Go to Messages To Liberals, Atheists And Other Dummies
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- Go to I say, RACIALLY-PROFILE THEIR SUSPICIOUS-LOOKIN’ ASSES!
MHW
I commented on this somewhere else, I think. Dennis Miller has a famous bit on this very subject. He said when you have 12 people who blow up a building all come from the same area, looking the same way, behaving the same way, and you look twice at the 13th person...is that really racial profile or just being mildly observant?
An idealist side of me says, "no, never." But the truth is, if you wear gang colors to make it look like you're in a gang, I'm going to take you at your word on that. Until there is a better way, I think the safety of the masses has to win out.
Kim
posted by
terpgirl30
on May 22, 2005 at 4:44 PM
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RAME, thank you for reading. & I'll be in touch with you real soon.
posted by
Feenix
on May 22, 2005 at 2:36 PM
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You hit that nail right on the head.
If it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, and walks like a duck, it must be a duck.
posted by
RAME
on May 22, 2005 at 2:19 PM
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Talion, you know where I comin' from. Similar to what you said, it's all
about having street sense -- and when one has street sense, he or she can almost always smell danger or potential danger.
In fact, most of the muggers and other street hoods here in NYC mostly only go after those people whose body language makes it perfectly clear that they have little or no street wisdom.
posted by
Feenix
on May 22, 2005 at 2:03 PM
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mightyholywarrior
I too have acute senses developed from spending time in less than ideal environments. In a matter of moments (because a few moments is all you have if the shit is going to hit the fan), I can assess a threat, the level of the threat (and I don't need any stupid and meanongless color-codes), and what is necessary for me to get out of a potentally bad situation. It also tells me if there is indeed a threat and it's saved my ass on numerous occasions. It works equally well no matter the race of the people involved. This skill, whether we call it street smarts, Spidey senses, or even simply profiling is instinctive, a part of the fight or flight response, but not everyone's instincts are fine-honed and acute. It involves a lot of factors and senses that go beyond simple sight. Many whose instincts are not fine-tuned are unable to accurately assess a threat or genuinely recognize one. In these instances, instead of seeing a couple black, Hispanic, or Arab guys
acting suspicious, black, Hispanic, or Arab guys
are suspicious. The assumption that people are "up to no good" without any proof other than their race is "racial" profiling and that's wrong. Of course there's nothing we can do about it. It's one of the foibles of human nature so we just have to learn to deal with it.
posted by
Talion
on May 22, 2005 at 12:01 PM
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LOL MHW
I do so love Billy Dee Williams! I'm off now to "relax" my daughter's hair. Think she'll forgive me if she comes out looking like Tina Turner instead of The Divine Ms. Oprah? Off to the "trenches". Good day Sir Warrior!
posted by
PaulaQ
on May 22, 2005 at 11:38 AM
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PaulaQ, thanx very much, but actually, I already have about 7-8 do rags. I
need that many so I can maintain my "slicked-back Billy Dee Williams look." : )
posted by
Feenix
on May 22, 2005 at 11:33 AM
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OffBeatPub, thank you & every time I hear from you, a big wide smile comes
on my face. You're the greatest. Got a lot goin' for you, girl.
posted by
Feenix
on May 22, 2005 at 11:28 AM
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P. S. MightyHolyWarrior...
If you're in the market for a do-rag...my daughter could spot ya a couple. From one fellow "realist" to another.
posted by
PaulaQ
on May 22, 2005 at 11:27 AM
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Hey, PaulaQ, thank you. Just added you to my favorites list. You'll be
hearing from me.
posted by
Feenix
on May 22, 2005 at 11:26 AM
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MHW
Exactly, I think profiling has become a way of life we must learn to live with. It should give us some level of comfort to know not everyone, just because they fit a certain profile are bad, but neither all they all good..Excellent post as usual!
posted by
Offy
on May 22, 2005 at 11:25 AM
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Exactly MHW...well said ( again )
Homegrown is homegrown...I do not use the nightly news to support my views on racial profiling. I use my own homegrown experiences only. I have been in the trenches, so to speak, and of course, derived a perception from those experiences. That's my right...along with the right to protect myself, my children and the people I love using any and all " common sense...or instinct" I have culled from those experiences. However, politically incorrect I might seem to be for the moment...Hey, least I'm still here to argue the point.
I like your style too. Good argument here...Will probably go on for days. Genius indeed. : )
posted by
PaulaQ
on May 22, 2005 at 11:18 AM
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wow...
so you can spit? amazing...
thanks for posting this:)
posted by
Marshallengraved
on May 22, 2005 at 9:10 AM
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I'd really appreciate...
to see your pic with a do-rag.
posted by
Marshallengraved
on May 22, 2005 at 9:08 AM
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And thank you, Numinous
posted by
Feenix
on May 22, 2005 at 8:30 AM
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MHW..Interesting post.
This causes one to get real with him/herself. Is the mask of political correctness really worth lying to yourself? Thank you.
posted by
Numinous
on May 22, 2005 at 8:28 AM
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M.E. one more thing. You're "my girl." & by the way, you have inspired me
to start composing a rap tune. It opens as follows:
Ahm Ole Skool Kool
Too wise ta be a fool
Mah mindz mah greates' tool
Mah creedz da Golden Rule ....
The plan is to complete the "jam" by end of the week.
posted by
Feenix
on May 22, 2005 at 8:21 AM
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M.E., in the future, I'm gonna post a photo of me wearin' my do-rag. No
kidding.
posted by
Feenix
on May 22, 2005 at 8:13 AM
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I love do-rags...
The day i met Kuniva at Paris Bercy in 2003, he was wearing a red do-rag. He looked like a prince.
I love urban wear...no matter if the dudes are black or whites, i like ppl who do wear some cool urban clothes.
I have sth else to add: "fuck the police!"...hope you won't censor me lol
posted by
Marshallengraved
on May 22, 2005 at 8:08 AM
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Ms N Indepence, I live in NYC and know a whole lot of cops. So, please
believe me. I know what really went down.
What the officers said before the cameras were nothing more than well-rehearsed public-relations ploys, designed to placate and calm down various people and factions.
posted by
Feenix
on May 22, 2005 at 7:55 AM
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Ms N Dependence, so far as "suspicious-looking" young black males
garnering more attention than "suspicious-looking" young white males, that's the breaks.
Opposite of the way you obviously are, I do not view the world in ideal terms. I view it in realistic terms.
And one significant reality is, "life ain't fair." Somebody is always going to get the short end of the stick, and/or fucked over by others -- regardless of how hard anybody works to make this world an "ideal place."
posted by
Feenix
on May 22, 2005 at 7:49 AM
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Live interviews - don't lie.
posted by
Transcendental_Child
on May 22, 2005 at 7:40 AM
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Ms N Dependence. Bull Shit! Where do you get your news? From such slanted,
left-wing outlets as CNN, PBS and The New York Times?
posted by
Feenix
on May 22, 2005 at 7:39 AM
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PaulaO, I'm glad to have made your acquaintance. & I like your style. When
one is not on the "front lines," and/or has not spent very much time out in the streets, if it is very easy for that person to espouse that the cops, "public servants" and private citizens should always exercise "good judgment" and "self-restraint."
If you have never had a bullet fired at you, been robbed or raped by some thug, or been forced to go to war against some home boy who has an "evil agenda," then you do not know the first thing about the contemporary dynamics behind racial profiling.
And the key term here is "contemporary dynamics."
In my post, I was not talking about the injustices that occurred back in the day when male blacks were frequently and arbitrarily "tuned up" brutalized by racist white cops and white lynch mobs simply because they were black, or at the wrong place at the wrong time.
posted by
Feenix
on May 22, 2005 at 7:35 AM
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damn this is some crisp street
genius.
posted by
calmcantey75
on May 22, 2005 at 7:23 AM
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Mr. W.
I remember the interviews with those police officers - they would have "wasted" him anyhow. They were bastards!
posted by
Transcendental_Child
on May 22, 2005 at 7:22 AM
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You are missing the boat sir... It should be
Activity profiling vs racial profiling. You know a group of white kids walking behind you on a dark street or into a convenience store will not garner the same reaction as a group of black kids.
posted by
Transcendental_Child
on May 22, 2005 at 7:20 AM
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Something does have to be done to make things a little more sensible...
The last time I saw my mother-in-law she told us she gets "picked out at random" all the time when traveling. She is 70 years old, has borne a dozen children, is slightly suffering from osteoporosis, is white with a midwestern accent. What a waste in resources! Why bother? Just so they can say they are not profiling...
posted by
FactorFiction
on May 22, 2005 at 7:20 AM
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Ms N Dependence, one more thing. When the NYPD officers wasted that
African immigrant "in front of his own door," the whole thing happened because he inadvertently reach inside side his jacket, making it appear that he was about to draw a weapon.
I've been on the front lines. So I know that when somebody makes a "false move," you shoot first and ask questions last.
One of my credos is I'd rather be tried by 12 than to be carried to my grave by 6.
posted by
Feenix
on May 22, 2005 at 7:18 AM
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MHW...Bernard Getz would agree with you
100%...and that said, so would I. A threat is a threat. It might come in the form of intimidation only, or might follow with something more sinister. If you choose to use your "gut instincts" ( racial profiles) instead of ignoring them, then I would say you just might be the one left alive. As the mother of a bi-racial daughter, I see both sides of this argument. But as a woman who was once attacked in a dimly lit parking garage for ignoring her common sense...well suffice it to say. I'll use whatever weapons I have to walk myself ( and my children)unharmed through this world. Whatever they want to call it nowadays.
posted by
PaulaQ
on May 22, 2005 at 7:16 AM
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Ms N Dependence, I did not learn what I know about racial profiling in the
relatively safe-and-secure confines of a public school or from books and newspaper accounts. I learned about it the streets, where nearly every day, I had no other choice but to fight for my life against "suspicious-looking figures" who were out to seriously injure me or to snuff me out altogether.
And no, I have not forgotten any of the injustices and cruelty that a countless number of blacks have suffered for centuries in this country, and at the hands of such groups as slave-drivers, white lynch mobs and racist or overly-zealous cops.
But shit happens. That's life. That's just the way it goes sometimes.
This world is an imperfect place and will not cease to be that way until Kingdom Comes.
In fact, I, myself, have been brutalized by racist cops and other racist elements so many times during my lifetime that I lost count many years ago.
And dammit, the truth is the truth -- meaning that when some suspicious-looking character starts tracking you or hanging out in front of your home or place of business, you had better drop a dime on his ass and dial 911. Because if you fail to do that, chances are, you will end up getting robbed or rapped. Or else you will end up stretched out on a slab in your local city morgue.
posted by
Feenix
on May 22, 2005 at 7:10 AM
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Mr. Warrior
I did read the entire post--- what you must understand is that racial profiling to a vast degree is based upon a person's history (not only how it was lived - but how it was told to them) and life experiences. As a teacher - my world - I can not afford to paint with so broad a brush as it appears you - not a public servant - do. Nor should a police officer - mistakes are made and lives ar taken needlessly - or has your memory of the young African male killed in his own door way in New York City- dimmed already?
You should know as well as I - that for the majority of America - it does not matter what activity a person of color or other obvious distinction is doing - they are under suspicion.
posted by
Transcendental_Child
on May 22, 2005 at 6:46 AM
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Carolyn Moe, you know what time it is. One of the primary reasons why I am
alive today, or not confined to a wheel chair or something along that line, is I have been "racially-profiling" ever since I was a little boy.
posted by
Feenix
on May 22, 2005 at 6:42 AM
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Ms N Dependence, did you read the entire post? Did I not also mention
"suspicious-looking" male whites and Arab males?
Please, read my post posts carefully, and try to refrain from leaving out various parts of the article in an attempt to make me look dumb, prejudiced and narrow-minded.
posted by
Feenix
on May 22, 2005 at 6:38 AM
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MHW, I am a white female and have had my head bashed against the inner halls of the Golden Nugget... racial profiling I guess. I was off my meds and dipped into their pool. Big mean security guard nearly got away with murder... but even crazy people need to be profiled... when they're a danger to themselves or others... I agree with your views, when you see something suspicious or that is striking fear in your heart... take appropriate action. Operative word... appropriate.
posted by
cmoe
on May 22, 2005 at 6:31 AM
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As a high school teacher
who sees baggy pants, 'do' rags, braids and black skin every day - should I treat these students any differently when witnessed sitting in front of the school in their fancy cars talking or listening music - as opposed to the white kids involved in the same activity? Should I assume they are planning to take over the school? Sell some drugs? Kill a teacher? Rape a white girl? Should I have campus police go check their fancy cars for drugs? Raid their homes? Harass their parents (or parent - you know they don't know who their daddy is! and if they do - it is only because mama is a crack head - and skipped out leaving them with daddy or grandma)? Burn a cross in their yards? -
because we all should know black people + nice cars + baggy pants ($120 a pair) + Timberlakes ($175 a pair) = drug/gang activity/raping and pillaging of white America.
posted by
Transcendental_Child
on May 22, 2005 at 6:28 AM
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