Quote:
Originally posted by Not Me
What exactly is the difference between the FBI singling out Arabs in flight schools for investigations as possible terrorists and Arab cab drivers refusing to pick up black passengers as a safety precaution? I mean, other than the FBI is the government and an Arab cab driver is licensed by the government.
I am trying to articulate why the former is OK and the latter is not OK but am not having much luck.
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Perhaps because, while black and hispanic males may commit a larger percentage of violent crime than whites (I don't even know if that's true, but just assume it is for these purposes), I am sure the percentage of blacks/hispanics committing violent crime doesn't come close to 99.9%, which is approximately the percentage of terrorist acts committed by Islamics. (Again, I'm guessing on the 99.9% figure, but the only reason I didn't make it 100% was because of the T.McVeigh dude.)
And I suppose I could understand a cab driver who has been the victim of a crime to be reluctant to pick up a person with a thug-like appearance (note, I am NOT saying that a "thug-like appearance" is the exclusive province of black and hispanic males -- I'll bet teenagers with mohawks and numerous piercings have cab-hailing difficulties as well), I cannot imagine what possible excuse a cab driver has not to pick up a black or hispanic guy (or anyone else for that matter, but it's generally the black/hispanic who get this treatment -- at least in NYC) who doesn't look menacing (and that is routinely what happens -- black guy in a suit with a briefcase getting passed by).
