NYC SUBWAY SEARCHES LABELED RACIST: Anti-terrorism effort gives way to racial profiling.

Their original purpose was to combat potential terrorism. But there are now reports that random searches designed to catch terrorists have deteriorated into racial profiling of Blacks and Hispanics on New York City subways.

For example, a recent report in the New York Daily News found that 88 percent of those who are stopped and searched in the city's subways are Black or Latino, although they make up only 49 percent of subway riders.

In sharp contrast, white commuters, who constitute 36 percent of all subway riders, only make up 8 percent of those subjected to "stop-and-frisks."

One commentator has labeled the current stop frisks "a practice of blatant racism is nothing new for the New York Police Department. Above ground, the NYPD patrols oppressed communities like an occupation army, harassing and frisking people for simply walking down the block."

However, the police have counter argued their disproportionate presence in these communities is needed because of their higher crime rates.

The subway stop-and-frisks and "random" bag checks were first implemented in October 2005. At that time, the Bush administration fixed the city's "terror alert" to orange, the second highest level.

Politicians pushed the need to report "suspicious" persons. With thousands of signs reading "if you see something, say something," New Yorkers were instructed to join in the so-called "war on terror" and the culture of fear and mistrust which critics say it produces.