Is Racial Profiling Ever Appropriate?
The Nation’s Dave Zirin says that the Arizona illegal immigration law will lead to racial profiling. And, he says, racial profiling is never appropriate. I debate him on that point.
Should we not – at airport security – consider that the vast majority of terrorists are 20-something year-old men of Middle Eastern descent, and screen them more thoroughly? Should we not consider that the fact that 80% of illegal immigrants in the US are Latino when enforcing illegal immigration laws? To try to ignore those facts requires a huge divorce from common sense. So I argue that racial profiling as a concept shouldn’t be entirely dismissed.
But, I agree that the AZ law will probably lead to some level of increased harassment for legal Latino US citizens. And I don’t think the AZ law will do much to stem the flow of illegal immigration. Therefore, the cost/benefit doesn’t work out for me. AZ law … no bueno.
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