I know this is borderline P&N, but posts there digress way too fast into "screw u." So, mods, please leave it here for a little while, at least!
For a current example, lets use the new immigration reform law in Arizona: AZ Illegal Immigration Bill Becomes Law
The vast majority of illegal aliens in Arizona are hispanic. Of Arizona's total population, about 25% are hispanic (counting legal and illegal).
Now, in a case like this, how is it inherently racist to use a persons race as a way of increasing the effectiveness of law enforcement? Since 99% of illegals are likely to be hispanic, and only 25% of your population is hispanic, then you can instantly cut out 75% of potential suspects.
Conversely, how can such a law be taken seriously by hispanics when nearly all of the people being deported are also hispanic? How can you defend that law from crys of racism? Even if you, as the enforcer of the law, are not racist -- how do you explain to other citizens that just because everyone being deported is hispanic, that doesn't mean there's an institutional prejudice against hispanics?
Is racial profiling only acceptable when it's focused on the ethnicity of majority? e.g. school shooters are likely to be middleclass white kids? Or even the recent government reports a resurgence of neo-nazi activity in the midwest. It should be pretty obvious to most people that the vast majority of skinheads are white. It would be seem silly to waste resources investigating a group of Nigerian foreign-exchange students for involvement with neo-nazi's, right? But it doesn't seem quite as acceptable to scoff at that sort of obviousness when the target of your derision is most likely to be a member of a minority, not a majority.
For a current example, lets use the new immigration reform law in Arizona: AZ Illegal Immigration Bill Becomes Law
The vast majority of illegal aliens in Arizona are hispanic. Of Arizona's total population, about 25% are hispanic (counting legal and illegal).
Now, in a case like this, how is it inherently racist to use a persons race as a way of increasing the effectiveness of law enforcement? Since 99% of illegals are likely to be hispanic, and only 25% of your population is hispanic, then you can instantly cut out 75% of potential suspects.
Conversely, how can such a law be taken seriously by hispanics when nearly all of the people being deported are also hispanic? How can you defend that law from crys of racism? Even if you, as the enforcer of the law, are not racist -- how do you explain to other citizens that just because everyone being deported is hispanic, that doesn't mean there's an institutional prejudice against hispanics?
Is racial profiling only acceptable when it's focused on the ethnicity of majority? e.g. school shooters are likely to be middleclass white kids? Or even the recent government reports a resurgence of neo-nazi activity in the midwest. It should be pretty obvious to most people that the vast majority of skinheads are white. It would be seem silly to waste resources investigating a group of Nigerian foreign-exchange students for involvement with neo-nazi's, right? But it doesn't seem quite as acceptable to scoff at that sort of obviousness when the target of your derision is most likely to be a member of a minority, not a majority.