| Subject: Re: Racial Profiling - Semi-vent |
Author:
Raisinmom
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Date Posted: 15:49:56 10/11/02 Fri
In reply to:
Mallyn
's message, "Racial Profiling - Semi-vent" on 11:43:54 10/11/02 Fri
>Just saw another news report on racial profiling Arabs
>for purposes of airline security. What I want to know
>is why this is considered acceptable - even amoung
>minority groups such as the (oh god what are they)
>African-Americans? Why do Americans sit back and say
>it's okay to do this? Is it because they believe that
>the sterotypes about Arabs are true? Not all Arabs are
>terrorists, and not all terrorists are Arabs.
Well, here's the problem. There are certain traits that were shared by all 19 9/11 hijackers, plus those convicted of the 1993 WTC bombing, plus related terrorist acts against the US. All were Arab, for one. So what exactly do you want our intelligence and police forces to do with this information? Do you want them to totally ignore it?
Do you want them to shrug if four young Arab men, all clean-shaven and traveling alone, board a flight?
The trouble with talking about racial profiling is that while the practice is often unfair, and targets totally innocent people, it is also sometimes a logical (albeit unfair or unjustified) way to proceed. In other words, the theory behind it makes sense in some situations, but that is generally outweighed by the civil rights problems. It's like killing an ant with a sledgehammer. Looking forward to your suggestion of how to deal with the fact that the crushing majority of Al-Qaeda members are, in fact, Arab men at airport security checkpoints.
>And what about some of the atrocities committed
>against the Palestinians? Just because Israel is in
>power, it's okay to commit such horrible acts? It's no
>longer terrorism? THEY'RE TERRIFIED, TOO!!!
Uh, I don't understand your point. How does this relate to profiling? At any rate, if you are arguing that Israel's actions against Palestinians are "terrorism," I strongly disagree. They are military actions because they do not target noncombatant civilians (unlike the true Palestinian terrorists, who expressly target teenagers in discos and pizza parlors, not soldiers, or political leaders, or weapons stocks). You may disagree with Israel's actions, but to call them terrorism is silly and denigrates the horror of real, live terrorism like 9/11. I suggest you take a look at the thread about this below.
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