Letters to the Editor | Nov. 18, 2022

Recently, I spent a glorious four days in Paris with my sister, and we ogled all the bags, shoes, and scarves in the fanciest of stores. I was thrilled with my once-in-a-lifetime purchase of a little Prada bag. I had never thought of myself as one of those women — the Crazy Rich Asians kind — but what a way to treat myself after recently retiring from a 25-year career as a pediatrician. Then the return to Newark Airport burst my bubble. Walking through the customs area, an officer stepped out and motioned me aside. He saw the Prada bag and, in a fit of nervousness and not knowing what to say, I fibbed and said, “That’s my bag that I brought from home on the trip.” He proceeded to ask for my wallet and right away found the receipt from the Prada store. He glared at me and said, “This bag looks new and this receipt is for a black bag. Tell me now, when did you buy this bag?” I crumbled and said, “Thursday. I’m sorry.”

I received a scolding of the kind I haven’t received since I was a child. “Ma’am, if you hadn’t lied and declared the bag immediately, we would have just charged you the duty, but now you’ve incurred a penalty.” I was led to the cashier to pay my penalty, all the while tempted to ask Mr. Customs Officer if he had pulled me aside because I looked like a rich Asian woman. But I wisely decided to keep my mouth shut and escape while I could. But I do think I was racially profiled. The same way Asian kids in school are labeled “good at math” but “really quiet.” The same way any Muslim traveler was looked at askance after 9/11. The same way anyone Black in New Jersey suburbia knows to drive slowly so as not to give a cop any reason to pull them over. We human beings judge on looks and first impressions; it is a perennial truth and a shame.

Jean Goh, Princeton

As avian influenza rages through U.S. and European poultry farms, with a new case reported in Pennsylvania recently, more than 38 million birds have been killed in the U.S. alone — roasted alive in a brutal industry effort to contain outbreaks. Much like COVID-19, avian flu is a zoonotic disease: caused by pathogens jumping from animals to humans. The virus spills over from wild bird populations into domestic birds like chickens. Factory farms provide ideal conditions for viruses to spread among flocks. With unsanitary and barbaric methods happening behind the scenes, no wonder the industry scrambles to manage such a massive outbreak. Vets are responsible to speak up, recommending methods that would cause the least harm. Instead, the American Veterinary Medical Association permits the destruction of chickens with supplemental heat in “constrained circumstances.” The AVMA should recommend a less painful method, rather than resorting to this horror. While we deal with containing one public health crisis, shouldn’t we rethink our food system so we avoid another one?

Vicky Bond, president, The Humane League

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