Good afternoon everyone! I hope you are all getting as excited I am to head to Boston next week. Our group is investigating the topic of Racial Profiling. Some of you may or may not be familiar with what that means. I found two articles that I would like you each to spend a few minutes reading over to get a good grasp of the topic we will be spending two days talking about. The first article is a story from Time Magazine that covers Racial Profiling in depth. The second article I have attached is a current event incident that involved a Harvard Scholar being arrested for suspicion of breaking and entering, which turned out to be in his own home!
The two perspectives that we will be looking at Racial Profiling from is a safety aspect, while the other has to do with the question of whether or not that violates human rights. I would like you to spend some time thinking about your own position on this topic and write a response to the following questions as a comment on this post. Think about the following:
Do you think that racial profiling is important to our safety?
Does Racial Profiling violate your rights as a citizen of the United States?
How would you feel if you were arrested based on suspicion because of your race?
The articles:
1. http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101010730/ - click on "complete story"
2. http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/07/22/racial_profiling_is_alive_and_well/
I am looking forward to next week! See you all Monday night!
-Ms. Hanley
6 comments:
I believe that racial profiling should not be an aspect of our safety. Someone should not be considered more suspicous because of their race.
The act of racial profiling is probably a subconscious act for some. When it is done on purpose it violates one's rights.
If I were ever arrested based on my race I would be very angry. I would also be disappointed that our nation still hasn't fully evolved.
I believe that racial profiling is not useful because it can be wrong many times. An example is the Harvard scholar Henry L. Gates that was arrested because his neighbor called the police on him as he was trying to open the front door of his home. Yes racial profiling does violate a persons civil rights because it creates some kind of racial tensions between different types of races and people. If this was to keep happening it would be an out rage because it shows that our country is racist and doesn't trust people that aren't of the certain race they trust, but any one could be a terrorist or a bank robber or what have you its not just one specific race.
1. I believe that racial profile is necessary for safety on many aspects.
2. I do not believe that racial profiling is a violation of civil rights, I say this because imposing search and seizure could in the long run protect the lives of other civilians who also have rights.
3. If I were arrested based on suspicion based on race, I would initially probably be frustrated, however I feel that if I had nothing to hide, I would feel better about the safety measures that the government was taking.
I believe racial profiling could very well be an important aspect to our safety. I mean, if a certain ethnic group or race has been known to commit violent acts in the past, then of course, as an entire group, they should be targeted for security reasons. If only to make people feel better about their lives.
I don't believe it is in violation to our rights as a citizen as long as it doesn't reincorporate the 'separate but equal' policy.
If I were arrested on suspicions of race or ethnicity then it's pretty obvious to me that I as doing something to arouse those suspicions. So yes, I feel it would be justified.
Racial Profiling is very important for our safety because of traveling through airports and it would decrease crimes rates. Racial Profiling does violate my rights as a citizen. The African-America civil rights movement fought against reasons that are similar to these. This will allow people to discriminate against other people. If I was arrested because of my race I would personally develop hate for police forces, be very sad and paranoid, and kind of traumatized and cause me to be radical and become a rebel against police force.
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