"profiling question"

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opendriver

opendriver

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Well, I just got done reading malcolmX for an English assingment and I have kind of been wondering how we classify people these days:

When you say something to another person, "yeah hes the guy over there with the beard" You are pointing something out that is unique about that person and thats what make them different.

But if I say something like " yeah, its that black guy's" Does that mean im racialy profiling?
 
The sensitivity of our culture to racism has created this. No, it doesn't necessarily mean that you're racially profiling, though overzealous PCers would like to make an issue of it. The fact is, when one is trying to differentiate something and the only discriminator is race, it should be ok, as long as one is not using negatively connotative words.

True story: I was watching a boxing match one time, a lower level bout between a black boxer and a white boxer. Both were wearing blue trunks, both had shaved their heads, both were wearing red gloves and black shoes, but one had white shoelaces and one had black shoelaces.

The announcers would differentiate the two by saying "Smith, in the white shoelaces, and Jones, in the black shoelaces" instead of just stating the obvious. :rolleyes:
 
Simple answer: No. Then again, I've been saying things like "I think it belongs to that white guy over there" for years (I'm white), so I may not have the most..."average" perspective on this.

How about this: if you only use race to refer to people of a race other than your own, yet only use descriptive features other than race to refer to people of your own race, then you were raised in the united states and are thinking too hard about it, especially if you know you aren't racist. ;)

Honestly -- assuming that you're white, and considering the likely fact that as you grew up, you were predominately surrounded by white people, it's only human nature to look at people of another race as "different." Everyone does this "racial profiling" that you speak of, no matter what color they are.
 
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