day of good reads

Culture of Fear: Poetry Professor Becomes Terror Suspect

Why? Because he put a box (of old papers) out for recycling. Oh, and he's dark-skinned. Oh, and an ROTC guy saw him and called the police.

But don't worry, everyone (the police, the media, the professor's employer) agreed it was a mistake. Not a mistake by the guy who called the cops, of course. A mistake by the professor. That of leaving a box (of perfectly legitimate trash in a perfectly legitimate place) and being dark-skinned (gasp!) AT THE SAME TIME.

Obviously, what was he thinking?