DO NOT PROFILE HUMANITY

That human beings are naturally judgmental, is uncontestable. We all find ourselves placing people in psychological ‘boxes’ based on their physical appearance, religion, social class, public behavior, race, gender and so forth. Well, the truth is that sometimes we end up placing people in the wrong boxes based on what we see or hear about them.
The human side of people is often different from what our judgmental senses tell us. As a matter of fact, their is no such thing as an absolute good or bad person. Perhaps it’s this judgmental nature of ours that has informed the much touted profiling of individuals on the lines mentioned above, especially so, in the wake of terrorism. The story below may just help in sinking my point.
Our journey to Garissa had been smooth all the way from Nairobi, until the unexpected happened. In the middle of nowhere, about sixty kilometers to Garissa town, our car was grounded after hitting a stone and pouring out all the oil. It was 6 pm. The spot of our stalling is touted as one of the most dangerous ones on that highway.
Waiting for a towing vehicle from Garissa town meant we had to wait for at least one and a half hours. Much as we appeared composed, the fact was that we needed help. The only vehicle within our vicinity was a Nissan Patrol whose four occupants satisfied the criteria for profiling as terrorists. Alshabaab! They had the popular Islamic head gear and one look at them would sent you scared! (This is Garissa remember). They were everything that we see on terrorist coverages. They offered to help tow us from the danger spot to somewhere less threatening.
What were we to do? Profile them and refuse their helping hand? Or worse still, start running away? They were people like us (apart from the Islamic regalia) and they insisted on helping us. So the humanity in them convinced us to trust them. They towed us all the way to a police station near Garissa town where we left our car. Pause.
I think, on this account, profiling is not the right thing to do to anyone based on what we hear or see of people. Terrorists are not in the head gears, they are in the people. A taste of a bitter apple doesn’t mean all apples are bitter, does it? Stop profiling humanity!