The editorial "In Defense of Profiling," by Sam Stein (The Dartmouth, Jan. 22) is a clear indication that the United States still has notions of who is an American and who is not. That Stein and others like him, since there are many, would call for the mass suspicion, inspection and dehumanization of a group of people not only shows that Stein himself has never been the victim of racial profiling, but that he does not understand that the practice itself is based on racial stereotypes that rob people of their rights. What Stein needs to understand is that racial categories are not fixed, nor can you identify someone's ethnicity or allegiance to the United States strictly by the color of that person's skin.
Stein refers to profiling as "the most efficient way to tighten airport security." Tell that to Samar Kaukab, a U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent who attempted to board a plane in Chicago yet was pulled aside by airline security, despite the fact that the metal detectors were silent when she passed through them. Airline security officials not only detained her for over 30 minutes, but also proceeded to take off all of her clothing, feel her breasts as well as between her legs.
In addition, many people have been removed from flights because those around them were afraid of their "Middle Eastern appearance." And then there is the case of President Bush's Secret Service agent who, because he possessed a book that a flight attendant claimed as being written in "Arab-style print," was also removed from his flight.
These events should not have to occur just so that the Sam Steins of the world can get to their gates promptly. Nor should anyone's rights be curtailed so that life can be more convenient for the majority. Our justice system declares that all law enforcement officers must have just cause for searching and detaining individuals. A person's ethnicity does not constitute probable cause, nor should it lead to the suspension of one's civil rights.
While Stein accurately states that the blue-eyed Timothy McVeigh is a testament to the many colors that terrorists come in, would he ever include blue-eyed whites in his list of attributes of the "guilty parties" of terrorism? If not, he must ask himself why. And we must also ask our government, the media and ourselves why we shield the white extremist groups of which McVeigh and countless other terrorists are associated with from public scrutiny, as well as why being a Muslim has become a federal offense. By putting the power of determining one's propensity to committing a crime in the hands of airport security, we are inviting racism and unjust treatment.
Contrary to what supporters of racial profiling may believe, policing efforts that are based on the assumption that crime and skin color and religion are linked will never make this country any safer. That blacks make up close to half of prison populations does not mean that blacks are more prone to crime. Nor does the fact that whites make up the other half mean that they are more likely to be violent either. And in our need to end terrorism, we must understand that a person's skin color does not tell us anything about them. The majority of Arab-Americans in the United States are Christian. Americans of Arab descent make up less than 25 percent of this country's Muslim population, with African-Americans making up the largest Muslim group in the U.S. It is because of these facts that you cannot use your eyes in determining who is an "Islamic fundamentalist" or a terrorist. Nor is there any reason to believe that Stein's grandmother, who is probably not Muslim nor from the Middle Eastern region is any more innocent just because of her race and religion than a Middle Eastern man who practices Islam.
Racial profiling on our airplanes, highways, wherever, is an attack on people who are non-white and a violation of the "American freedom" that so many of us want to claim is being threatened.
