In Response to “Profile Unto Others…”

To the Editor:

Richard Schan’s Last Word entry on racial profiling left me miffed – not by the potential racial profiling (though that’s quite upsetting too), but by the writer’s approach to the issue.

His 7-800 words is distilled in this excerpt, a misguided insight found midway through: “To assume that an officer will be unfair… is really no different from an officer who assumes that every Hispanic… is a criminal.”

No different? Maybe if you ignore power dynamics, racism, piles of statistics and years of negative cultural reinforcement.

This isn’t to say that prejudice against police officers is okay. Our society has created a complex problem in that regard. It’s not even to say that the Moorhead Police Department is at fault. That’s not what I’m getting at. I don’t think it’s what you were getting at. But then… what were you getting at?

The article opens by saying that things “aren’t all that simple” but ends by saying mistakes happen, democracy’s not perfect. I suppose all of those statements are true. I just expected a bit more.

It’s great that this is being discussed – by the Moorhead Human Rights Commission and Chief Ebinger, and in the High Plains Reader. Keep it up. Push the issue and push buttons.

But do us all a favor and don’t equate racial profiling – racism – with a fear or mistrust of authority figures. As you said, things are not that simple.

Mitch Marr
Moorhead