My Life in Republicanville - 3: Dick and Jane Threaten to Hold Me at Gunpoint

After my first apartment option fell through, I ended up renting a condo from extremely conservative white Christians.  (The following story is also part of my reflections on the George Zimmerman Acquittal for Murdering Trayvon Martin).  The husband and wife landlord team, whom I will call Dick and Jane, took me to their home so they could process my application and conduct my background check.  As Dick entered my information into the computer, Jane stood in the threshold of the entrance that connected the room we were in to the majority of the house.  Once my criminal background check came back clean, Dick turned and said, "Whew!  You're clean!  I was ready to say to Jane, 'Honey, get the gun.  This guy is wanted!'"

Keep in mind, Dick and Jane had already confirmed my university appointment!  They had seen my contract and spoken to the department secretary.  Nevertheless, they suspected that I was a criminal and were prepared to hold me at gun point!  Being a good ethnographer--and frankly, a well-raised black person--I noticed the NRA sticker on their truck in the driveway.  I also saw mail identifying Dick and Jane as "Texans for Fiscal Responsibility," which places them far on the right fringe--the Tea Party's Tea Party.  Point being, Dick's exclamation was no idle threat.  

Essentially, I am renting an apartment from George Zimmerman right now!  My landlords' racism, presumptions of me as dangerous and criminal, and willingness to use deadly force against me are all explicitly established.  Only my own personal George Zimmerman has a key to my front door!  

I would also like to point out that my situation has many more parallels to the Zimmerman incident.  The most important parallel is that by *inviting* me into their house, Dick and Jane put themselves in position to legally kill me under at least two Texas laws--Stand Your Ground and the Castle Doctrine.  If my criminal check had come back with any problems--perhaps a bench warrant for a traffic ticket or a random mistake--Dick and Jane could easily have claimed to have been frightened.  Their background check system does not indicate the offense that makes someone fail the check.  Dick and Jane would have assumed I was a potentially violent criminal.  Because I was already in their home, they could claim to fear for their lives and their children's lives (who were home as well).  They could have pulled the gun on me as a means of defending their home *OR* just their property.  They would have had legal protections if, after pulling the gun on me, I made any moves to resist being imprisoned and held at gunpoint by these strangers.  

Several times since the background check, I have thought about the fact that the smallest typo might have resulted in Dick and Jane legally murdering me last week.