maybe profiling reflects statistics

i am hispanic and when i go through airports i get double checked, why? because hispanics are more likely to traffic drugs. do i mind? no. its just security forces trying to be efficient by using the statistics at hand.

so what if its racial profiling. the numbers justify it.

“It was said earlier that the only way we will see change is if someone from the other side of the fence, i.e. white people, start to see there is a problem.”
This assumes white people are the only racists. Stereotypes exist on both sides. How can you group all “white people” as racists? “normal, non-racist” white people see the problem. Guess what? Most of us live together. Racist white people tend to live together. It’s a downward spiral and they grow in their environment, and many times they aren’t educated to know any better. Racism will be around for a while. Be a good role model (whatever your race is) and change one person’s opinion at a time. THat’s all you can do. Be a good example and hope someone is paying attention.

“It’s discouraging to see someone who is 1.) obviously intelligent and 2.) all too familiar with issues of race and racism dismissed as an opportunist by people from different experiences. Even if the anonymous “contributors” on this letter are from racially diverse hometowns (which I doubt), they have not and cannot have experienced what Josh has. Ever. Point blank period.”
This is untrue. I am a straight, white, Catholic male. I have experienced racism (in Japan, from Asians, in Chicago, from African-Americans, while I was helping at a soup kitchen, in California from Latinos) I have been called a white devil. I was ignored at an Indian restaurant. I had to walk out because they wouldn’t serve me. I’ve been called everything that is wrong with this world. I have been mocked and physically attacked for dating an African-American woman. I have also been a victim of age-ism in the corporate world, and sexism. I also have red hair. Did you know that hair-ism exists? I have been victimized because of my status, too. people try to take advantage of it. We are all victims at some point, and some more often than others. And it sucks. But, seriously, you can not attach NU’s reputation to the actions of 2-3 people. The cop was doing his job. It’s protocol to confirm IDs. Do you know how easy it is to make a fake ID? Really easy. For all you know, the first person that approached you may have seen a print-out of a “Wanted Persons” list. Maybe she thought you looked like him or fit the clothing description. Maybe she was physically assaulted the other day, or saw a news show that just inserted paranoia. Whatever the reason, she acted some way, expressed her concerns to someone else, and, for all we know, he thought he was being a good Samaritan. He may have thought, “Better safe than sorry”. Perhaps HE was a victim at one point. The facts? We don’t know the facts. We can create assumptions based on the context of the situation. We can have feelings. But we don’t know the facts.

“So I wanted to make it clear that I do not think that you are racist, but I am inclined to think that you’ve chosen to be ignorant.”
Comments like this don’t help. You want to help convert someone? You want them to see things from your eyes? Why don’t you have lunch with him and open his eyes instead of saying he is ignorant. Maybe you are being the ignorant one. You can talk and type all you want, but until you do anything, you are no better than the “ignorant” people. And to put yourself in the white person’s shoes: How would you feel if every action you make is criticized, and every INACTION you make is deemed ignorant? I often feel this way, that no matter what I say/think, it is deemed wrong and ignorant and racist/sexist/ageist, etc. in some way shape or form. I am not kidding here: I feel helpless as a white man, in the sense that I get no breaks, even though I come from a horrible background. I worked my butt off and got to where I am today. Sometimes life sucks. Go ahead, fight it. If you care, do something about it. If you don’t, let it go, and live on, and realize that it’ll probably happen again. Thus is life. It isn’t fair. It isn’t perfect. And everyone has problems.

Until then, there are no facts in this story. The truth of the incident lies somewhere between Josh’s statement and the statements of the administrators and police officers involved which we are not privy to. So everyone can stop arguing now.

Does the NU card have such a statement?