As President George Bush courts the African-American community by holding third graders on his lap and talking about ‘reading accountability,’ he avoids the less cuddly issue of racial profiling.
Racial profiling is based on the untrue premise that minorities commit the most drug offenses. The American Civil Liberty Union’s 1999 report ‘Driving While Black: Racial Profiling on our Nation’s Highways’ incontrovertibly shows that African-Americans and other minorities are much more likely to be stopped by law enforcement agents than white motorists.
Racial profiling becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, because as more minority drivers are stopped than whites, it follows that more will be found with drugs.
Al Gore, in his campaign for the Oval Office, pledged that upon his election, he would immediately issue an order banning racial profiling.
When asked if he would take the same step, Bush, on the other hand, mocked the issue with bureaucratic Dilbert-speak.
‘I’ll look at all opportunities, starting with the gathering of information where the federal government can help jurisdictions gather information, compile information, to get the facts on the table to make sure people are treated fairly in the justice system.’
According to a White House official, meetings are planned with people ‘from all sides’ in order to look at the problem.
It is not surprising that Bush is throwing red tape at the volatile issue of racial profiling. He has already displayed a tendency to procrastinate when confronted with an issue he wants to ignore.
When he met with the Congressional Black Caucus almost two weeks ago, they asked him to re-nominate Missouri Supreme Court Justice Ronnie White for a federal judgeship. They also asked him to support President Clinton’s late-term nomination of an African-American judge from Virginia for a federal appeals court seat.
Bush’s response, according to Cable News Network (CNN), was ‘noncommittal but [he] promised to study both requests.’
At the same session, members of the Caucus said they urged him to stop racial profiling. Bush made no promises.
Our studious President should concentrate on looking at the data that organizations like the ACLU have already gathered, rather than wasting time on expensive, redundant government research.
Democrat Al Gore received 90 percent of the black vote in last November’s election, compared to Bush’s nine percent. Bush’s administration has made outreach to the African-American community a top priority, and Bush has appeared at events honoring Martin Luther King.
However, Bush’s wooing of these voters lacks sincerity. If he wants to gain the African-American community’s respect, he needs to earn it by taking a stand against blatant discrimination.
