Burka Rage

[leo9]

Freedom of choice is noble, certainly, but we place restrictions on people's choices every day. People are not permitted to walk around naked in public, though they may choose to do so in private. Restaurants can refuse service to anyone they deem improperly dressed ("No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service"). The speed you "choose" to drive a vehicle is limited by the law. If these choices can be restricted, why not the ability to cover ones face?

I would believe in this if the call were for a ban on all face-hiding costumes, such as dark-visor motorcycle helmets. Some sensitive locations, such as banks, require people to take off such helmets and pull down hoods at the entrance, and with good reason. If someone wanted to argue for extending this to all public places, I would still think it an over-reaction, but at least I would believe it was honestly about public safety.

In the Caribbean area of Leeds where I once lived, the young gangstas used to hang out on the street corners in "ninja masks" - hoods plus bandanas over the lower face (and shades too, usually). It was calculatedly intimidating, giving out the message that they could do what they liked because they couldn't be named. I never heard anyone campaign to make that illegal, though the justification would be far stronger; they weren't maybe hiding a criminal, they were known criminals.

When one particular group's freedom is restricted while other equally valid targets are ignored, that's dishonest. If the target group is ethnically defined, it's textbook racism.