Let's imagine, for a moment
Reader comment on item: Monitoring Iraqis Living in the United States

Submitted by Boris Frenkel (United States), Nov 21, 2002 at 16:56

Imagine the following hypothetical: a strong opponent of racial profiling works for a ticketing office of a major airline. He looks at the passenger list of a departing flight and notices Muslim names of five young males who checked-in with one-way tickets and carry-on luggage only. Would it at least trigger some concern in his head? I bet it would. He may let the flight go without delay, but just the thought that the situation is kind of unusual can be considered as racial profiling in my mind. In reality, anybody would start worrying and take appropriate security measures even if the concern turns up nothing.

I have a feeling people opposing profiling don't really have responsibility for workplaces where this profiling may be required.

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