Profiling--an abomination!

In today's Times there's another story about profiling of blacks and hispanics, only this time instead of New York City streets, it's at airports, and in particular at Logan airport in Boston.  Those complaining are not even those who have been profiled but officers from the Transportation Security Administration's "behavior detection" unit which trains officers to look for terrorists.  They are complaining about their fellow officers who pull inordinate numbers of black and hispanics from airport security lines, apparently to boost their numbers on paper.  My problem with the article is not that I don't believe it--I most certainly do, but that it suggests this behavior comes after 9/11.  It doesn't.

Miguel and I travelled frequently to Europe and we had a method to avoid being pulled over by customs.  I would go through the custom lines first with all our luggage--tall, fair skinned, and often wearing my ratty old mink coat, and Miguel would go through later without luggage, explaining that I had already gone through.  I was never stopped when I went through alone, not once, and Miguel, without luggage was also not stopped.  The only time we were stopped is when we went through together and that one and only time we had to open every one of our suitcases while the woman who stopped us went through all our bags, finding nothing of course.  And to call her rude would be kind.  She was a miserable bitch.  Why, because Miguel was hispanic and looked hispanic.

I've often heard white people suggest that blacks and hispanics who complain of harassment are being overly sensitive.  No, they're not.  I was the one in our marriage that would be furious when these types of thing happened.  Miguel took it in stride.

Profiling is one of the ugliest aspects of racism and our mayor, Bloomberg, who has overseen the worst type of profiling of minorities on New York streets since he came to office is a racist.  Thank goodness, he'll be gone soon, and I hope never to appear on the political stage again.  There should be no room in politics for racists and if anyone reading here doubts that Bloomberg is a racist, ask one of your black neighbors.