Cowboys Double Standard Essay

Double Standard. The dictionary loosely defines a double standard as a when two different groups of people get treated different ways. A double standard is usually applied to a majority vs minority group of people. Usually, the minority is treated unfairly or unjustly by the majority size, because they have the advantage. When I went to a football game four years ago, I believe I was the victim of a minority double standard issue and was deprived of my personal liberties. The situation happened when I went to a Cowboys vs Bears monday night football just four years ago. Even though the game was in Chicago, I was a big Dallas Cowboys fan and I decided to wear my Dallas Cowboys jersey. Upon arriving to the game, we walked across the parking lot and got in line for the security check points. As expected, there were many more Bears fans that Cowboys ones. It was a very cold and windy
night in December and as a result I was wearing a heavy winter coat and several layers. The man in front of me was also wearing a large winter coat, but he had a Bears jersey over top of it. This man passed through security with no problems and was not stopped by the guards to be searched. However, when I went through the checkpoint, with my Dallas jersey over my coat, I was stopped. I was forced to take my coat off to prove I wasn’t hiding anything potentially dangerous. Of course, I didn’t have anything and was allowed to go through the checkpoint, albeit ten minutes after my family and the guy before me.
Upon seeing my family waiting for me, I began to think about the security checkpoint and how I might have been unfairly searched. How come I got stopped? The man in front of me was wearing a winter coat with a jersey pulled over it. I was wearing the same thing, with one exception. I had a Cowboys jersey, while the man had a Bears jersey. This was the only difference. Why did the security not stop him? Was it because of my Cowboys jersey? I began to think it was. Under the United States Constitution, I have the right against unfair search. I felt that my personal liberties were being taken away from me because of my Cowboys jersey, which is also protected by the first amendment. There is no reason any security guard should judge me differently because of the team jersey I was wearing. I feel that my personal liberties were violated and I was treated unjustly by those security guards. This thought kind of angered me, especially on my ride back home. My personal liberties should have been protected that night and they were instead taken away.
Upon looking back on that event today, I see my anger was not justified.
After looking at some photos from that night, my coat and other layers were large and bulky. I very easily could see how a guard might think I might smuggle something inside that coat. I also do not know if my incident was isolated or other Cowboys fans were stopped too. The few Cowboys fans I saw appeared to bypass the checkpoint without incident. I also realize that NFL security is a private security force and has the right to search anybody they want to. I support the security being very tight and enforceable. I do not want to image what could happen if they were not. I support stadium security 100% and I think the security should have all opportunities and options to make sure the stadium and fans are safe. Lastly, I now realize that the incident that night was minor. I lost nothing, did not miss the any of the game and was never seriously suspected to be doing something wrong. The only negative consequence was that my family had to wait ten minutes, but I will happily sacrifice that for stadium
security.
Although that night at the security checkpoint really angered me, I can now see I was wrong. I was not a victim of a majority vs minority double standard, I was only a victim of my own mind. I wanted to believe that the Bears fans and their security and had wronged me, that they had taken my personal liberties away, but I could see that is not true. I can clearly see now that I was not deprived of my personal liberties and that a double standard did not occur.