TERRORISM

Racial Profiling in the War on Terrorism

Racial Profiling in the War on Terrorism

Introduction

The 9/11 terrorist attack on the United States has raised serious questions about national security. Unlike previous acts of terrorism that have been committed against the United States, the 9/11 attack was carried out by an external enemy that managed to infiltrate the United States homeland. Furthermore, the scale and nature of the attack was unprecedented (National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States 2004). Despite its military strength, the United States was seriously challenged in its response to the terrorist attack. One of the biggest problems for the United States is the nature of the enemy. As we now know, the enemy is an underground organization that employs unconventional methods of warfare. This has led to a state of fear within the United States. This paper discusses the role of Racial Profiling in the War on Terrorism.

Discussion

The United States has taken a twofold response to terrorism. Externally, the United States is waging wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and has committed itself to building democracy in these countries. At home, the United States has reorganized the federal government and introduced new laws that increase the powers of the law enforcement and security agencies. One of the most controversial aspects of the domestic response is the passage of the USA Patriot Act 2001, which drastically increased the powers of the government to monitor and arrest people it deems a threat to the United State (United States 2001). The domestic response has raised serious concerns about the erosion of civil liberties (Armitage 2002). The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York recently ruled that the surveillance provisions of the Patriot Act violated individual rights (John Doe v. Ashcroft 2004). Unlike the case of other Americans, however, the threat of terrorism has made Arabs and Muslims uniquely threatened by the passage of the Patriot Act (Howell and Shryock 2003).

Like traditional minorities, Arabs and Muslims are now victims of racial profiling. However, while the profiling of Blacks and Hispanics has mostly occurred within the context of the wars on drugs and illegal immigration, the profiling of Arabs and Muslims is directly linked to the War on Terror. Not surprisingly, the profiling of Arabs and Muslims is primarily conducted by federal law enforcement agencies, which are now part of the Homeland Security Department. The suspicion toward Arabs and Muslims could be traced back to some of the early hostage crises as well as the hijacking and bombing of airliners during the 1970s and 1980s, the 1993 plot to bomb the World Trade Center, and the recent attacks on United States interests around the world (Harris 2002).

The 9/11 attack has not only reinforced the suspicion toward Arabs and Muslims, it has also opened a new approach in the profiling of Arabs and Muslims. Shortly after the 9/11 attack, the government introduced the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS). The system required adult males from twenty-four Arab and Muslim ...