Forget about catching criminals the old fashioned way, you know, where you provide a description of the person you’re looking for. We’re going to have to get creative…They’re recommending we stop providing racial descriptors!
Black student and faculty groups at the University of Minnesota are working to change all that over concerns about making black men “feel unsafe and distrusted.” I’m assuming from that statement alone that there must have been a rash of criminal activity where the prime suspect(s) was a black man.
The university reports at least 25 robberies have occurred and that one student was wrongfully detained. These things happen. You put out a report of what the person looked like and what they were wearing and then you talk to people who fit that description.
These student and faculty groups, however, are now calling for law enforcement to stop “profiling” because it can be “devastating for black male students.” What are they suggesting? Are police simply supposed to leave off distinguishing features like skin color, hair color, and ethnicity in order to make black students feel more comfortable? And how, exactly, is having a nondescript criminal running around robbing people on campus going to make students feel more comfortable?
The fact that in this case the perpetrator was black is unfortunate for black males fitting that general description. But it wouldn’t have been any different if they guy had been blonde haired and blue eyed. Men fitting that description would have felt the same effects that the black men did in this instance.
Suggesting that race be left out of a description when attempting to apprehend a criminal is ludicrous and just another example of political correctness gone awry. I certainly hope the school doesn’t cave in to this silliness. Safety is a priority.
You can read more about it here.
Photo Credit Flickr SFCameraWork
