I Got Racially Profiled!

I know what it’s like to be racially profiled, and I have understood this well since 9/11. Only I don’t mind.

I am of Italian descent, more specifically of southern Italian descent. My Sicilian ancestry means I likely have some Arab blood in my veins, since they controlled that island for many years. My olive skin lends credence to my Mediterranean background. I spent the summer in Israel some years back, and the Palestinians themselves (no kidding!) often confused me as being one of them.

So when I’m about to get on an airplane, especially in the absence of my kids and blond wife, I invariably notice people giving me sidelong glances.

Recently, I was flying back from Cincinnati. I was in line to get my boarding pass and I was literally pulled out of line by an airport employee who started to ask me, courteously I might add, a series of questions clearly designed to check me out. Where are you going? What do you do for a living? May I see your ID?

It took about 30 seconds, whereupon he printed off a boarding pass for me and I was on my way.

Some people might think that I would be offended by being profiled. But you know what? I was not. The poor guy was simply doing his job, which happens to be protecting airline passengers of which I am one. So good on him.

And you know something else? If you see me in an airport without my kids and blond wife, go ahead and give me a sidelong glance. I won’t mind and I’ll even be amused. Most of all, I’ll be glad about it because you are looking out for the rest of us.