Racial Profiling

Introduction

Racial profiling refers to a method utilized by police and private investigators where individuals are identified as more likely to be associated with a specific crime because of their race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion. Opponents of this method often refer to a specific application of racial profiling as Driving While Black (DWB), whereby police traffic officers pulled over African Americans at a higher rate only because there is a higher rate of criminal activity by members of their racial group. Since the terrorist cells that carried out attacks against the Pentagon and the World Trade Center consisted entirely men of Middle Eastern background who fit a specific physical profile, the issue of racial profiling was placed at the center of the public debate. Opponents of profiling argued that the policy judged people simply based on their personal identities. On the other hand, advocates argued that profiling based on race was an effective crime deterrent, and, in the wake of 9/11, this was a price that needed to be paid for the safety of the nation.

Profiling, while wholly unpopular with many minority groups, was used regularly by both larger police departments and individual security agencies. El Al, the national airline of Israel (a nation that repeatedly has been the target of terror attacks throughout its history), relies on profiling to screen passengers that get on its flight. Security analysts say that this method is a major factor that has kept the airline free of any significant security breakdowns, despite being a prime target for an attack. Even while many in the law enforcement and government communities say the method is a necessary tool in fighting terror, it remains one of the more controversial policies that have grown in practice following 9/11. This paper discusses if racial profiling and its causes and effects.

Discussion

The Constitution generally forbids the government from discriminating on the basis on race. Yet, because all nineteen of the 9/11 hijackers were citizens of four Middle Eastern nations (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, and Lebanon) and Al Qaeda, the terrorist organization responsible for plotting the attacks, is believed to be made up of mostly Arab men, in the days immediately after the 9/11 attacks, a majority of Americans supported the use of racial profiling of Arab ancestry at airport security checkpoints and in other situations, though such support did drop off somewhat with the passage of time. (Allen-Bell, 195-225)

Pre-9/11 law allowed limited law enforcement use of race in traffic stops and border stops. Typical is United States v. Brignoni-Ponce (422 U.S. 873, 1975), in which the Supreme Court invalidated a traffic stop near the border that had been initiated solely because the defendants appeared to be of Mexican ancestry. The Court did conclude, however, that racial appearance might be one relevant factor among many because "[t]he likelihood that any given person of Mexican ancestry is an alien is high enough to make Mexican appearance a relevant factor, but standing alone it does not justify stopping all ...