Are Fear and Prejudice Giving Way to Racial Profiling?
Are fear and prejudice giving way to racial profiling? That's what lawyers charged in Marietta, Ohio as two college students were released six days after being arrested on terrorism charges for buying hundreds of cell phones. It was echoed by lawyers in Michigan where terrorism charges were also dropped against three Palestinian-American men being held in Michigan, though they are still jailed, charged with conspiracy to defraud consumers and money laundering.
Civil-rights advocates and the Arab-American community say the two college students from Dearborn, Michigan were unfairly labeled terrorists because they were of Middle Eastern descent and demanded an apology.
The Ohio prosecutor and law enforcement officers denied the allegations of racial profiling and said terrorism charges were dropped against the two students for "lack of evidence beyond a reasonable doubt." Though released on a $1,000 bond, the two still face a misdemeanor charge of falsification for using fictitious names to purchase cell phones.
People buy and sell cell phones all the time. But it is suspicious to buy hundreds, particularly when you're shopping in small towns far from home and using fictitious names. The Radio Shack employee was right to report the suspicious purchase and the law enforcement officers who responded were right to take these two young men into custody. Were they merely pursuing the American dream, spending the summer before college buying phones for resale by a businessman in their Michigan hometown? If so, why shop so far from home and why use fictitious names? These kids had to know something wasn't quite right. And though he claims to have been cleared by the FBI, where does this businessman sell hundreds of cheap phones and where do those profits wind up?
Are we paranoid to suspect terrorism? I don't think so. Cheap American cell phones are sold in overseas markets to amass quick funds and launder money. Because they are hard to trace and track, cell phones are used by terrorists to detonate bombs, as GPS devices for tracking potential targets, and for communication within terrorist cells. It was the act of purchasing large numbers of phones, not the fact that they appeared to be Middle Eastern that brought both the students in Ohio and the three men in Michigan to the attention of police. But did the fact that they were all of Middle Eastern descent contribute to the officers' suspicions? Possibly.
My son-in-law had an Iranian father, although he was adopted and raised by white Protestants in a Christian home. He has worn a goatee or beard since high school. Given the arctic winds of Chicago winters, he typically grew a full beard to protect his face. After 9/11 he started getting stares and rude comments when he rode the train or bus around town. For the first time, he felt uncomfortable in a town he had called home for 5 years. He trimmed his beard back to a small goatee which he still maintains to look less threatening, less Middle Eastern. My daughter's best friend is a first-generation American whose parents immigrated from India. She experienced the same prejudice after 9/11 while a student in San Francisco.
We cannot allow ourselves to fall into fear and prejudice. We do not want to revert to the fear-driven intolerance that created the Japanese camps of World War II. America was built by immigrants. It is a melting pot of cultures, ethnicity, and ideas. That has always been one of our great strengths as a country. It is important these days to consider the act and behavior, not the appearance of a person in making judgments. Racial profiling and prejudice will only benefit terrorism by broadening the gaps between cultures and alienating Muslims and the Middle Eastern community.
Civil-rights advocates and the Arab-American community say the two college students from Dearborn, Michigan were unfairly labeled terrorists because they were of Middle Eastern descent and demanded an apology.
"Today in the United States, living while Islamic, living while Middle Eastern, is seriously problematic," said Jeffrey Gamso, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio. "We are driven by fear, driven by prejudice."
The Ohio prosecutor and law enforcement officers denied the allegations of racial profiling and said terrorism charges were dropped against the two students for "lack of evidence beyond a reasonable doubt." Though released on a $1,000 bond, the two still face a misdemeanor charge of falsification for using fictitious names to purchase cell phones.
People buy and sell cell phones all the time. But it is suspicious to buy hundreds, particularly when you're shopping in small towns far from home and using fictitious names. The Radio Shack employee was right to report the suspicious purchase and the law enforcement officers who responded were right to take these two young men into custody. Were they merely pursuing the American dream, spending the summer before college buying phones for resale by a businessman in their Michigan hometown? If so, why shop so far from home and why use fictitious names? These kids had to know something wasn't quite right. And though he claims to have been cleared by the FBI, where does this businessman sell hundreds of cheap phones and where do those profits wind up?
Are we paranoid to suspect terrorism? I don't think so. Cheap American cell phones are sold in overseas markets to amass quick funds and launder money. Because they are hard to trace and track, cell phones are used by terrorists to detonate bombs, as GPS devices for tracking potential targets, and for communication within terrorist cells. It was the act of purchasing large numbers of phones, not the fact that they appeared to be Middle Eastern that brought both the students in Ohio and the three men in Michigan to the attention of police. But did the fact that they were all of Middle Eastern descent contribute to the officers' suspicions? Possibly.
My son-in-law had an Iranian father, although he was adopted and raised by white Protestants in a Christian home. He has worn a goatee or beard since high school. Given the arctic winds of Chicago winters, he typically grew a full beard to protect his face. After 9/11 he started getting stares and rude comments when he rode the train or bus around town. For the first time, he felt uncomfortable in a town he had called home for 5 years. He trimmed his beard back to a small goatee which he still maintains to look less threatening, less Middle Eastern. My daughter's best friend is a first-generation American whose parents immigrated from India. She experienced the same prejudice after 9/11 while a student in San Francisco.
We cannot allow ourselves to fall into fear and prejudice. We do not want to revert to the fear-driven intolerance that created the Japanese camps of World War II. America was built by immigrants. It is a melting pot of cultures, ethnicity, and ideas. That has always been one of our great strengths as a country. It is important these days to consider the act and behavior, not the appearance of a person in making judgments. Racial profiling and prejudice will only benefit terrorism by broadening the gaps between cultures and alienating Muslims and the Middle Eastern community.
Unfortunately the reality is that even the FBI and CIA are practicing racial profiling when they do secret wiretapping.
Isn't there racial profiling going on by the TSA at the airports. Isn't his why Al Qaeda and other are actively looking for non-Middle Eastern looking recruits.
I am not sure there is a real resolution to this issue.
Posted by The Watcher | Sun Aug 20, 08:33:00 AM EDT