Is Racial Profiling Justified to Ensure a Nation's Safety?

Theoretically, racial profiling means safety precautions provided by the government aimed at certain ethnic/racial groups in order to keep the crime rate and a possibility of the terrorist attacks relatively low. This phenomenon has been ever-present in American society and had a lot of examples throughout the country's history. Even though racial profiling does not sound positive, it is still practiced against certain minorities in the US as a way to keep the country a secure place. However, there is a thin line between being cautious and harassing innocent people. No matter how noble the goal is, racial profiling cannot ever be justified. Racial profiling is a phenomenon which causes people of certain races to be presumed as a criminal - in the light of the law, or simply a worthless person - in the eyes of the society. In her essay "Is Ethnic Profiling Justified Under Threat of Terrorism?", dr. Huma Abbasi makes it clear by giving an example of the mistreatment of the blacks, which has been present in the US since the country was born. From the very beginning of the United States' existence, black people had a hard time living in the New World. As slaves, they were treated as a property, not people, and they were not given any rights. The color of their skin alone and nothing more signified their poor status and low value. Although many years have passed since their long struggle - first against slavery, then against discrimination and segregation - and the blacks finally achieved equality, the prejudice against African Americans is still strongly rooted in American mentality. According to Abbasi, when it comes to criminality, African Americans are most likely to be the suspects just because they have appeared in the wrong place at the wrong time. Abbasi states that "every year, hundreds of innocent African-American motorists are stopped and searched on highways by law enforcement on suspicion of drug or gun possession, an assumption of guilt based solely on the color of their skin." However concerned about the nation's safety a police officer is, prejudice based on a skin color should not raise unnecessary suspicions towards African-Americans when not justified. The majority of people cannot even imagine a white person being stopped by police without any particular reason, mostly because it would be seen as a sign of disrespect and harassment. Nevertheless, the society seems to ignore the problem when it reaches the blacks; it is "commonly known" that most of the criminals are African-Americans, so it seems logical to control them more. Unfortunately, as untrue and unfair it is, this stereotype is still alive in Americans' minds. The results of the researches at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, mentioned by Ziba Kashef in her article also provide us with a proof of the presence of racial profiling in the States. The researches have revealed that people with names sounding African are less likely to find a work even though they could be more qualified than a white candidate; and even when an African American finally manages to find an employment, his/her payback is much lower than white person's salary. This means that black people are being deprived of a chance of being equal in making a living, regardless their qualifications and only because of their race, which can already be easily considered as not executing basic human rights. What racial profiling also leads to is an abuse of power by authorities and security services, such as police and customs officers. Prejudice against Muslims and Arab Americans increased significantly in post 9/11 era. According to Abbasi, after the infamous terrorist attack, a great amount of actions took place against Arabs in America. A significant number of innocent people was deported, arrested and fingerprinted just because of their origin and religion which was Islam. A lot of them were also removed from flights for no other reasons than because of their looks or Arabic sounding name. The US authorities justified their measures by saying they only aimed to provide Americans with security while trying to keep the terrorists and criminals out of the country. However, this is not a good excuse, mostly because it is pointless to arrest innocent people judging only from their skin color, name or faith without having them proved guilty of any crime. Even though there were Muslims who protested against such treatment, no longer protected by the presumption of innocence, they were instantly accused of being associated with terrorist organizations. Although racial profiling was originally supposed to improve the whole nation's situation and sense of security, it not only leads to prejudice and following, discrimination and harassment towards the minorities but, it also does not really change the situation of the white part of society. However, in many peoples' minds, this phenomenon is necessary to ensure the nation's safety, which is - for the patriotic Americans - one of the most important life values. That is why most of the US citizens agree on racial profiling. When being forced to choose between giving to criminals and terrorists free rein and controlling a particular ethnic/racial minority, they pick the lesser of two evils. Nevertheless, as dr. Huma Abbasi noticed, practice of racial profiling makes Americans look a lot like hypocrites in the light of their law and Declaration of Independence. In democratic America "all men are equal" and "innocent until proven guilty". This means that the government has no right to neither take up actions which harass and humiliate any member of minority, nor arrest him/her without proof of being guilty. Nevertheless, in the face of war or other danger coming their way, the authorities tend to forget about their prime values. Although the fear of being shot down by a black gangster or killed in a terrorist attack mostly comes from the past events, no one is allowed to judge anybody by the assumptions. Criminals and terrorists come in all skin colors or nationalities. It is an absurd to generalize and associate an ethnic group with certain negative stereotype - not every Muslim is a terrorist, just as not every African American is a thug. In order to end this unfair phenomenon, people need to open their minds and stop taking care of their own safety by depriving others of their rights.