Unit Two Blog

 Profiling at Airports

     This past weekend I took my parents to the airport after they came to visit. Since I live in Las Vegas and it is a fairly large airport (a little bit bigger than Will Rogers!) you have to be there at least two hours before your flight. I know all airports require this but in larger airports it’s a necessity. My family is fine with it in fact most people I know are fine with it.  My family is also okay when we are pulled to the side and screened, even though I am active duty, and my stepdad and brother-in-law are both retired military. But is this necessary? What if there was a way to screen people on the likelihood of a terrorist act being committed. There is, it’s called profiling.  Gasp! Yes the white guy just said that.

     In Israel people can board an aircraft with tubes and bottles brought from home and the reason is profiling (HAARETZ.com). As I stated earlier most people don’t mind the security measures. However I am always amazed when TSA pulls aside the little old lady or crippled man wearing his WWII veteran hat just to keep things fair. Why does everything have to be fair? Why can’t it just be right? I suppose the word “right” is subjective.

     I hate that there is a need for profiling but there is. No, not all Muslims are terrorists. Should people pay for the sins of their brothers? I say yes. However I understand the ramifications that come with profiling and it could never been done as it should be, with tact and taste.

     I hope I didn’t offend anyone that is not my intention. I hate that I feel this way. I was not raised that way. I feel that it is our duty to protect people if possible. I know Richard Reid was a white Muslim and profiling likely would not have caught him, it is true some will slip through the cracks. Because some may slip through should we not try?

     A funny thing happened after writing this. Before I posted it I decided to talk to some co-workers about profiling. I changed my opinion about profiling. Well kind of. The only way I would be for it is if there was an effective non-intrusive way. There never will be an effective way to do that so TSA will just have to keep pulling little old ladies over to the side and hope that deters anyone who might attempt a heinous act.

Works Cited

      Pfeffer, Anshel.  “In Israel, Racial Profiling Doesn't Warrant Debate, or Apologies”  HAARETZ 01 Aug. 2010. Web. 31 Mar. 2010

      “Terrorist attacks in the U.S. or against Americans.”  Inforplease.com. Information Please Database, n.d.  Web. 31 Mar. 2011

Unit One Blog

Serving in the U.S. Air Force for nineteen years and being raised in Oklahoma people often find my stance on homosexuals in the military unusual.  I can say with all honesty that how I feel today IS NOT how I felt in the past. However today, I am absolutely in support if the repeal of Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell (DADT). I know that there are military members in this class that may not agree, (but likely will not voice their opposition due to concerns of not supporting military policy) although if you do not agree with the repeal it that is understandable considering the culture we inhabit.

     In my opinion there is nothing good about telling men and women that want to serve their country that they are not worthy because of their sexual orientation.  As we know in the past African-American’s were not allowed to serve with whites simply because of the color of their skin. Obviously the struggle is not the same. Ivan Ware a retired Lt. Col and a retired Howard University Aeronautics Professor stated in an article for JET magazine.  “Segregation was the law of the land everywhere against Black people. Not so for gays, who could eat at a lunch counter, use restroom facilities and sleep in hotels in the South.” (Nelson 14-15).  However the main comparison is there, there is still hatred for who they are and that is bigotry. To not allow someone to serve because of who they are is simply wrong.

      Any argument that one may have that they don’t want to serve with gays, too late we already are.   Many of you may remember the rescue of PFC Jessica Lynch in 2003. What you may not know is that one of her rescuers was a Yale educated Army Sergeant that joined the military out of a sense of duty and left the military because he couldn’t serve openly because of DADT (Kesler  285).  Who wouldn’t want to serve with someone that had such a sense of duty?

Works Cited

Kesler, Laura “Serving with Integrity: The Rationale for the Repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and Its Ban on Acknowledged Homosexuals in the Armed Forces” Military Law Review Volume 203 (2010) : 285 LexisNexis Acedemic. Web. 29 Mar. 2011.

Nelson, Sophia. “The Repeal Of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell: Black Vets Compare Struggles” JET Vol. 119 Issue3/4 24 Jan. 2011: 14-15. Jet Online. Web. 29 March 2011.