I
don’t know if you saw the story on the news the other
day, but it seems we have a new legal entanglement
a-brewing and I am getting ready to go postal over it. It
seems, a gentleman believes he has been discriminated
against because he “sounds” black.
As the story goes, he
left a few messages when he made a few phone calls
inquiring about an apartment and no one called him back.
Other people who left messages, who apparently sounded as
the people with the apartment for rent wanted them to
sound, were called right back. So, along with race, sex,
and national origin, we now have linguistic profiling.
Now, before things get
too out of hand here, yes, it is possible to sound
“black”. It is also possible to sound Italian, French,
Russian, Middle Eastern, or a red-neck! I am sure in
someone’s mind you can sound Baptist, or tall, or like a
football player. But, that is not wrong! And, with all the talk
about “racial profiling” running rampant through the
news media today, yes this is profiling and there can be
racial overtones to it. However, let's get one thing clear.
The racial overtones are wrong, the profiling is not. It
happens all the time.
I am dumfounded by all
the talk about profiling and totally confused as to why
there is such uproar over it. It happens every day in all
aspects of society and our lives. It may be a nuisance
but it is not evil. Market research is profiling. When you
answer survey questions you are being profiled. If you
play sports and talk about the “tendencies” of your
opponent you are profiling. Have you ever had a friend try
to fix you up with a date and say, “no, I don’t think
so. (S)He is not my type”? There's another profile.
Statistical Analysis is
profiling. Any time you gather data and facts to make
sense of tendencies or patterns of behavior for whatever
the reason, you are profiling. Profiling is an accepted
part of the process of gathering evidence in criminal and intelligence investigations. Profiling narrows the
list of suspects and helps those investigating to focus
attention where it will do the most good. That is why no
one should even consider the smallest complaint over the
fact that attention is focused on Middle Eastern Men or
the Muslim community during the investigations over the events
of September 11. The evidence does not lead to Italian,
Greek, Russian, or Chinese communities. It does lead to
them, to Muslims.
I am so incredulous over
these legal talking heads on TV. They are the last people
who should be jumping all over this issue. What do you
call jury selection? I am sure the Harvard Law School has
some convoluted, six word, 32 syllable name for it, but a
rose by any other name is still profiling.
Some time ago ABC News put a test on
their web site to see if one can tell the “ethnic”
background of a person reading, “Mary had a little
lamb.” You heard the voice and then had to guess the
background of the speaker. It is not a great test but it
is interesting and they say most people can determine the
background of the speaker with amassing accuracy. I took
the test and I must not be like “most” people because
I did not do very well. I only got a “C”, and that was
with a curve.
Of course, there is one
thing I am happy about in all of this and two things that
disgust me. First, I am happy I only got a “C” on this
test. I have no need to be at the top of the class on this
one. Maybe I have evolved enough to hear what
someone is saying, not how.
Then, it makes me more
than a little P.Oed that some bozo out in a bar, at the
office, or at the plant is bragging about how he aced this
test. I don’t need people around me who have this
attitude. This test also takes profiling down the wrong
path convincing people that, “See, we told you. We got
to stop this evil of profiling. We can’t use profiling
in criminal investigations. We must protect the
innocent!” They don’t get it. Believe it or not, all
profiling is not evil, as evidenced by the links to the
left.
Of course, what disgusts me
even more is we now have a new reason to throw more
fuel on the fire of race relations and profiling, and that
some J.C. wannabe is out there cheering about a new reason
to start suing to get on court TV.
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