I'm a liberal, but I'm wondering: why would racial profiling at the airports be so bad?

no nickname

No, there is no question in my mind as to what religion and race we are dealing with here. It all go back to 9/11.
Having said that...we all should be screened because you never know..........

fathead

First, congratuations on being able to think! Your peers will be none too happy about this position of yours though.

It wouldn't be bad. The fear that profiling would turn into some form of discrimination has the left dead set against it. Your logic is correct though you should not expect the left to accept it for the reason above.

The argument that it won't help because they will just convince someone not matching the profile to carry out the task is wrong. Failing to do so tells them that they can continue just as they have. If they do recruit a fat white guy for the next one then I damn well expect to be profiled for the rest of my life...and that's a GOOD thing!

WBrian_28

I thought that at first, but I think it's appropriate. The problem is if we do profile, we're responding to the past and not the potential future. Who's to say they won't recruit, bribe, or threaten a caucasian person into taking their weapons onto a plane? Or whose to say that someone who looks normal isn't insane and trying to duplicate what's been done?

I think it's going to a necessary evil that we're going to have to deal with.

Mr. C

Liberal? You're not all lib, thank goodness. There may be hope for you yet.

Robert P

I just flew from Dallas to Phoenix and back, security was tight after the British Alert and I was checked at the gates and before boarding the aircraft. I am a 63 year old white male. I didn't mind one bit either. My question would be that if they felt it necessary to check me and I didn't mind why then do so many people mind if we check young muslim or Arabic people. Civil Rights? Wait now, Granny and Gramps get searched, Mom and dad do too and so does Junior but we do not want to offend our muslim population? Any person boarding an aircraft should be searched and in particular those people who fit the profile of terrorists. If in fact they, like myself are just taking a trip they have no reason or right to mind the security.

mark g

Appears that you are someone that can think for yourself and reason. Not one political party is completely right, none are completely wrong. People like Bearable are getting unbearable with their constant spouting of Rhetoric, and paranoid delusions of personal atrocities, and Government attacks. He has more freedoms in America than anywhere, and alot more than he would have had in the first half of the 1900's. He needs to read some history.

real_truth

so they dont blow up planes... isnt that the point...

symanlegrix

The lights coming on, Congrats. Being racist is better than being dead. Quit playing PC word games and take a look at the real world.

Amanda C

wow you actually have a brain!

Violet Pearl

In my opinion, racial profiling, while it seems to make logical sense, is a bad idea. Because it fosters a sense of distrust. For example, we need the communities to feel safe and comfortable coming forward with any information they might have heard or know. If "all Muslim men age 18-30" are suspect, the innocent men will hesitate to come forward, for fear of being seen as a suspect, too. If you witnessed a crime, would you come forward, or would you worry about being accused of participating? Would you worry that the authorities will think, "So how do YOU know so much???"
Racial profiling creates fear among the people we need to feel safe enough to come forward.
It's like saying "all skinheads are neo-Nazis"-- what if a "skinhead" heard about some crime that was going to go down.... would he want to tell the police, or would he figure "They'll think I'm in on the crime and bust me, too" ?

Now if Muslim men age 18-30 are "profiled" - aren't these exactly the people who might overhear/see/learn about a potential threat? Do we want them to feel "guilty" no matter what? Or do we want to foster trust and community involvement?

Stupendous Man!

Go conservavtive buddy, you have the right idea
If it were normal looking americans blowing up things
I would surely have no problem in having to wait the
extra 20min they use to search me a little better than everyone else

Mr. US of A, Baby!

OMG! U are a liberal and ask if racial stereo-typing is okay!?
OMG! What is the world coming to!? I thought the rules were....Conservatives were racists and Liberals were not racist......Accept everybody!?...yada-yada!?

First of all, You are a racist! Now that that's out of the way, I see nothing wrong with being alert to the activities of 18-30 year-old Muslim males, since that's pretty much who has driven every bus loaded with TNT, walked into crowded shopping center, bus terminals, airports, mass transit, Airliners, cruise ships, with TNT strapped on their bodies for Jihad. Absolutely nothing wrong with it! Stop being so anal and do what ever you have to survive! Pay attention to your surroundings in public places and be alert and live. So, I guess I'm a racist too!

Cinner

Very good question! When it comes to our safety...I say profile your heart out. Any law abiding person would just have to understand it is nothing personal but a matter of security. I am so sick of political correctness I could puke!

shawn f

well i look at it this way we give the government power to profile who they want to tape phones and take what ever freeedom they can from us so we can live in freedom under a democracty that dictates whos freedom they can take bye politically profile why dont we just line them up and shoot them what next this country is so going down hill it lives in fear and says we should all remain calm unless your being profiled hostage takers where no better then the terrain ist we just got the right to kill of a nation and they dont there bad and where not so bad its a shame we cnt just fight for world hunger or piece among nations or just every one give up the grun s and stop the nonsense kill thy friend as they would kil u what a world

spindoccc

Because you simply can't say who's going to be a terrorist. For example, a terrorist could just happen to be married to a blue eyed blond and gotten him/her to sneak in explosives (knowingly or unknowingly). Terrorists come in all colors/races/genders/economic classes

How is targetting a guy who looks like a terrorist but is actually one of your patriots going to help you fly with more peace of mind?

If you really want to feel safe, let everybody get screened equally.
Might be a pain in the *** but it makes more sense than deluding yourself into a false sense of security.

That's not political correctness, that's common sense.

bryan w

and when the federal building in oklahoma got blown up you didn't think "middle class white guy" did you? I don't trust anyone I don't know..........and some of them are questionable!

Bearable

Americans don't understand their own denial

I expect the hysterical cries of "The Muslims are coming! The Muslims are coming!" Have you learned nothing about the world? Can you not see the obvious manipulations of the U.S.-U.K. intelligence community in these bogus "terror alerts"?

Gee, whadda ya know, it's time for a midterm election and George Bush has a 30% approval rating --- and here come the Muslim hordes because they "hate our freedoms"!

Grow up. The American government spends over $500 billion a year on defense, over $60 billion a year on intelligence. That's more than the rest of the world combined. That sound you hear is not a billion Muslims strapping bombs to their chests. That sound you hear is the American military-intelligence complex prodding the stupid citizens who pay for it. They've got plans for martial law in America, and you people are prattling on about Islamofascism.

The first 9/11 was an inside job. The next one -- probably in the next two months, just in time for the elections -- will also be made in America. Open your eyes and see the real enemy.

BeamMeUpMom

It's bad to the people in that group because they aren't all troublemakers. I have family members who look more "ethnic" than I do ("ethnic" being more accurate than race because we're all members of the same race--there's only one human race) and it's problematic for them because they look like they could be from any of several ethnic groups. So if they said they were Pacific Islanders would that be better and so they could be allowed go on ahead without problems? Can't anyone disguise themselves?

Why don't they pick out my husband who is disabled and has mobility equipment that could be hiding any number of potentially harmful items? See, if you want draw a line in one place, it forces you to draw many others. I don't know what the answer is.

linus_van_pelt68

It becomes a slippery slope. You have to remember there are Black people who are in the Muslim religion as well (North Africa). You know once they start with Middle East people, then it will go to Black people. After 9/11, I was always stopped, and since I was wearing Urban wear at the time, I looked no where near Middle Eastern. Also, the guy who had the shoe bomb was White, and he was doing it, as he stated, for the Middle East.

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