The foundation of the American culture was altered in an instant. The day was September 11th, 2001. The infamous terrorist attacks that hit our nation affected everyone in the world in some way, and after they occurred many things changed. The most obvious change in America was a switch to the mindset, if not obsession, with national security. In my town, the days following the attacks were rough. Because I live very close to New York City, home of the twin towers, many of my friends and family members knew people who were affected or killed by the attacks. There were many sad people and someone had to take the blame for these actions. People of Arab descent took the majority of the flank flak in post 9/11 life. Before 9/11 the image of a terrorist was not primarily that of Arabs, with terrorists of other ethnicities cutting to our nation’s core such as Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombings. But after the terrorist attacks, there was a new face of terrorism. With this new face of evil, came many prejudices against Arabs.

After 9/11, racial profiling was highly abundant. With images of Osama Bin Laden filling the newspapers, we all knew what a terrorist looked like. A tan skinned, bearded Middle Eastern man with a towel wrapped around his head. With the knowledge of what the vast majority of religious extremist men who pose a threat to our security look like, is it fair for government workers to prejudge men that look similar and put them into question more often? Dictionary.com defines racial profiling as
“The consideration of race when developing a profile of suspected criminals; by extension, a form of racism involving police focus on people of certain racial groups when seeking suspected criminals”. Prior to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the initial view of racial profiling was usually concerning African Americans, accusing them of crimes before white people. The acronym “DWB” – or, driving while black - was used commonly to express the disproportionate amount of blacks stopped for traffic violations. A state survey in Maryland found that 70 percent of people stopped on route 95 were African American, while only 17 percent of drivers on the road were black (Cole 36). These views of African Americans were fueled by movies and shows like Cops. But recently, when I think of racial profiling; I think of Airports airports. The launch pad for the largest terrorist attack in our nation’s history, and also the international hub for oversea visitors to enter and leave our country, airports receive heavy flank for racially profiling individuals.

Within days of the terrorist attacks, reports of racial profiling flooded the papers, and it became a topic of heated debate once again. Is racial profiling acceptable? While not many people are openly for racial profiling, many believe in the “just let happen” mind set. The ‘ignorance is bliss’ state of mind, which our country loves so dearly, holds heavily true here. However, I would argue that some degree of racial profiling is acceptable and makes sense.

We hear about it all the time. An 85 year old white grandma walks into an airport and security forces her to take her shoes off or tears open her bag, reacting to protocol. But more often than these “equal” security checks, {Delete the comma.} are biased ones. To accurately form an opinion on racial profiling, you must look at the issue from all sides. First, put yourself in the shoes of a Middle Eastern male. Struggling to find a job and support your family in the strange and opportunity filled nation of America. You find it extremely unfair that simply because people that look similar to you committed horrible crimes, that you have to undergo more intensive security checks than the white man of same age and financial background as yourself. This is obviously wrong and unfair. But there are many things that are unfair in life that are for the best because the benefits outweigh the downfalls. At this point, you may think that I am beginning to sound like a racist. That is because, involuntarily, I am. Everyone that is exposed to the stereotypical views of ethnicities and people via television, movies, and other media is by default racist. Merriam-Webster’s short definition of racism is “racial prejudice or discrimination”. Therefore, if we are exposed to racist things, we will naturally consider them subconsciously in all of our actions or thoughts. I would not consider myself hatefully racist, growing up in a highly diverse high school and being friends with people from all over the world, I do think that racial profiling is acceptable if it increases the chances of catching terrorists.

While there has not been a recently written law that clearly allows racial discrimination of any kind, there have been times when the United States government has obviously used racial profiling. The most obvious post-slavery instance of government used racial profiling was in the times after the Pearl Harbor attacks. In the weeks following the attack many of America’s immigration hubs, such as Ellis Island, were used as a containment center for Japanese immigrants. Very few Japanese immigrants were granted citizenship, and existing citizens were moved to camps. These acts were considered “safety precautions”, but were still most definitely acts of racial profiling. Another, more recent, instance of racial profiling was Operation Seek and Keep where federal agents racially profiled Pakistanis and Indians in response to immigrant smuggling. The INS fact sheet on the operation stated “The purpose of Operation Seek and Keep was to dismantle a criminal network that was smuggling Indian nationals into the United States for illegal employment, thus preserving jobs for authorized U.S. workers.” (www.ins.gov)

I would argue that some degree of racial profiling can be beneficial in certain situations. While I believe that everyone should be treated as equals in everyday life, when it comes to security checkpoints I think it is fair to play the odds. It would be very difficult to argue that there is an even amount of people from Arab descent and people form from other backgrounds that are interested in hijacking an airplane. Therefore, I think it is acceptable to use this knowledge to pick out those individuals that look suspicious upon passing through security and simply be a little more critical of them.

There are many, if not the majority of people, which would disagree with using any type of racial profiling. Some may argue that America is founded on “everyone is created equal” ideology. Others may say that if you consider all Arabs terrorists, then why not consider all wealthy black men thieves. I believe that these stereotypes are hurtful to these cultures. However, behind every stereotype there is some truth; otherwise it would not be an effective stereotype. One of racism’s synonyms is “racial prejudice”, in other words, to pre judge someone based on their race. One might say that I am white and therefore I like rock music and Seinfeld. The words racism and prejudice carry heavily negative connotations to them. I think that prejudging is a natural human response and is not always hurtful and negative. Everyone can still have equal rights, equal opportunity, and be shown equal respect, yet I think it is impossible to overcome prejudging anyone. The only point at which racism and prejudice will be eliminated is when races no longer exist, and everyone’s nationality is a mix of all the countries of the world.

While noone no one can effectively argue that racism is beneficial to society as a whole, it is unavoidable. It is part of our nature to judge those that are different from us. If the robber of a bank is described as being Mexican, the police will devote the majority of their resources in looking for a Mexican man, while still keeping an open mind. I believe this same mindset can be associated with the racial profiling of Arabs. We know that the vast majority of terrorists looking to inflict pain in our country are Middle Eastern; therefore it makes sense to target those individuals who appear to be from the Middle East.

Citations:
Bruce J. Terris. Civil Liberties. Auriana Ojeda, Ed. Opposing Viewpoints® Series. Greenhaven Press, 2004

Heather MacDonald. Civil Rights. Karen F. Balkin, Ed. Current Controversies Series. Greenhaven Press, 2004.

Heather MacDonald. Crime and Criminals . James D. Torr, Ed. Opposing Viewpoints® Series. Greenhaven Press, 2004.

"Racial Profiling" Dictionary.com. 27 April 2004 <http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=racial%20profiling>.

"Racial Profiling" Wikipedia.com. 6 February 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_profiling>.
Cole, David, No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Criminal Justice System (New York: The New Press, 1999).

Rhoads, Anai. Racial and Religious Profiling Background and Statistics. anairoads.org. 26 Feb. 2006 <http://www.anairhoads.org/politics/profiling.shtml>.

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