CJ

This is pandering. Every time I go to the airport I am pulled aside and explosives tested and sometimes patted down with the metal detector wand. I do not see this as a slur. I see it as an unfortunate sign of our times.

People like you and the author Todd are reinforcing some Muslims claims that they are being racially abused. This is pandering to the victim mentality and no good will come of it.

You clearly have no idea of how policing actually works. To suggest that the only way to catch terrorists is to stake out airports is patently ridiculous. The number of successful arrests of criminals in general, for traffic infringements or just random ID checking, shows the efficacy of this method. It makes criminals/terrorists far less secure when they see police because they know there is the possibility of being uncovered. In turn this makes them easier to spot.

Either you are suggesting that all the police are racists, in which case I’ll have nothing more to say to you on this subject as you are clearly prejudiced yourself, OR the police are checking more people of Middle Eastern appearance because that is the community of people in which the terrorists hide. How many white suicide bombers do you know?

If the threat came from people of Caucasian background I would feel exactly the same way. What point would there be in searching equal numbers of black people if all our terrorists were white?

How is it a threat to anyone’s civil liberties to be asked to show their identification?

What most irks me are the ignorant soft left who fight for women’s rights in this country yet at the same time support orthodox Islam. Orthodox Islam declares that a woman is worth only half of a man. And you only have to look to see that this idea is fully implemented in most Islamic countries. The hypocrisy is astounding.
But of course the soft left is far too frightened of being labelled politically incorrect to do anything about it.

Paul.L: "Either you are suggesting that all the police are racists..."

No, of course they're not - but at least some certainly are. As for private security guards (e.g. in hospitals), I expect that the percentage is somewhat higher, given that recruitment and training standards are not as high as for real police.

"OR the police are checking more people of Middle Eastern appearance because that is the community of people in which the terrorists hide."

You're not seriously suggesting that El Masri and his mate were stopped by the police because they were potential terrorists, or that Selma was searched in a hospital because she was a potential terrorist? How many suicide bombers of any ethnicity has Australia experienced?

"How is it a threat to anyone’s civil liberties to be asked to show their identification?"

Given that there is no legal requirement to carry identification under normal circumstances in Australia, the very act of demanding ID from people going about their lawful business is a breach of the common law rights that law abiding citizens have to privacy, and to be able to walk the streets unmolested by the State.

For the record, I'm not a supporter of Islam - nor of any other religion.

"People like you and the author Todd are reinforcing some Muslims claims that they are being racially abused. This is pandering to the victim mentality and no good will come of it."

Nonsense, it is the discriminatory infringement of people's civil liberties that give rise to such perceptions. Indeed, I can't think of a better way of alienating particular sectors of society than by subjecting them to such treatment on the basis of their perceived ethnicity or religion.

Well Todd,what are you going to do about intellectualism where by the genetic elite in our society shun,relegate the less able to menial chores and often social isolation?

Legislation solves nothing.Too much change the alienates our culture causes more problems than does the colour of people's skin.

Well said Todd! The issues around racism in Australia need to be exposed again and again and again.

And it is not just rednecks who are a problem - as great perhaps worse is the institutional racism that exists in this country. For example in our health services. If any other group than Aboriginal people had such poor health status - a life expectancy of 17 years less than other Australians - there would be an absolute outcry.

But what do we get from our federal minister for health Tony Abbott? Fuel for rhe racist fire. He is quoted as saying about Aboriginal people: "There seems to be an inordinate amount of time taken up with funerals and ceremonies." And again: ”Why not get them out shooting the camels," he said. "It gives them something they would love to do and it beats petrol sniffing."

I presented these quotes back to him when we shared a platform at a conference earlier this year. No remorse ... he smirked.

Shame on you Minister Abbott ... But good on you Todd for speaking up!

Gavin Mooney

It gives me a tremendous sense of relief that we have professionals, such as Todd and Gavin, using their positions to speak up for those less able to defend themselves in this ugly phase Australia is going through.

It particularly gives me relief when we have our current Federal Government Ministers, using their positions, to indulge in their discriminatory beliefs, and in no way concerned about showing it.