Deep secrets of racial profiling (5)

In part 3 of this series, I quoted ACLU racial profiling guru David Harris’s account of the randomized security system ordered into place by the FAA in 1998. Harris portrays it as a great triumph. I think 9/11 cast its own negative verdict on the system. With the farcical TSA security theater, however, we live with its legacy. It’s an old story that we have all observed with our own eyes or experienced ourselves, as one of our favorite (self-described “grandmotherly”) readers wrote to observe:

Your part 3 hit home, when I was forced to spend the night at LaGuardia Airport after the last plane to Portland on Friday was “delayed” until 6:00 am the next morning. I won’t take you through the insanities of LGA, and only note that I spent the night in the company of five delightful women, all southerners, black and white, and all gifted with patience and humor.

But the icing on the cake was when I had to go back through security (we were bused to a different terminal, the only one open–and I mean open–to the mentally ill and God knows what else). Even though I was pre-checked, I was randomly selected for an additional screening. After a night spent watching the grounds crew vacuum the escalators at 1:00 am, I was in no mood for these shenanigans, but they were in the mood for me.

BTW, our takeoff was aborted at the last minute when a passenger in “first class, what a joke” threw up on himself and all over the place. We all had to be evacuated while the plane was tidied up. I am so glad I am not going anywhere else in the foreseeable future.

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