Profiling And Racial Profiling
December 29, 2009
Since the terror attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 by the “Pantie Bomber”, much of the discussion has turned to profiling. Those that fear profiling wrongfully call it racial profiling.
Wikipedia, a publicly compiled usually biased site, can give us a publicly compiled, usually biased definition of racial profiling.
Racial profiling is the inclusion of racial or ethnic characteristics in determining whether a person is considered likely to commit a particular type of crime or an illegal act or to behave in a “predictable” manner.
Amnesty International describes racial profiling this way.
Racial profiling occurs when race is used by law enforcement or private security officials, to any degree, as a basis for criminal suspicion in non-suspect specific investigations. Discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, nationality or on any other particular identity undermines the basic human rights and freedoms to which every person is entitled.
Profiling without the race is defined also by Wikipedia.
the extrapolation of information about something, based on known qualities
Racial profiling ends up being simply a subset of profiling in general. I suppose from that perspective we can have gender profiling, intelligence profiling, interests profiling, educational profiling, character profiling and so forth.
Whenever we label something as racial, it nearly always ends up as being interpreted as something bad. And it very well can be but does not have to be. The truth is, we learn or are trained, however you want to describe it, to profile from infancy. It is all a natural part of life otherwise how would we function?
We profile – “the extrapolation of information about something, based on known qualities” – based on our own developed qualities, ideals, morals, etc. Profiling directs us in our everyday lives; where we live, who our friends are, the kind of job we want, the college we choose to attend, who we buy a house from, etc., etc. In short, isn’t profiling just an everyday part of our lives? And aren’t we kidding ourselves if we think that we can make a law prohibiting profiling that it will stop what’s bred in us?
Let’s be honest. Racial profiling in its simplest definition is wrong. Nobody should look at a Muslim and declare them to be a terrorist simply because they are Muslim. It’s wrong and does nothing to stop terrorism.
Race is only one part of profiling. If we focus on profiling at airports, train stations, etc. as part of a routine to thwart terrorism, it would not only be wrong to suspect only Muslim or “Muslim looking” people because of race but because not all terrorists are of “Middle Eastern” decent.
Police have used profiling for years to help solve cases. Years of collected data has helped them to be able to profile a suspect, even when they don’t know who that suspect is. Behavior patterns are determined from the same data. While not a perfect system, it can help solve crimes and solve them quicker.
Law enforcement officials are trained and have learned from experience what to look for when patrolling or searching for suspects etc. Police can recognized the position of a person driving in a car and make a reasonable determination whether that driver is intoxicated. When police ask people questions, they’re not just seeking an answer. They observe behavior patterns, body language, etc.. They can then tell if someone is lying or hiding something. Without this kind of profiling, crimes would never get resolved.
Should we be profiling at airports and other venues that attract terrorists? Absolutely, but exclusively profiling only race is not only wrong, it’s stupid and does nothing to deter crime, no more than pulling aside a 90-year old grandmother and strip-searching her.
One of the problems with airport security is that screeners are scared to death that if they select the wrong person to screen, they will get into trouble. This has to stop.
Authorities continue to collect data about terrorists. With this information they then can extrapolate that out to determine a profile, complete with behavior patterns.
We need to stop labeling the efforts to screen passengers on planes as racial profiling. It’s profiling and yes, a person’s race is all just a part of the entire overall picture.
It’s a shame that our lives have had to come to this. Flying stinks, especially since 9/11 and presently after the Pantie Bomber’s success in getting explosives past security. This leaves us with the choices of either not worrying about security and we can all take our chances when we fly or do the best job we can to screen passengers, including all those that fit a profile. If this is an infringement on your rights, then don’t fly. If we can’t make flying safe, there won’t be any flying therefore it won’t matter anyway.
Tom Remington
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