David Sirota: GOP's past gives the lie to "colorblind" claims

[babylonsister]

GOP's past gives the lie to "colorblind" claims
Republicans claim Arizona's new immigration law has nothing to do with racial profiling. Oh please
By David Sirota


Upon signing Arizona's new statute requiring police officers to demand citizenship papers from anyone they believe is in the country illegally, Republican Gov. Jan Brewer last week claimed that the bill is not designed to "tolerate racial discrimination or racial profiling" of Latinos.

Responding to critics who say the legislation does just that, she, like many other conservatives, insisted, "I don't know what an illegal immigrant looks like" — the implication being that Republicans are colorblind.

It sounds reassuring, but methinks she doth protest too much, and I say that because one of the Republican Party's leading law enforcement voices has already disclosed the true objective of precisely this kind of legislation.

That seminal admission came in November 2001, when the emotional aftermath of 9/11 momentarily removed politicians' rhetorical filters. There on the floor of Congress, GOP Rep. Scott McInnis delivered an address about "the need for profiling for the national security of this country."

Brandishing his experience as a police officer, he implored lawmakers "to quit being politically correct" and let authorities make "ethnic background a legitimate component" of law enforcement investigations — just as Arizona's new statute allows.

"Insurance companies profile for risk. That is what I am asking that we continue to do — we need to profile for risk," he thundered, adding that using ethnicity as a risk factor "is very legitimate — I think it is smart."

In other words, we should do to civil rights what insurance firms have done to, say, healthcare — namely, deny people rights and privileges based on their ascribed characteristics.

more...

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/republican_party/index.html?story=/opinion/feature/2010/04/30/republicans_immigration_racial_profiling

[chill_wind]

1. K & R for Sirota

as always.