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November 2-4 –2001 - Profiling - Hiring for a job that involves, say, transporting petroleum, caustic chemicals or other hazardous materials? Don't you dare apply any extra scrutiny to driver-applicants of Mideast origin, experts warn. Federal anti-discrimination law bans employer policies or interview questions that relate in any way to religion, ethnicity, or national origin and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has put out word that its commitment to this policy is in no way altered by the events of Sept. 11. "Experts say that companies must be careful to apply equally to all job applicants any beefed up pre-job screening. Companies can't, for example, run criminal background checks only on their Middle Eastern job applicants." It's also extremely hazardous as a legal matter to contact law enforcement about any unusual pattern of behavior involving one or more employees of Mideast origin unless one is prepared to show in court that one would have acted just as quickly to report the same unusual pattern in employees of Welsh or Korean or West Indian extraction. Hey, we may be sitting ducks, but at least we're non-discriminatory sitting ducks, right? And of course if someone uses one of your trucks to cause harm you can expect to be sued for every dime you're worth to compensate the survivors. Fourteen Syrian men arrived at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport last month to enroll in U.S. flight schools; although "their country is one of seven on the State Department's 'watch list' of nations that sponsor terrorism," they were waved through, there still being no official policy that would pose the slightest impediment to their obtaining such training here. The Associated Press, describing reports of extra scrutiny given to air passengers of Middle Eastern descent, quotes a parade of sources who deplore such scrutiny but not a single source willing to say there might be good reasons for it, although majorities of both blacks and Arab Americans have supported passenger profiling in post-Sept. 11 polls. Should a traveler with a passport from Yemen and visas from Lebanon and Qatar receive greater scrutiny -- not harassment, but greater scrutiny -- than a traveler with a passport from Chile and a visa from Spain? Is that racism or an objective assessment of threats. Would it constitute extraordinary negligence to do otherwise after September 11. Before jumping into any proposal to apply heightened scrutiny to residents of Arab descent in this country, however, it should be recalled that the vast majority of Arab-Americans are in fact of Christian, not Muslim, descent, which makes them unlikely targets of recruitment efforts by bin Laden cell organizers. November 16-18 -- Profiling perfectly OK after all. "State highway safety officials said they have received a $700,000 federal grant to help them crack down on two groups of chronic violators of the state's seat belt law: drivers and passengers of pick-up trucks, and all male drivers and passengers between 18 and 55. ... [Louisiana Highway Safety Commission Executive Director James] Champagne said state and federal studies have consistently shown pickup drivers and all male drivers are less likely to buckle up than any other groups of drivers or front-seat passengers. State law requires both the driver and front-seat passengers of vans, sports utility vehicles, cars and trucks to use seat belts. ... Asked if the targeting of males and pickup drivers and passengers is profiling of a certain group, Champagne said, 'Absolutely.'" To recap, then: the federal government strictly bans giving extra attention to 25-year-old males from Saudi Arabia at airport check-in. While they're driving to the airport, on the other hand, it positively encourages them to be profiled. Perhaps the explanation is that it's willing to swallow its scruples in order to combat really antisocial behavior -- like failing to wear seat belts, as opposed to hijacking planes into buildings. |