Lynnette Clemetson of the New York Times on Homeland Security Given Data on Arab-Americans:
The Census Bureau has provided specially tabulated population statistics on Arab-Americans to the Department of Homeland Security, including detailed information on how many people of Arab backgrounds live in certain ZIP codes.
The assistance is legal, but civil liberties groups and Arab-American advocacy organizations say it is a dangerous breach of public trust and liken it to the Census Bureau’s compilation of similar information about Japanese-Americans during World War II.
Folks, my opposition to use of “racial” data in just such a manner as this was one of the main reasons I stated in my support of the Racial Privacy Initiative. But then, according to “left” oriented supporters of “racial” classifications, I’m just a tool of the Illuminati and “right wingers.” Its funny that they didn’t call me that while I simultaneously opposed “racial” profiling. Figure that inconsistent nonsense out.
Of course, the idiots on the “right” who support such classifications and collectivist processes see me as a tool of one-world government conspiracists and “political correctness.”
Whateverthehellallthatmeans.
Okay, you’ve got me intrigued. I’m not really sure who the Illuminati are, and I’m not sure if I plan to do any reading up on the movement. However, I’d like to understand the argument these folks use to support race profiling. If they have a short paper on why affirmative action is bad, while race profiling is totally awesome, that could be interesting too.
8/1/2004 17:44:00