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

[neomeruru.livejournal.com]

That phrase sounds like something I would say in order to problematize and draw out the very fact that, as a White person, I have (well, had( the privilege of passing through the border unnoticed.

But, I guess, it sounds like this person actually meant it as an honest question? I would probably not start out with an unpacking-your-backpack sort of discussion, because that tends to blow people's minds and the fallout is unpredictable.

[koppermoon.livejournal.com]

Airport security doesn't actually make any sense. It's theatre.
That's my take on it, too.

And, yeah, it's only folks who are comfortable with white middle-class privilege that actually expect border crossings to be a formality. And I deliberately add the class thing, because blue-collar and lower-class "whites" can expect to get hassled too.

Common name syndrome can cause border hassles as well. I share my name with a left-wing US professor of Women's Studies who is on record as a "friend of Cuba", and that's prevented me from passing automated checks in the past.

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."

[(Anonymous)]

You could try parody.

"Well kid, let me tell you about political correctness as it applies to national security.

See, the people responsible for setting this policy are looking for the following races/backgrounds/characteristics. But, see, in an age of class-action lawsuits and affirmative action they know that if they tell their agents to look for only those things and channel 9 news gets ahold of it they'll get sued into oblivion and have a made-for-TV movie made about their moral character.

Therefore, they require their agents to search people in a manner that loosely conforms with statistics. You want to stop three visible minorities? That'll cost to you two WASPs and a child or two. Two 20-something youths in a late-model car? Need to grab some elderly folks so people don't feel singled out..."

etc. The more over the top the better.

Of course, they might just nod sagely and mutter something about quota hiring.