In the summer of 2010 I created a service similar to this one for listing illegal aliens and businesses that hire them online. It was no surprise that shortly after launching the service I was quickly accused of being a racist despite having a long personal racism free history, not making any racist statements on the site, and taking measures to prevent racism on the site.
When I first suggested the idea one of my closest friends the first thing that came out of his mouth was a warning that people would think that I’m a racist. This really bothered me because I am not and have never been a racist. Some of my best friends have been African American and Hispanic including a regular alien from Mexico here legally. My long history of multiculturalism dates back to when I was a child and my family would host Japanese exchange students. I could go on, but I think I have made my point.
When building the site I wanted to make it as welcoming for everyone as possible by emphasizing the diversity of immigration issues on an international level. My initial research proved that illegal aliens are literally everywhere when it comes to the 21 countries supported by the tracking system. My reports along with my original articles and videos were written solely to focus on illegal immigration regardless of ethnicity. My research showcases the similarities between illegal immigrants in all countries whether they are Mexicans in America or Americans in Russia.
To prevent racism on the site I utilized a profanity filter that has effectively blocked a huge list of ethnic slurs from being posted. I also make it a mandatory rule that reports of suspected illegal aliens cannot be based on ethnicity or a foreign accent. People must have reasonable suspicion that is not based on a racial stereotype because it is impossible for a stereotype alone to be grounds for reasonable suspicion.
Despite everything outlined above I was still accused of being a racist, a KKK member, and Tea Party activist. I am not and have never been any of those things. It is really sad that just because I’m a white guy I cannot speak out on immigration in America without people automatically accusing me of being racist and making me wonder who is the real racist here? Is it the programmer who built an information system that systematically categorizes people based on immigration status, location, and other factors regardless of race or is it the commentator who assumes that anyone who codes web pages in that way must be a racist?