Credit: Linkedin/  Tianna Spears is a former American diplomat who worked at the US consulate in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico,  across the border from El Paso, Texas  USA

By Gary Raynaldo      DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

For Tianna Spears, an African American diplomat, a U.S. Diplomatic Passport was not worth the paper it was written on.   A Diplomatic Passport  provides the holder  ‘red carpet’  treatment, privilege, respect and  diplomatic immunity internationally,  but back in her own home county America,  it could not protect her from the the painful scourge of racism.  Spears alleges she was racially profiled by US border officials, who pulled her over at least 25 times for extensive questioning and car inspections over a six-month period last year despite being the holder of a coveted diplomatic passport.  Back in April 2018, Spears, 26,  thought she had finally fulfilled her dream of being a diplomat when she joined the U.S. Department of State and was on a path  into the prestigious Foreign Service. Spears was assigned a posting at the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, just across the border from El Paso, Texas.  Spears said she would regularly cross the border back into the US to visit friends or go shopping. At the border was the beginning of a nightmare at the hands of US border officials, she said.

“As soon as I started crossing the border regularly, I experienced this harassment. I was threatened. I was constantly asked if I was really a US citizen. They questioned if I stole my car, if my car was a rental. They accused me of being a liar, a drug dealer. Every time I told them I worked as a US diplomat, they laughed at me. They told me they didn’t believe me. It was just harassment and bullying on a racial level.”

-Tianna Spears told The World

“I showed my Diplomatic Passport, stating I worked at the U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez, and lived there.

“Sure you do,”  he laughed, 

Sprears wrote in her blog recounting an alleged incident in January 2019 where she was pulled over by a U.S. Border official and interrogated as a suspected drug dealer.

“Just because you say you work at the Consulate, does not mean that you are not smuggling drugs into the country,” he said. 

“He probed, asking more questions. A new official appeared and searched my car, tossing around the contents in my backseat and glove compartment. He took his left hand and rubbed it up and down my car windows.”

“I’m going to meet my friend in El Paso,” I stated.

“When you talk to a man, you look at the ground. Do you understand me?”       He glared at me, face full of disgust. The officers laughed. My shoulders tense.

“I was furious at his insinuation that I was a drug smuggler and his racially charged implication based off of my appearance. I demanded an apology from the manager for the disgusting and unjust defamation of my name and my character. The CBP manager took another step forward to stand on top of the platform that the bench sits on, positioning him to be a couple inches taller than me. He placed his hand on his gun in the holster, finger around the trigger, and told me to get back in my car. His body language and his hand looked like he was just about shoot. I did not move. Shaking. I remember wondering if he would just shoot me. Why not? I had already said too much.”

Spears Resigns From Her Dream Job At State Department 

Credit: gofundme /  Tianna Spears is a former American diplomat who worked at the US consulate in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico,  across the border from El Paso, Texas  USA

Spears claimed  her supervisors at the U.S. consulate did nothing to help after she reported the incidents.  “After weeks of writing letters, meetings, and emails to management, I was transferred to Mexico City on a temporary assignment and then reassigned permanently. I developed a stutter. I could not look people in the eye. I was extremely on edge all the time and my hair began to fall out in chunks from the harassment and stress. I gave up and cut all my hair off. My voice shook when I spoke. The simple thought of driving would make my hands perspire and my heart race.”   Spears resigned from her State Department job and her dream of a long career serving her country in the Foreign Service came crashing down on her.   But Spears made it clear she strongly believes that she was “forced out” due to the on-going harassment and stress. 

The  Customs and Border Patrol denies Spears’ allegations, saying its own video footage contradicts some of her claims — including an incident in which Spears has alleged that an officer stood in front of her with his hand on his gun, his finger on the trigger, according to NPR.  The CBP told  NPR that Spears was pulled over a dozen times because inconsistencies with her address triggered an automatic second check. CBP says it found no evidence of officers’ misconduct in Spears’ case, and so there was no disciplinary action.

‘Border Patrol agents quickly began deleting racist and violent posts after the existence of their private Facebook group was reported’, article by The Intercept is an inside look into the “racist” mindset of the CBP. 

American Academy of Diplomacy Calls on Pompeo To Review Incidents of Alleged Racism 

Tragically,  Spears is  not alone, as she is one of many current and former minority foreign service officers going public to speak out about the special challenges they face as diplomats.  The American Academy of Diplomacy,  an organization of former U.S. officials in international affairs, called on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to order a review of incidents, “ensure equal treatment” of minority U.S. diplomats and make clear their mistreatment is “unacceptable.”

“We are writing to address one acute issue: the deeply troubling pattern in the mistreatment of Black, Hispanic and other minority officers crossing U.S. border/entry points. By their own testimony, many State Department officers have endured regular and persistent discrimination and harassment by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers. Problems include CBP officers not accepting standard diplomatic documents;  placing Black and Hispanic officers in secondary examination without cause; and repeated hostile questioning and delays. This is made even more glaring when they travel with Caucasian colleagues who pass through with the same documentation.”

-The American Academy of Diplomacy

U.S. State Department / Foreign Service Far From Being Racially Diverse

Credit: Gary Raynaldo /   Department of State headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Foreign  Service  Still White, Male, and Yale

“Despite decades of attempts to make the Foreign Service look more like the real America, it’s still pretty much white, male, and Yale,”  according to a May 2016 article in Foreign Affairs.  The article is titled: “The State Department Has a Diversity Problem”     

“Watchdog Finds ‘Uneven Progress’ in State Department’s Effort to Improve Workforce Diversity”

The State Department reported as of  2019 that 81 percent of its Foreign Service generalists and 75 percent of its specialists are white, while 59 percent of generalists and 71 percent of specialists are men.  Only 5.3 percent of FS generalists are African American; and 8.8 percent of its FS specialists are African American.

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