Ray Nagin

To be honest, I've always supported Ray Nagin. I think he's one of the few people who actually came out and said what everyone was thinking: that what happened after Katrina wouldn't have happened if it had been a rich white neighborhood. I think we needed someone to say that, and I think he did and did it well.

However, when he said this: "You guys in New York can't get a hole in the ground fixed, and it's five years later. So let's be fair". I think that crossed a line. It's not "a hole in the ground". it's where three thousand people lost their lives. He apologized, and I accept that, he worded it badly. Very badly.

I think he brought attention to something very important though, why the hell is there still a mess at ground zero? We've had five years, why isn't there a monument up? We've spend billions of dollars on a war in Iraq that had nothing to do with 9/11 and yet we can't even build a memorial to the people who lost their lives on 9/11. it's disgusting. blame it on bloomberg, blame it on whoever, it still should get done.

as should Katrina. why is there still a mess down there? True, it's only been a year, but there still hasn't been that much progress. our government is just lazy and this is further proof that they really don't care about the American people.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've been very busy. i'm soo tired and stressed right now, I need a year vacation. never happen in a million years...but I can still dream. Robert, I'm working on that post I promised you, I really am. it just hasn't really gotten off the ground yet NOT because I can't find examples, rather I can't find time. soon soon though.

My last post wouldn't allow comments, not sure why. I tried republishing and checked the settings and it seems to be fine. Hopefully this post will allow comments. Sorry about the inconvenience. :)

Racial Profiling

This weekend I was reading an article against racial profiling (don’t ask). And I thought it was very interesting. Then I found this article about the Egyptian exchange students who didn’t show up in a Montana university.

Now, I agree with racial profiling to some extent. Let me give you two examples.

1. If someone is walking down the street and they’re shot by a black person and the witnesses identify the person as black, I think the cops have the right to use that in their search for the guilty party. After all, it would be a waste of time and resources to look for a white person when a black person was guilty.

2. If someone is on line to go into the courthouse and they are taken off to the side and searched more than anyone else just because they’re black then this is wrong.

Now, if someone is wondering why I chose a black person and not a Mexican or a Puerto Rican then that’s taking things way too far.

So, what’s up with these Egyptian exchange students? Would it have been so much of a big deal if they had been white or some other race? So what, they didn’t show up. The article says that they weren’t suspected of being terrorists. So why do we care? And why did this even make the news?

If a white person took off and decided not to go to school on time would anyone care? NO. I’d like to take a week off right now and not show up anywhere. I’d probably lose my job, get yelled at incessantly by my parents, my friends would bother me, it’d be a whole big annoyance but I wouldn’t be arrested for being a terrorist.

So, in this world we live in now are we discriminating against Muslims without even thinking about it as much as we should? I say we are. It is practical to search Muslims because they might be suicide bombers more than a white person would, but we must respect their rights at the same time. We must remember that only a handful of Muslims hit us on 9/11 and not that many are extremists. Some are just good people. We should honor their rights just the way we honor everyone’s rights here in America, because they too are human beings.