# Political Correctness and Racial Profiling **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 23, 2010, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639 "2010-11-23T05:38:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639/61 "2010-11-24T11:36:01Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > However, any profiling will fall more heavily on Muslims and people from some countries like Pakistan or Syria, just as any genuinely effective attempt to control illegal immigration would fall more heavily on Hispanics. Not all of them, not even most of them, but enough that the PC crowd will still shout “Racism! Islamophobia! Discrimination!” You don’t single people out for harassment based on factors they can’t control unless you’re a jackass. You give all races and genders the same level of scrutiny. To single out a minority for “special attention” is to expose them to potential harassment and civil rights violations they may not have the numbers or the public inertia to defend themselves. By giving all people of all races, ethnicities, and genders the same treatment you ensure the voters will keep it reasonable for all, to do otherwise is to expose some to the tyranny of the majority. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639/62 "2010-11-24T11:39:11Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > When the problem is being groped at the airport TSA agents, the answer shouldn’t be “It’s an outrage that decent, upstanding white folks are being groped! Let’s just stick it to the brown people instead!” > > The answer is to end the freaking groping and the unreasonable searches! Not to transfer all that suffering onto a minority group just to minimize the bitching (and the public’s sympathy). > > In short, if the labia fondling and nakedscopes are necessary (they aren’t), then they are necessary. If they aren’t, then they aren’t. You can’t say “Well, they aren’t _really_ necessary… unless you’re a damned raghead!” Actually it seems you’ve already said it better than me. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639/63 "2010-11-24T13:02:52Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > As a vaguely Arab looking male between the ages of 18 and 33, you may take it from me that the TSA is already racially profiling passengers, and has been for 10 years. > > The list of things you are unaware of is no doubt long and distinguished. Nonetheless, I await with interest what a “large segment” of a billion is. Too many…were you looking for an actual number? ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639/64 "2010-11-24T13:45:02Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Again it’s not a question of race. There are white Muslims from Bosnia and Albania (they even formed Nazi SS units during World War II!) One of these people could easily be recruited by Al Qaeda and get through this proposed profiling easily, especially if he was raised in America and changed his name. I can understand government doing something for their own nefarious reasons but having an individual come up with such a vitriolic insinuation suggests some deep seated irrational hatred. As a Bosnian – luckily in Canada – I find this remark highly offensive and hurting with intent. I’m sure there is more to the background of the author and we’ll find out but I just wanted to say that this kind of sh\*t is rejected by Bosnians and, from my limited knowledge, Albanians too. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639/65 "2010-11-24T15:29:43Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > I can understand government doing something for their own nefarious reasons but having an individual come up with such a vitriolic insinuation suggests some deep seated irrational hatred. As a Bosnian – luckily in Canada – I find this remark highly offensive and hurting with intent. I’m sure there is more to the background of the author and we’ll find out but I just wanted to say that this kind of sh\*t is rejected by Bosnians and, from my limited knowledge, Albanians too. You may find it distasteful but it is true. That is exactly what the terrorist organisations would do Were they to look hard enough in those countries I’m sure they would find disaffected muslim youths who could be radicalised and would easily slip through a security system based on skin colour. It happened in the UK and I don’t take offence at people pointing it out. Hate to break it to you but there are plenty of people in all sorts of countries who do do not reject the such actions. You don’t and can’t speak for every Bosnian or Albanian. You may feel slighted by the mention of Bosnia but the author could’ve said the UK, or Germany or Sweden and the point remains valid. It just so happens that Bosnia does have a significant and well recognised muslim population. ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639/66 "2010-11-24T15:40:15Z")
Never mind. I misread the post I was quoting. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639/67 "2010-11-24T18:10:45Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > Too many…were you looking for an actual number? Something less vague than “a large segment” at the very least. How many Muslim terrorists do you think there are? 10,000? 100,000? ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639/68 "2010-11-25T02:37:32Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Something less vague than “a large segment” at the very least. How many Muslim terrorists do you think there are? 10,000? 100,000? See[here](http://pewglobal.org/files/pdf/268.pdf) for a Pew study published earlier this year regarding Islamic attitudes toward groups and individuals ordinarily considered to be supportive of terrorism. For instance, about half of the 40 million plus Nigerian Muslims trust Osama bin Laden to make the right decisions, as do a quarter of Indonesian Muslims and just under 20% of Pakistan’s Muslims (where about a third offered no opinion). In general, support for terrorism seems to be declining in the Islamic world, but it’s certainly not unusual to see support in the 10% range, even for suicide attacks against civilian populations. See the polls listed [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_terrorism) to draw your own conclusions. “Support for” does not make you a terrorist yourself. But given the worldwide population of a billion or so Muslims, the numbers openly supporting terrorists are much larger than most folks suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639/69 "2010-11-25T04:47:01Z")
Not quite “declaring war on us” though, is it? ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639/70 "2010-11-25T06:29:32Z")
No type of profiling should be allowed at airports because it is trivially easy to get whatever you want on board a plane in other ways than passenger carry on luggage. (Previous airport employee). You would in practice be punishing brown people with invasive searches, missed flights and verbal abuse all for ZERO increase in safety, because the weak links in the security don’t have to do with passengers. There is no such thing as 100% safety, get over it. It is all security theater. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639/71 "2010-11-25T08:59:18Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Can you please tell me what you mean by profiling? How will you distinguish a Muslim? What will you look at? How will you know I am not a Muslim? I look brown. I speak both Hindi and Urdu. Sometimes I wear salwar-kameez. I am so white anglosaxon protestant I practically glow in the dark and I have 7 or 8 sets of salwar kameez … they are very comfy for a fat broad in the summer that doesn’t like exposing lots of flabby skin. The scarf is fantastic for keeping my incandescent white skin from burning to a crisp. Funny, that is sort of what the outfit is designed for, modesty and protection from the sun. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639/72 "2010-11-25T09:09:24Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > YES I DO REALIZE PEOPLE CONVERT!!! :rolleyes: Someone mentioned up thread that profiling should begin before people even enter the airport. For foreigners entering the US, I’d look at their origin point, and if they’re from a nation considered hostile (Iran, Syria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, among others) to the US, I’d deny their ticket. In regard to domestic travel, I’d analyze their backround (YES, including religion!), any foreign ties they may have, etc. > > Now, I understand if this makes people uncomfortable, but WE ARE AT WAR!, and we can’t just drop trow, and take it! No, _we_ are not at war. Some idiots that also happen to be fundamentalist muslim have decided they have a hard on against the US [and I believe they are also peeved with any predominately christian based populations in Europe as well] and decided to declare jihad against us, sending off several terrorist groups to commit acts of terrorism in the continental US. When they accomplished the major task on 9/11 the US kicked back. That ended with us more or less sending troops to several different combat zones. The shit in Iraq is actually not part of 9/11, but Bush trying to break bad and make brownie points to keep in power. We have our generation’s Vietnam going on in the middle east as a result of some jackass muslim fundies pissing off our fundies. Most Americans never wanted Iraq in the first place. Unfortunately we have the republican tail wagging the whole american dog. And it is rather funny that Europe, with many more decades of terrorist activity occurring there seem just fine with the metal detection and light patdown. They don’t seem to have this whole paranoid need for false security. ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639/73 "2010-11-25T10:16:23Z")
All I can say is this. If anybody thinks they want to set up a system where I have to be yanked out of line for extra scrutiny, then I am going to do my damnedest to make sure everyone else has to go through the same scrutiny. I am going to do whatever it takes to make sure that every white guy and every 60 year old lady and every 4 year old kid has to go through exactly what I have to go through until it stops. If anybody wants to call it “political correctness,” I don’t give two hoots. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639/74 "2010-11-25T11:29:48Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > In general, support for terrorism seems to be declining in the Islamic world, but it’s certainly not unusual to see support in the 10% range, even for suicide attacks against civilian populations. 10%? Big deal. I’m quite certain you could find 10% percent support in America for that too. Or for using nukes to eradicate everyone who irritates us. Or for converting the entire planet by force to Christianity. Or installing a fascist dictatorship complete with concentration camps for undesirables. Or pretty much any other crazy idea you care to think up. 10% is about as small a level of support you are going to find for anything short of cannibalism; there’s always a fringe. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639/75 "2010-11-25T12:14:31Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > I can understand government doing something for their own nefarious reasons but having an individual come up with such a vitriolic insinuation suggests some deep seated irrational hatred. As a Bosnian – luckily in Canada – I find this remark highly offensive and hurting with intent. I’m sure there is more to the background of the author and we’ll find out but I just wanted to say that this kind of sh\*t is rejected by Bosnians and, from my limited knowledge, Albanians too. I’m having trouble understanding what you’ve written here. But are you trying to say you’re upset at the idea that in two countries with Muslim majorities, there can’t be even _one_ person who could be recruited by a terrorist organization? Please, don’t let your national pride blind you into thinking your homeland is completely free and clear of even the possibility of terrorists. ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639/76 "2010-11-25T15:04:45Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I’m having trouble understanding what you’ve written here. But are you trying to say you’re upset at the idea that in two countries with Muslim majorities, there can’t be even _one_ person who could be recruited by a terrorist organization? Please, don’t let your national pride blind you into thinking your homeland is completely free and clear of even the possibility of terrorists. My dear friend, in the realm of possibilities, anything is possible. At the semantic level, who can disagree with that? However, that’s not the issue. The issue is that you chose one possibility of a highly speculative nature and expanded on it with an insinuating remark about WWII – as to give your generalization historical credibility – then you even added “raised in America and changed his name” and thus just piled on heap of BS fear. You became useful idiot (or, perhaps you know what you’re doing) in the machine of fear at the expense of a certain ethnic group. That’s simply bigotry but right now people like you feel “empowered” by the overall ecstasy that can be felt all around us. Yet, I’m sure you will still wonder what my point is because you are not speculating – you think, no, you know you speak the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639/77 "2010-11-25T16:22:45Z")
You are blowing this way out of proportion. In a thread about racial profiling for Islamic terrorism, in which people are making the common mistake of confusing “Arab” with “Muslim,” I am raising the extremely relevant point that there are Muslims who are physically the same as the white, European majority of the United States. And these Muslims can come from countries such as Bosnia and Albania. (Whose inhabitants were ‘white’ enough that they were accepted by the Nazis, hence the reference to the SS units in World War II, my point being that these individuals were considered white enough to be honorary ‘Aryans.’) If you still don’t understand this and insist on being difficult about it, sorry, there’s nothing else that I can do. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639/78 "2010-11-25T16:30:30Z")
You know what random checking is don’t you? It is to decide who will join the brownie 18-40 males in getting extra scrutiny and ridiculous questions ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639/79 "2010-11-25T16:33:19Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > That does mean that more muslim and darker skinned people are likely to be targeted for investigation. We should be prepared to accept that. Doubtless the “We” in the above does not include “muslim and darker skinned people”. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639/80 "2010-11-25T16:35:58Z")
Let’s make it simple and ask the OP exactly what races/ethnicities should be allowed to walk freely through security. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-and-racial-profiling/561639.md?page=5)