25 July 2009

Uncommon Commentary #65

One of the keys to the highly effective law-enforcement aid called profiling is the fact that a disproportionate number of crimes in this country are committed by Blacks; hence the squawk over "racial profiling." Race, however, is just one element in the composition of a profile of a criminal; an even more disproportionate number of crimes are perpetrated by men, which means that the word "profiling," the object of such obloquy when preceded by "racial," could just as easily have "gender" affixed to it (although that word is really a grammatical term only, having nothing to do with the human sexes). It's not "racial profiling," but simply profiling.