Introduction
Racial profiling is an act of targeting certain individuals for security or police detention by simply taking into account the ethnicity or race in the belief that minority groups have the most potential of being involved in unlawful acts.
Some contend that racial profiling is an efficient and rational approach of allocating resources for investigation to protect the security of people. Some refute the idea, however that the approach is not a legal measure, rather redirects investigatory examination from actual sources of possible danger. In the aspect where discrimination is involved, security and liberty do not clash. This paper discusses racial profiling in the context of law enforcement’s decision about whom to interrogate whenever there are law violations.
Racism in the United States
Racial discrimination is a dreadful plague that repudiates the thought of being eliminated from the American nation (Phillips, 2011). Technically, racism is when people of color are denied something or forced to do something against their will. Racial discrimination has different implications to people. Nonetheless, the meaning of racism solely depends on the race that one has and has been accustomed with. Racial discrimination encompasses sanction between racial groups, verbal or physical attacks and unequal opportunities given to people of different race. Most often the subject of the racial discrimination transpires in opposition to Blacks.
In the United States, the existence of racism has resulted from the sustained social caste system and was further continued by racial segregation and slavery. The law that imposed the caste system has long been gone yet its basic foundation still remains. This foundation may slowly disintegrate as the years would pass, however activism is still needed to accelerate the progression and offer for a more unbiased social order in the interim. The negative impacts of racial discrimination have performed a serious function in the ongoing pattern of ethnic and racial disparity in the United States. Racism has been too great on the minority groups especially to those who hail from low-income families.
The 9/11 Attack and Other Cases Involving Profiling
The September 11, 2011 terrorists’ attack on the World Trade Center demonstrated the impacts that terrorism can have for the people of America. Such attack reinforced the truth that terrorism has been a concern throughout the globe for a long while. Additionally, the terrorists accountable for the attacks made use of deadly ways of creating terror and fear in America when airliners laden with passengers and fuel were used as instruments in the assaults. It was apparent that the objective of the attack was to cause great havoc.
However, the main issue of the September 11 is not solely focused on terrorism but on the impacts that the event brought to other Arab-looking men. Following the 9/11 attacks, airport security had been very tight (MacKinnon, 2013). Critics states that several Arab-looking individuals have been searched, questioned, and detained at the security checkpoints of the airport (MacKinnon, 2013). A number of people claim that background checking conducted on Arab men makes sense. They merely said this based on the racial backgrounds of the attackers of 9/11.
Drunk driving, illegal immigrants, and drug searches led to law enforcement authorities to stop drivers particularly when they are Mexicans or African-Americans (MacKinnon, 2013). These acts imply racial discrimination and racial bias. Education is one of the factors that is believed to benefit the blacks but even in this aspect, there are several black students who dropped out from school (MacKinnon, 2013).
Conclusion
It is unlawful to judge a person based on ethnicity or racial background because no two individuals are the same. The law enforcement must realize that several crimes in the United States were committed by white men. Racial profiling can be very degrading and demoralizing to the individuals being harassed. Racial profiling simply disheartens not only those involved but also of people belonging to the same ethnic and racial background.
Reference
MacKinnon, B. (2013). Ethics: Theory and Contemporary Issues, Concise Edition (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Phillips, C. (2011). Institutional racism and ethnic inequalities: an expanded multilevel framework. Journal of Social Policy, 40 (1), pp. 173--192.
