From the Right

/

Politics

Is it time to start profiling white males?

Ruben Navarrette Jr. on

But actually, Paddock does fit one. He's a white male, and most serial killers and mass murderers are white males.

For the sake of public relations, and because -- in the era of "If you see something, say something" -- law enforcement doesn't want the public discounting anyone who might look suspicious just because of skin color, the FBI claims that it's a myth to suggest that "serial killers are all white males." The agency insists that serial killers span all racial groups.

Sure. But note that I said "most," not "all." The majority of mass murderers are white men. The fact that we might be able to find the occasional serial killer who is a woman of color does not significantly change the pie chart.

Besides, the FBI would be more convincing if it practiced what it preached.

In 2002, federal agents were frantically searching for the so-called Beltway Sniper, who killed 10 people and wounded three more in the Washington metropolitan area. Authorities got off to a slow start because, according to the profile, serial killers are usually white men. Retired FBI profilers went on broadcast media and said -- as one put it at the time -- "this is something white males do."

The shooters -- John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo -- were African-American.

Like many Latinos, when I hear about a tragedy like the one in Las Vegas, I hold my breath and hope the culprit wasn't one of ours. My African-American and Muslim American friends do the same. I've even heard a religious conservative call into a radio show and say he does it, too. It's human nature.

Still, I have to wonder if white men go through that exercise. I don't think so. That must be yet another ancillary benefit to being a white male.

 

Well, the free pass has expired. It's time for law enforcement authorities to keep track of white men who stockpile guns.

To the profiled, I say: "Put up with it. After all, President Trump called my Mexican immigrant grandfather -- who came to the United States legally a hundred years ago -- a criminal and a rapist, and I survived. I can help get you through this. We shall overcome."

And to those who think this whole concept is loony, and that -- when it comes to who commits crimes -- we can't make sweeping generalizations about whole groups of people based on prejudice, I say: "Exactly. Now you're getting the idea."

========

Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.

(c) 2017, The Washington Post Writers Group


 

 

Comics

Andy Marlette Randy Enos John Cole Monte Wolverton Pedro X. Molina Peter Kuper