It's time that countries and individuals stopped using the hammer of calling someone "racists" when they have no other logical argument and do not agree with what that party has said.

Exactly!

Its too easy to cry "racist" when there's no suitable counter-argument or solution to the problem at hand. Was Jessee Jackson a racist when he made that famous comment about being happy to see a white face following him in a dark alley? Or was he merely expressing a well-founded sense of watchfulness based on a certain reality? Its amazing that the "profiling" (official or unofficial) that has taken place since 9-11 has uncovered several groups of men engaging in suspicious behavior.

Pop-quiz:

Arab man, with foreign ID, rushes to check-in counter at BOS, apprehensive about missing flight. Bought one-way ticket over the net at the last minute. Can't fully understand the innane questions asked by counter agent because of language difficulty. She waves him on because she doesn't want him to miss his flight.

Should she:

a) "profile him" based on any number of "red flags" and potentially cause him to miss his flight and be embarassed or inconvenienced,

or

b) allow Mohammed Atta to board his flight, kill everyone aboard, and a significant number of New Yorkers as well.

Unfortunately, hindsight is 20-20. But then again, she was PC and cognizant of Atta's right not to be embarassed, which apparently is all some of you folks are concerned about.

[This message has been edited by se94583 (edited 09-25-2001).]