RE: Racial Profiling

From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@tsoft.com)
Date: Thu Aug 09 2001 - 09:30:48 MDT


Olga Bourlin wrote:
> Loree wrote:
>> I have a hard time believing that there would be
>> anyone on THIS list arguing in favor of racial
>> profiling.
>
> Or wondering if it exists.
>
> A few days ago Lee Corbin asked me for an example of racism in Seattle. I
> happened to remember that request (due to lack of time, I've not kept up
> with every post) today, when I saw this in The Seattle Times (and it's by
> far not the only example):

This looks like plain racial harassment to me. (I doubt if you'd
call it "racial profiling", which we should take as sincere efforts
by police to catch criminals.) Mike Butler provided

> The crux of the article:
>
> "But even if this isn't outright racial profiling, it is at least racial insensitivity,
> and here's why. Everyone reading this knows as well as I do that if there
> were clear reports of a drive-by shooting involving young teens, and the
> suspects were identified as being "white," no policeman in America would
> have pulled over a 70-year-old white man and a 56-year-old white woman
> and handcuffed them as "suspects" in the alleged crime — for consumer
> fraud, an insurance scam, or illegal Bingo ... maybe ... but for a drive-by
> shooting ... Never! And it should never happen to an African-American
> couple under these circumstances either."
>
> Given the data so far, I find it very hard to disagree.
>
> Mike



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