Explain to me how racial profiling is an issue

[TheFarseer]

All these wack-job local radio hosts can ever talk about is racial profiling. "I heard about a lady traveling with her 10 month old son, and they pulled him away from her and wanded him down and searched him, but they let young Arab men go right on the plane and those are the terrorists"

My God have these people never flown or are they just maliciously giving out mis-information? The last time I flew, everyone that remotely looked ethnic was pulled aside and given the business. So what's the problem? I was also pulled aside for the extra security check EVERYTIME, eventhough I'm about as white non-terrorist looking as you can get and it wasn't a big deal. I got on the plane just fine. I don't care if they know I have a magazine and a change of clothes in my carry-on. If you're worried about privacy, just put anything you don't necessarily want anyone to see in your checked baggage. I don't think anyone is making a big deal about this except freeper types that still want to complain even after they get their way. I'd like to know what other people on here think.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. Ben Franklin said it best

"Those who are willing to trade civil liberties for temporary security, deserve neither".

Mr. Franklin warned them to guard their civil rights, and to beware of the slippery slope, once you tolerate the smallest violation of your rights, be it as small as small may be, the door is quite open to bigger and bigger violations. No infraction of civil rights should be tolerated, he warned his audience which inhaled each and every word. He iterated the importance of guarding one's fundamental liberties and warned against any threat that may start their erosion.


from
http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/200009/msg00045.html

[TheFarseer]

2. I use that quote all the time

never-the-less I think we need some kind of airport security. I'm just sick of repukes using this as an issue when it's freeking not!!!

[Infomaniac]

3. I fly quite often

I've been pulled out of line twice for the special wanding and whatever this year alone. I think it was to make all the darker-skinned men in line next to me feel better that a middle-aged white woman had to show the soles of her feet to the security folks too. What I've noticed at the NYC airports is that if your skin is darker than khaki, you're getting searched.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. This easy: you're black, you're driving in a neighborhood where you

"don't belong" (i.e., white affluent community). You are following the rules of driving 100%. It's after 11 p.m.

Then all of a sudden, the police put on their lights and indicate you should pull over. You comply.

The police ask for your ID. You give it to them. They proceed to find something to give you a ticket that you know is entirely false, e.g., speeding, switching lanes without signalling, broken light on the license plate, etc. Maybe it's not false, but not a big deal. They either use this as a pretense to get you to let them search the interior of your car, the glove compartment and the trunk, maybe a closed suitcase, in a fishing expedition, in hopes of finding contraband.

The resolution either is you are arrested for something or you are given the aforementioned ticket and sent on your way with a warning to show up to court and/or to choose your driving routes in the future more carefully. You are given a message: driving while black can be counterproductive towards your future.

[H2O Man]

5. Which "wack-job radio hosts" do you mean?

I haven't heard any of the right-wing folks complain about racial profiling. I have heard them spouting the "malicious mis-information" though. Which ones specifically have been complaining about profiling?

[skygazer]

6. Power corrupts

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The problem with policies such as racial profiling which can seem completely logical on the surface is that they are soon perverted to use against anyone the authorities want to use them against. The Patriot Act is one example - on the surface it is a tool to aid in the apprehension of terrorists but in reality it can and is used to keep tabs on law abiding citizens who happen to disagree with present policy.

Check out the sig line - Ben Franklin was a wise man.