White men have sexually harassed me on public transportation. Most of these men have been fairly young. More than one young white male has rubbed his erect penis against me on crowded buses. Twice, white men have exposed themselves to me. Still I do not expect that all young white men are going to sexually assault me.
We know that people from the Middle East have committed terrorist acts. So have people from all parts of the world including Europe and the United States. I know a lot of people from the Middle East and I can assure you that they are not terrorists.
Young black men do commit crimes. (Men, young and old, and of every race commit crimes. So do women.) But I really don't believe that most people are criminals.
I know some gay people are pedophiles. It happens in the straight community as well. I had many straight men behave inappropriately with me when I was under 18. I never had a gay woman behave inappropriately with me when I was a teen.
Some Mexicans are here in the US illegally. Some are also criminals. Most Mexicans are here in the US quite legally and are not criminals.
My black gay girlfriend was talking to another friend of mine, a Mexican contractor, this week. They were both carrying on about Chinese landlords and how terrible they are. I have had Chinese landlords and found them to be just fine. (Alex and I would not have been able to buy our first house if our wonderful Chinese landlord hadn't helped us by loaning us money for the down payment.)
I think listening to my friends talk about how tight with money, what bad drivers, how superstitious Chinese people are really made me think. Here are two people, a black gay woman, and a young Mexican man and I would figure that they would both realize how wrong and ridiculous profiling is. Obviously, I expect too much.
Profiling is wrong and dangerous. Someone innocent could end up dead. Wait. Someone innocent did end up dead.
