Everything After - A 9.11 Youth Circle

Hi,

I believe that it is not only ok but necessary to have profiling at airports. I think that it is important, since our threat today is mainly middle eastern men that at airports middle eastern men get checked more carefully. If one day it is white women, I believe that profiling should still occur. I dont understand, how is it going to help avert terrorists if you are carefully checking out 80 year old gramdmothers? What is your take? ~ Meg

This is a very touchy issue. If we single out just middle eastern men to be searched at air ports that kills some civil liberties that makes America great.

However, you are correct in saying that searching 80 yr. old women won't do any good either.

You also need to think that it's not only middle eastern men that have the potential to terrorize and air plane. We have plenty of home grown white men and woman that have their own agendas. They are just as capable of pulling off a terrorist attack. Remember how "shocked" we were when we found out about the "American Taliban"? (I hate that term.)

So, I am all for profiling to an extent. I believe we should target middle eastern men primarily for searches, but also leave room to do random searches on other possible future terrorists.

Below is a good article that talks about profiling in air ports:

Armed With Only A Neutral Lipstick by Anna Quindlen

...punch and pie

As a minority, I find profiling to be a good thing that turns into a bad thing when it's abused. Profiling is necessary only for precautionary reasons, but not every profiling situation is precautionary. Every middle eastern man is not a terrorist, so there would be no need to stop every middle eastern man. However, if there is reasonable doubt, and I mean REAL REASONABLE DOUBT, then ANYBODY should be stopped and searched.

well profiling at air ports is needed if the person starts screaming about how unjust they have been treated or on the standard searches the alarm goes off. To make the profiling fair you would have to check ever single person of that race. Terrorists dont look different than everyone else. THere have been white terrorist recently and they think the person/s spreading anthrax is white but not all white males (or females but ithink they thoguht it male) are being checked. It just cant be done for any race. How would you choose which ones to profile. Ones that look scuffy?? No there are many scuffy people in america. plus most of the terrorists known werent't scuffy. As ypou see in the media profiling isnt working. London jsut had millions of dollars stolen. We need to get more pictures of theknown people out and figure out who individuals are because terrorists are only a few of every race. of the millions of middle eastern men only a fraction are estimated to terrorists.

I agree with Locke and Brooklyngirl that Middle-eastern men should be the primary targets, but not the only targets of searches at airports.

I think profiling can be of good use in conventional crime-fighting, as well. For example, their was this incident in Maryland when someone raped a woman at a bus stop, or something. The man happened to be Black. So, the police chief told the cops to investigate every Black man at that bus stop until the rapist was found.

This caused an uproar, but it seems to me like a legitimate crime-fighting technique. I mean, come on! If the rapist was Black, why not say so and make the search easier? If he was white, they would do the same thing, and noone would bat an eyelash!

Zion 613,

I agree 100% with you. Profiling is useful and necessary. I agree that Middle-eastern men should be primary targets too, but not the only target (like you said). I believe that because they are the main threat at this point in time it is necessary to profile them. I mean, would it make sense if someone saw a white male murderer at a crime scene and the police checked out all males?.... including black, etc.? Same idea applies here.

While it's true that if the race of a criminal or terrorist is known it makes it easier to narrow the field down, but that does not give just cause to HARASS all males of that race and unfortunately, this is the case. Race, along with height, weight, age should also be used. Many times, the description is "young Afro-American male" or "young Latino male" which could mean any young black or latino male can be stopped and harassed. A more definite description can be given, but many times is not and that's not fair to anybody that fits the vague identity given.

Still though, profiling is a good tool when used correctly.

brooklynGrirl gave a good point. For profiling to work good you need more than "middle-eastern male" that is discrimination because it is against all middle-eastern males which there are a lot of.

There also have many cases of false profiling and police have been sued manytimes. I read a case in my english book (I dont know why im reading it in english) where a group of black young men were in a town where they were beat and afew killed by white young men and the balck young men were arrested. Why? because black young men always caue trouble was a reason. El queda is from more than middle-eastern coutnries. There were bases in germany england and AMERICA! you cant just limit one of those groups civil rights.