Advice re: border xenophobia

[the_fantastic_ms_fox]

Does anyone have any pointers on what to say to someone who has just said something to the effect of "why am I being hassled at the border? I'm White."

I don't want to "win" over this person. I want to change their minds. Or at least get zer to question what ze's saying and why ze's saying it. Or at least not just sit there and feel awkward... again.

I fear saying "what you just said sounds kind of racist/xenophobic/intolerant" or even "can you explain that remark" will cause zer to get defensive, which will turn this from a dialogue into an argument that appears to be over racial profiling but is really about egos.

I was thinking of leading with something along the lines of:

• Airport security doesn't actually make any sense. It's theatre
• The big threat right now in the US is from domestic terrorists (think: militia, the fringe of the Teabaggers), most of whom are White. (Implication - if you're in favour of racial profiling and you're White, get ready to wait...)
• While we associate the recent heightened security with terror fears, a lot of American border security actually actually has its roots in the "War on Drugs." Which is also stupid.
• Actually, a lot of people have problems with borders for no good reason. Although granted a lot of power, many border guards are never trained to question their own biases. The same goes for their superiors.

Is there an index somewhere of anti-oppressive etiquette? Some digital love-child of Emily Post and Leslie Feinburg? I could really use this.

Comments

what i'd say:

[bloodykitty.livejournal.com]

"I dunno. Tim McVeigh was white. And the Unabomber. And that IRS guy recently. I'm kind of glad they check everyone."