Religious and Racial Profiling

[Ave Maria]

Hi everyone. It is known that in the past at least religious profiling was used after 9/11. Muslims and/or Arabs were often singled out for searches. This is not right. What can we do to oppose such religious and racial profiling?

 

[Hypothetical]

You mean the airport searches? I see no problem with some levels of religious or racial profiling.


True, such profiling is dangerous when taken to the extreme, but at the same time, the odds of a terrorist being a 20-something Arab with a green card is still greater than that of a 90-year-old white woman. Completely randomized searches are silly.

 

[Inquisition]

Hi everyone. It is known that in the past at least religious profiling was used after 9/11. Muslims and/or Arabs were often singled out for searches. This is not right. What can we do to oppose such religious and racial profiling?

I'm not sure to be quite honest. I would say that given the reality that all of the terrorists involved in the 9/11 attacks shared specific characteristics, that on one level at least it is justifiable to use those characteristics to build a profile of who to look for.

 

[Everlasting33]

It's quite understandable for racial profiling to occur after 9/11. The country still hasn't forgotten that tragic day and I do not have a problem with airports checking the identity of an Arab looking individual. Do I wish we didn't have to? Of course. I wouldn't enjoy it if I was in that situation but if it increases the safety of our Country, I am for it.

 

[mpok1519]

racial profiling and racial discrimination are in the same league of biggotry; we judge and make assumptions based on skin color, when we need to be beyond such barbaric and savage tactics of security. If we do not elevate ourselves from these outdated, lazy and morally damning behaviors, we simply invite more injustice to be committed by act of goading, daring and antagonizing.

 

[JohnDeereFan]

Hi everyone. It is known that in the past at least religious profiling was used after 9/11. Muslims and/or Arabs were often singled out for searches. This is not right. What can we do to oppose such religious and racial profiling?

Why would we want to oppose that?

 

[mpok1519]

Why would we want to oppose that?

bc racial profiling is wrong; it relies on discriminative assumptions that ultimately have more of a negative affect on society than the "security" it "provides".

 

[Robbie_James_Francis]

Hi everyone. It is known that in the past at least religious profiling was used after 9/11. Muslims and/or Arabs were often singled out for searches. This is not right. What can we do to oppose such religious and racial profiling?

I'm not sure what we can do, to be honest. I think we need to have a debate about some very fundamental ideas of what our society is supposed to be, but that's difficult when everyone, especially a large part of the media, is looking for simple answers to simple questions.

I mean, take the following:

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."--Benjamin Franklin

Imagine that as a tabloid headline or ammunition used by political authoritarians to scare the populace..."Prime Minister OK's terrorism" or something equally ridiculous. (Well, I'd hope something better, these people get paid good money to make up convincing lies).

Ultimately, if I don't live in a society that absolutely respects the principles of liberal democracy, then what am I living for? What are we fighting for? I'd have to say give me liberty or give me death.

 

[ke1985]

I also see no problem with racial profiling. Most people who call themselves terrorists and/or who have completed terroristic acts do in fact look Arab. I don't think its silly to profile people who are so generally categorized.

 

[mpok1519]

it is silly; infact, its a form of racism in itself. Its a form of biggotry; its savage, and a lazy way to combat terrorism.

Racism is silly. Stereotyping is silly. And infact, its downright wrong.

the American soul dies if we allow things like this to be legal or encouraged.

 

[Robbie_James_Francis]

I also see no problem with racial profiling. Most people who call themselves terrorists and/or who have completed terroristic acts do in fact look Arab. I don't think its silly to profile people who are so generally categorized.

Well, the government and media have focused on one type of terrorist grouping. There are terrorists all over the world of every profile. My nan wasn't allowed on the bus 20 years ago because she had an Irish accent and they were scared of the IRA. The PKK in Turkey, ETA in Spain, FARC in Colombia, the IRA/UDA/UVF/PIRA/CIRA etc etc in Northern Ireland, hundreds more I'm not aware of...these are/were all considered terrorists, and yet there is no profiling for them.

It's ignorance and racism, pure and simple. The US government only seemed to realise that terrorism existed on September 11th 2001 (having done nothing to stop funding from America for the IRA by the way). The rest of the world has lived through it regularly. We need to realise that there's a lot going on in the world that is incredibly harmful and get over our self-obsession.

 

[JohnDeereFan]

bc racial profiling is wrong

Why?

it relies on discriminative assumptions that ultimately have more of a negative affect on society than the "security" it "provides".

Why? If the majority of terrorist acts are committed by a specific group, then what's wrong with keeping an eye on that group?

 

[mpok1519]

Why?

bc its racism. Racism is wrong. We fought an entire war against slavery. We changed discriminatory and segregative laws bc racism is wrong. Its disturbing you think that the civil rights movement should be disregarded as the cricuial step towards freedom it is.

Why? If the majority of terrorist acts are committed by a specific group, then what's wrong with keeping an eye on that group?

terrorists can be all colors of all ethnicities. Being middle eastern does not mean you should be subjected to racism.

 

[Penumbra]

I'm not for racial or religious profiling. I don't consider it evil and savage and all that though, unless the people who do the searching are assuming guilt right off the bat. Ideally everyone can be searched (or even more ideally nobody would have to be searched...), but nobody wants to wait 7 hours to take a 3 hour flight, so only a subset are searched in crowded airports, and I guess the security people have the choice in who gets searched. As long as they are respectful while they search people, I don't see harm.

I'm not even sure how much racial profiling is going on at airports. I don't know for sure. I worked at an airport not too long ago, and for two weeks, until I got a security badge, I had to go through security every day, take off my shoes, walk through a metal detector, put my bag through the machine, and all that. Every day for two weeks. It's not a crowded airport, so they search everyone, whether you are of arab descent or a white woman in business attire. At crowded airports I don't know what they do.

and a lazy way to combat terrorism.

In your opinion, what is the acceptable way to combat terrorism?

-Lyn

 

[JohnDeereFan]

bc its racism. Racism is wrong.

How is it racism?

We fought an entire war against slavery.

Nobody's talking about enslaving them. We're just talking about keeping an eye on them.

Its disturbing you think that the civil rights movement should be disregarded as the cricuial step towards freedom it is.

I said that? Really? Could you show me where I said that?

terrorists can be all colors of all ethnicities. Being middle eastern does not mean you should be subjected to racism.

Yeah, I just don't know what we're going to do about all of those elderly Swedish suicide bombers.

I heard a Canadian shouted "Viva Gordon Lightfoot, eh", just as he blew up a marketplace in Haifa.

The fact is, we know that the terrorists in question belonged to a specific group, not "all colors or all ethnicities".

 

[mpok1519]

In your opinion, what is the acceptable way to combat terrorism?

-Lyn

intellegence and espionage.

 

[JohnDeereFan]

intellegence and espionage.

So how would you gather intelligence, if not by following people belonging to the terrorists' group?

 

[mpok1519]

How is it racism?

if you cant see how it is racism, then I don't see how I can continue having this discussion. "that guy is of a race associated with terrorism" = racism.

Nobody's talking about enslaving them. We're just talking about keeping an eye on them.

forms of mental and social slavery.

The fact is, we know that the terrorists in question belonged to a specific group, not "all colors or all ethnicities".

all ethnicies and nationalities have terrorists, not just middle easterners.

 

[mpok1519]

So how would you gather intelligence, if not by following people belonging to the terrorists' group?

by looking at data that has nothing to do with their race.

 

[JohnDeereFan]

by looking at data that has nothing to do with their race.

OK. So, in order to be fair, the data has nothing to do with their race, nothing to do with their religion, nothing to do with their political beliefs, nothing to do with their age, nothing to do with their gender, nothing to do with their nationality, nothing to do with their associations.

So what kind of data do you look at?