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Attorney General Eric Holder, speaking at Al Sharpton’s group National Action Network, this week, drew attention to his own personal experiences as a young man being profiled by police. Holder was criticized by right wing groups for “playing the race card.”

As an African American with personal experience of racial profiling, civil rights groups around the country were hopeful that Holder’s oversight of proposed changes to racial profiling guidelines for federal investigations would respect civil rights. Current guidelines have been broadly criticized for targeting ethnic and racial groups, particularly Muslims.

This week unnamed officials speaking to the New York Times revealed details of the draft guidelines which have been five years in the making. Times reporter Matt Apuzzo wrote that what would be preserved were “many, if not all, of the tactics opposed by civil rights groups, such as mapping ethnic populations and using that data to recruit informants and open investigations.”

GUEST: Gadeir Abbas, staff attorney with the Council on American Islamic Relations

Visit www.cair.com for more information.