Quote:
|
Originally Posted by JinnKai
It seems the post above yours riled you into irrational anger. I certainly agree with your proposed "solutions," but not because it was racial profiling. They were acting SUSPICIOUS no matter what race or religion they were. If you're acting SUSPICIOUS, expect to be talked to by security or police officers in the area. It's that simple. And if they pull the race/discrimination card afterwards, they're just being brats..
|
No, not angry at all - just adding another perspective to the discussion.
I think part of the problem is clouding the issues. Another part of the problem is subjectivity. How were they suspicious? Congregating near an air duct? I do that everyday. In fact, (ironically), all the smokers at my old school would congregate by the air duct (underneath a sign that says do not smoke in this area).
For example: I think everyone on a cell phone is suspicious, - who knows what they are uo to right? IEDs are set off by cell phones (so this can be a little problematic I think if we get caught up in "suspicious activity").
But on the other hand, it was in a stadium (large public place) and an ex-president was present necessitating the need for a more astute security presence.
So I would agree in general with your contention about SUSPICIOUS. Like you said, being talked to is reasonable, that's good communication and makes sense. But what happened after I don't necessarily agree with. Based on the article, I really don't see the defense of the security people.
But gauging suspicious activity can be tricky too. For example, being black is enough to make one suspicious (in some instances and some areas). Any black man passing through Beverly Hills knows this.
Another problem is information. The article could be incomplete. According to the article, they were praying and the security guards said, come with us. Why didn't they just say what are you doing or this area is restricted? It really doesn't seem to add up to me. Were they carrying weapons or strange devices? They don't say what was suspicious.
The other issue is, why can't people accept the fact that racial profiling does happen and that this case could be an example of it? It may or may not be, but it definitely could be. By trying to understand these issues and discussing them, it can help us positively as a society (at least I believe so). We shouln't try and deny these tings but instead, face them head on and deal with it no matter how uncomfortable it may be.
I do think it's tricky - but given the information at hand, I would still say that it was racial profiling.