Essay 3 Final Draft Amanda Whitehead

Racial profiling has been around for many years and seems to still be going strong in today's society. Some say racial profiling is unfair, but others agree it is common sense when trying to protect the country. In the article “Blind Spot” by Randall Kennedy, the author states "The racial profiling controversy-like the conflict over affirmative action-will not end soon"(182). Roger Shimomura also agrees, he states "The comparison of the tragedy at the World Trade Center to Pearl Harbor brings back memories of racial profiling in World War Two when innocent Japanese Americans were placed in internment camps, and now Arab Americans are suffering the same indignity"(9).
The idea of racial profiling was highlighted in December of 1941. This is when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese navy. In the wake of these attacks Attorney General Warren called upon district attorneys to enforce the Alien Land Law against Japanese landowners. Warren felt that having Japanese people in California would bring about more attacks such as the attack on Pearl Harbor. Eventually lead to the exclusion of all Japanese from within 200 miles of the California coast. Many believed that this was unfair, but others argued that the discrimination was necessary for the security of the country.
The issue of racial profiling was also brought up after the 9/11 attacks on America. Once it was established that the attacks on America were caused by Al Qaeda, an alliance of Islamic militant organizations, federal and local law enforcement started looking into men from Middle Eastern countries. Was this a case of racial profiling or was it just America taking precautions to avoid another devastating attack on our soil? Colleges throughout the country were contacted by federal officials trying to obtain records on middle eastern men that had entered the country in the past two years. They were checking on what these men majored in and how often they missed class. Airports became much more suspicious of men from the middle east traveling on airplanes. Racial profiling is a very touchy subject in America. Just because a person is a male of middle eastern decent, he should not be treated any differently than a Caucasian male.
In Kennedy's article “Blind Spot” he discusses the fact that law enforcement uses race to make assumptions about what types of people are more likely to commit a crime. Kennedy states that the Supreme Court agrees with this practice as long as race is only one of the factors they are basing their decision on. Civil rights activists,disagree,they feel racial profiling is based solely off race.They feel that it is wrong for police to use race in determining whether a person is likely to commit a crime. Some activists believe that the reason there are so many convicted minorities is because police use racial profiling.
In the article “What Looks Like Profiling Might Just Be Good Policing” the author Heather Mac Donald feels that bringing up the issue of racial profiling could make it harder for law enforcement to do their job. An example of this would be when a police officer is questioning a suspect he believes was involved in a crime. The officer will need to worry if he is basing his suspicion solely on race or if he has other evidence to back up his suspicion. This could affect how the officer handles the situation, which could result in the officer not being able to do his job correctly. Mac Donald states that over the past decade, the nation has witnessed a decline in crime. However, over the last decade, tensions have increased between police and people living in urban communities. She feels this is due to the fact people feel that they are being discriminated against solely because of their race. Mac Donald brings up the example that a man with a gold tooth was robbing and beating up pedestrians. The victims said the man was a dark-skinned Latino or a light-skinned African American (185). According to some, if law officials were to single out males fitting this description, they would be discriminating. Others feel that a male fitting this description should be questioned.
In conclusion, even though racial profiling can not be justified, sometimes people feel it is a necessity. Racial profiling has been around for many years and seems to not be ending anytime soon. In some cases it has shown to be a valid way of keeping Americans safe. In other cases, it has turned out to be a form of discrimination. But when it comes to providing security and keeping America safe, sometimes it is better to be safe than sorry, not matter what the consequences will be.

Works Cited

Kennedy, Randall. "Blind Spot." Goshgarian, Gary. What Matters in America. New York: Pearson Educational, Inc., 2007. 180-182

Kosuth, Dennis. "Memories Of Racial Profiling" Interview with Roger Shimomura. Socialistworker.org October 19, 2001.p.9

Mac Donald, Heather. "What Looks Like Profiling Might Just Be Good Policing" Grosgrain, Gary. What Matters in America. New York: Pearson Educational, Inc., 2007.
184-188

Siggins, Peter. "Racial Profiling in an Age of Terrorism" Markkula Center for Applied Ethics forum March 12, 2002