I have written many times in the past about the problems with racial profiling.
Pre-9/11, its use by law enforcement personnel was primarily targeted at blacks and Latinos.
Since 9/11, Middle Eastern looking folks get to share in the fun of being viewed with suspicion simply because of their ethnicity.
Proponents of post-9/11 racial profiling might argue that the 9/11 hijackers were all Muslims, and so Muslims are more likely to initiate further terror attacks against Americans and should be scrutinized accordingly. Some call this "hunting where the ducks are." But, as I always point out, if you want to use that logic, why did we not crack down on white, European-American men after Timothy McVeigh blew up the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995?
Unfair as it is, racial profiling will continue to exist to some extent as long as racism exists. And, I fear, as long as human nature remains less than fully enlightened, there will continue to be racists in our midst.
And those racists will continue to deny dark-skinned people the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
By the way, it's not just the rednecks in the U.S. who are doing this.
On April 25, the British newspaper The Guardian published a very good piece on the subject by Sarfraz Manzoor, a Muslim man who has himself been on the receiving end of the nonsense.
Check it out: How to tell I'm not a terrorist
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