Quote:
Originally Posted by BornBronson
Speaking of idiots,who are these entertainers coming on CNN,HLN fueling the fires between the races.Seems to me there are two issues being fought here.One is a law passing to protect an American border and the other about protecting 'brown' people.That law in Arizona will benefit both Americans and illegals,regardless if you come over from Russia,China,or Mexico.If you have your "green card",that means you have certain rights like an American.Without them,you're pretty much left to the wolves,and believe me,we have plenty of them just waiting to take advantage of people without their papers in this country.There's nothing more evil to me then pitting Americans against each other,specially for political gain..that's just plain evil y'all.
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Can you explain to me, because perhaps I'm dense, how this law will protect brown people? It seems to me that this law targets brown people. Let me try to explain why:
The law, as written, says that police officers can (and are required to) stop anyone they have a 'reasonable suspicion' is in the country illegally. Please note that this is *different* than saying that if in the course of, say, a routine traffic the officer has a reasonable suspicion that the person might be in the country illegally (driver's license seems fake, something along those lines). It is saying 'if you see someone who *looks like* they are here illegally'.
The reason I bring this up, Born, is because--well, let me put it to you like this. I am more or less cinnamon-colored and have shoulder-length dreadlocks. My wife is, pale, red-haired, hazel-eyed. When this law was passed and we were discussing it, I asked her (because I knew that at some point I'd need the information) how many times she had been asked if she was from Ireland or Scotland. She said no one had ever asked her that. She'd been asked if she was of Irish descent but not if she was from Ireland (those ARE different questions). Now, I can't count the number of times people have asked me if I was from Jamaica or, more generically, where I am from. Now, if I had an accent, perhaps that would be understandable but any accent I have is a West Coast accent (I think I have that midwestern newscaster accent, but that's a different story). So what's the difference? While it's empirically true that 'American' isn't a race, most people treat 'American' as a synonym for 'white' on a day-to-day, ad hoc basis. So
even though my wife could just as easily be from Ireland, looking like she does, and I could, perhaps, be from Jamaica looking like I do, she is never asked if she is from a foreign country while I am. The difference? She has white skin and I have brown skin. That's it.
So let's return to this law: how is it that this is NOT an open invitation to racial profiling and how is it that this law HELPS brown people, precisely?