Racism Blog #3
In the past months there has been a lawsuit filed by the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for suspected racial profiling. Before the lawsuit however, the Anti-Discrimination committee simply suspected that there had been a racist policy concerning the admittatnce of Middle Eastern peoples to the united states. As a result,
>>”The Anti-Discrimination Committee first requested records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in December 2004; DHS denied the filing, both initially and on appeal. The DHS said the release of the detainees’ nationalities “could harm” law enforcement activities by “revealing where the US Immigration and Customs Enforcment (ICE) focuses its resources.” - Catherine Komp
The article went on to explain that the entire ordeal with the DHS was not because of the fear of revealing the focus of our government but instead because of a reluctancy to admit to the truth. Racism it seems is ever-present in many aspects of American life, and it would seem that our own government is not above this mentality. Racism is present in the government as well as in the lives of the people, and for it many people are unjustly treated. In the past years during the war on terror, our government has allowed and even endorsed the requirement that “…men from predominantly Muslim countries (are) to submit to fingerprinting, photographing and questioning when entering the
United States.” (Catherine Komp) As for Huck Finn, this article is extremely relevant because the book is set at a time where there is much strife concerning slavery in the government. The government at the time of the book is eventually forced to come to grips with the fact that slavery is truly a horrific act and as a result the government was forced to do away with it. In today’s society, the government has yet again come across such a case, although smaller. It took time for the government to do away with slavery just as it will take time for the government to stop racial profiling. I believe that this article has an interesting relation to the book simply in that it identifies the present problems in the government and they can be compared with the past problems that are presented in Huck Finn.
(For more articles concerning racism visit The New Standard)
