[WEB4LIB] RE: FBI to monitor libraries

[Scott Furciniti]

Just what behaviors are more suspicious if undertaken
by young Arab men than by men of other ethnicity? 
Especially in a library setting?  I never heard any
evidence that the terrorists who used library
computers to e-mail their contacts acted suspiciously.

And though it's true that the 9/11 terrorists were
middle easterners does not mean that our next
attackers will be middle eastern background?  The USA
is the world's current Goliath and there are a lot of
potential David's out there waiting for their chance
at the sling.

I'm not against reporting truly suspicious activities,
but I am against perceiving certain activities as
suspicious just because they are undertaken by members
of a certain ethnic group.


Scott Furciniti
--- Mark Wright <markfwright at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >Common sense = paying attention to suspicious
> BEHAVIOR.
> >Profiling = targeting some PEOPLE as suspicious.
> 
> Yes, and using common sense while profiling means
> paying attention to 
> certain TYPES of people when their BEHAVIOR is
> suspicious. I'm really not a 
> racist or against all people of Arabic ethnicity.
> I'm just trying to counter 
> the knee-jerk reaction that too many librarians have
> that we should ignore 
> all suspicious behavior in libraries because it's
> none of our business. Some 
> people do take their suspicions overboard and end up
> treating all Arabic 
> people differently. I'm not advocating that. But
> there are some behaviors 
> that are more suspicious when undertaken by a group
> of Arabic men than when 
> undertaken by any other ethnic group. Sad, but true.
> Profiling is always 
> ugly, but the threat we face we FAR uglier.
> 
> Mark Wright
> 
> 
> 
>
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> 
> 


=====
Scott Furciniti, Systems Administrator
Roswell Public Library
301 N. Pennsylvania Ave./Roswell, NM 88201
(505)622-3400
www.roswellpubliclibrary.org
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