near insuperable but is nesscarry to escape your "persecution".