I am a white male adult of average height and weight. I have no discernible accent. I am generally friendly, and I make eye contact when speaking with someone. Nonetheless, I am occasionally singled out by the TSA for some form of additional scrutiny before boarding a flight. I recently watched a younger male of middle-Eastern descent, wearing a long robe, sandals, and a turban get invited into the special line. He was outwardly, vocally indignant. Really. How do you spell “profiling”? Our federal, state and local governments all expend a lot of energy trying to protect against discrimination based on race, color, ethnicity, gender, gender preference, religion or any pre-existing medical condition. Judging a book by its cover, so to speak, has become acceptable. Lest we forget, profiling can have its pitfalls….
↧