[Mb-civic] A Shameful Hypocrisy - Colbert King - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

A Shameful Hypocrisy

By Colbert I. King
Saturday, August 6, 2005; Page A19

I am mystified by the conservative commentators who voice their support 
for racial profiling as a way to catch terrorist suspects. These pundits 
support the authorities screening or otherwise keeping a close eye on 
mainly young Muslim men of North African, Middle Eastern or South Asian 
descent, because an overwhelming number of terrorists hail from those 
regions.

But here is where the commentators have me confused. They are well known 
for arguing that:

· The Constitution, specifically the 14th Amendment, bars the government 
from creating and enforcing laws that treat people differently simply 
because of race.

· Individuals should be judged by the same standard regardless of 
national origin, race or religion.

· The government should not have double standards based on race, 
ethnicity or religious beliefs.

Conservatives, so I had been given by them to believe, stand foursquare 
against preferences based on group identity. So how is it that they can 
support law enforcement policies that, if adopted, would allow people to 
be treated unequally; give preferences in screening based on race, 
ethnicity, religion and national origin; and no longer honor the rights 
of individuals but instead judge individuals by the group to which they 
belong?

<>Under racial profiling, as they would have it practiced in subways, 
airports, train stations, etc., individual differences among North 
African, Middle Eastern and South Asian young men would be ignored. 
These people would be labeled and profiled as possible terrorists and be 
reduced to an amalgamated stew closely watched by the state.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/05/AR2005080501437.html?nav=hcmodule 

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