Table of Contents
As I've said, I've hold a complex, perhaps confused, opinion about racial profiling. In general, I believe that the behavior we identify as profiling is a species survival mechanism, and that we, as humans, do it as much by nature as by choice. In a way, I believe that profiling is an entirely valid way of identifying danger.
However:
I also believe that we are thinking creatures, and that our ability to consciously suspend profiling in many cases is beneficial to us, as individuals, and as a society. We take risks; that's part of the way you evolve. Furthermore, racial profiling in particular is a much more complex issue. The berry isn't harmed, per se, when you decide not to eat it because it looks funny, but people are harmed when you don't hire them because of the same reason. Basically, your right to protect yourself from possible harm doesn't justify harming others. More or less. This is where my opinions get confused, because the same reasoning could be applied in support of pacifism, and I'm certainly not in support of that.
One other point I've been told I should make: while the recent issue of racial profiling (as opposed to, say, the issue of racial profiling of Japanese-Americans during WWII) is a result of 9/11, this essay has nothing to do with 9/11. It has to do with racial profiling. It goes without saying that I think 9/11 was a tragedy. I too had private fantasies about some of the hijackers surviving and being tortured to death in secret government camps in Arizona for what they did. It's petty, but at least I recognise my personal stupidity and keep it private.
Still, it's safe to say that I'm opposed to racial profiling. So when an acquaintance emailed me with a sarcastic email supporting racial profiling, which looked like it had its origins on the Rush Limbaugh show, I felt the need to respond. I spent a good hour checking my facts and details in the response, which made it a candidate for my blog. So here it is -- the original email first, then my response.
From: **********
Subject: DUH
To: <a long list of recipients>
HMMMM!
To ensure we Americans never offend anyone, particularly fanatics intent on
killing us, airport screeners will not be allowed to profile people. They will
continue random searches of 80-year-old women, little kids, airline pilots with
proper identification, Secret Service agents who are members of the President's
security detail, 85-year old Congressmen with metal hips and Medal of Honor
winning former Governors. Let's pause a moment and take the following test.
1. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were massacred by:
a. Olga Korbut
b. Sitting Bull
c. Arnold Schwarzenneger
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
2. In 1979, the US embassy in Iran was taken over by:
a. Lost Norwegians
b. Elvis
c. A tour bus full of 80-year-old women
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
3. During the 1980s a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by:
a. John Dillinger
b. The King of Sweden
c. The Boy Scouts
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
4. In 1983, the US Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by:
a. A pizza delivery boy
b. Pee Wee Herman
c. Geraldo Rivera making up for a slow news day
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
5. In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old
American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard by:
a. The Smurfs
b. Davie Jones
c. The Little Mermaid
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
6. In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a US Navy diver was
murdered by:
a. Captain Kidd
b. Charles Lindberg
c. Mother Teresa
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
7. In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by:
a. Scooby Doo
b. The Tooth Fairy
c. Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
8. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by:
a. Richard Simmons
b. Grandma Moses
c. Michael Jordan
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
9. In 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by:
a. Mr. Rogers
b. Hillary, to distract attention from Wild Bill's women problems
c. The World Wrestling Federation villain: "Mustapha the Merciless"
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
10. On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked and destroyed and thousands of
people were killed by:
a. Bugs Bunny, Wiley E. Coyote, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd
b. The Supreme Court of Florida
c. Mr. Bean
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
11. In 2001 the United States began to fight a war in Afghanistan against:
a. Enron
b. The Lutheran Church
c. The NFL
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
12. In 2002 reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by:
a. Bonny and Clyde
b. Captain Kangaroo
c. Billy Graham
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
Nope, no patterns anywhere to justify profiling!From: Sean Russell
To: **********
Subject: Re: DUH
Cc: <a long list of recipients>
I have a complex philosophy about racial profiling, and the validity of
profiling in general as a species survival mechanism. However:
1. In 1995, the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 31
(including 12 children), injuring 550, and collapsing the north face of
the building, was perpetrated by:
a. An 80 year old women
b. Arnold Schwarzenneger
c. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
d. A white, ex-US military, 27 year old non-Muslim male
2. In 1963, four young girls were killed in a Georgia church by a bomb
planted by:
a. Lost Norwegians
b. Elvis
c. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
d. Middle-aged, white, protestant male US citizens
3. In 1973, London, two bombs killing one person and injuring 200 were
planted by:
a. Davie Jones
b. The Little Mermaid
c. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
d. White catholic males
4. In 1981, an assassination attempt on then-president Ronald Reagan was
attempted by:
a. Pee Wee Herman
b. Geraldo Rivera making up for a slow news day
c. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
d. A white, 26-year-old, non-Muslim American male
5. The systematic bombing of US citizens during the period from 1978-1995,
killing three and injuring seven, was carried out by:
a. The Smurfs
b. The Little Mermaid
c. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
d. A white, non-Muslim American male (born in 1942)
6. In November, 1991, who walked into a post office in Royal Oak, Michigan,
guns down four supervisors and wounds five other workers?
a. Captain Kidd
b. Mother Teresa
c. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
d. A white, ex-marine, non-Muslim American male
7. In 1999, Littleton, Colorado, 12 students were killed at Columbine High
School by:
a. Scooby Doo
b. Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid
c. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
d. Two white, non-Muslim teenage American males
8. In January, 2002, a Cessna was purposefully crashed into a Tampa, Florida
office building by:
a. Enron
b. The Lutheran Church
c. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
d. A 15 year old white male
In fact, between 1997 and 1999, at /least/ 61 people were killed in public
shootings by 15 non-Muslim, white males in the United states.
Muslims don't have a corner on the terrorism market, and anyone -- man,
woman, or child -- is capable of being a vehicle for a bomb.
---
|.. "To understand recursion, you need to understand recursion."
<|> -- anon
/|\
/|
|A friend of mine has a term for people like Rush Limbaugh: Angry White Males. I think that the term is hilarious, but also a little scary in how accurate it is. The point being that, in the course of writing my response, I was unable to come up with any examples of acts of terrorism performed by, say, black females. In fact, it occurred to me that if you want to do some really useful racial profiling, lock up all of the white males ages 15-60, since we're the ones who commit most of the public violent crimes[1] in the US.
So, please don't send me pipe bombs, or any of the other things you Angry White Males are fond of doing when someone disagrees with you. I'm a white male who gets angry, too, so I can understand your frustration. Instead, ponder this:
For all intents and purposes, you control your destiny. If there is a Fate, or God, there's nothing you can do about it.
For every conspiracy theory you hold, there are 10 conspiracy theories held by other people who believe that you're part of the conspiracy.
If there is a conspiracy, it is logical that it consists of the Angry White Males in Washington DC, and the richest and most powerful people in the richest and most powerful country in the world, which are (predominantly) white males.
"Governments are the kinds of things that, although they do small things badly, they do large things badly, too."
Poor people are much too preoccupied with television and getting enough food on the table to spend much time oppressing you.
And finally, no amount of killing people on the scale you're likely to achieve is going to help your situation.
If none of this works for you, please, please consider taking a martial art. You'll either: (a) achieve peace, or (b) get beaten up a lot. Both are very educational. In either case, you'll vent some of that ulcer-causing vitriolic anger, and your health will improve.
[1] By "public crime" I mean ones where the victims are multiple acquaintances, as opposed to insular crimes such as murdering your children or family. That latter category seems to me to not fall under the category of 'terrorism', whereas walking into a public place and opening fire does.