Should 'Racial Profiling' Be Banned? Why?

The term is demeaning, but the purpose is good for the nation on general and for each citizen in particular. Unfortunately, it is not well enough regulated and in many cases abused. A better and more stringent control of the gathering of information and what to do with it is definitely desirable.

Ah,no.I'm a crazy Jew-and if crazy Jews were carrying bombs onto planes/flying them into buildings,I'd be in favor of crazy Jews(not a race) being profiled.

By whom? Against which race(s)? It has already been banned in employment interviews and loan approval practices. We all have our prejudices, like it or not. We all discriminate against certain groups of people, it's human nature. But, if you want to impose some politically correct code on policemen and those who protect our borders and airports from terrorists I would ask that you draw a line there. Good police work results in crime prevention sometimes. Let them use their training and do their jobs. Let's not stop checking out airline passengers who fit the profile of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers, just yet r3egardless of who gets offended. I prefer the soft, planned landing, thanks. UPDATE: On second thought, metal666's thoughtful screed has convinced me that his viewpoint is actually the correct one. Well thought out and articulated. Maybe he'll run for office somewhere.

I think that most people have a misunderstanding of racial profiling. It is not a license for any law enforcement agency to go after any race ot ethnic group that they feel like at any given time. Rather, it is used to profile people in certain events or crimes. It is not always minorities, either. Once it was established that the Oklahoma bombing was not the result of middle eastern terrorist, authorities began to look at a certain segment of whites, and in this case it payed off. Would it make sense right now not to look at Arabs and other middle easterners. I think racial profiling has it's place in law enforcement. It is not meant to attack just blacks and Hispanics, but any particular group at any given time. I would think that most people would want the police to get the right person, regardless of race.

Yeah go ahaed and ban it if it makes you feel better. It wont stop minorities from comitting the most crime in urban areas. They will hopefully keep being watched closer because of it.

Ban it NOW! Why even look at race when incarcerating a criminal just cuz you suspect him of breaking the law? If we keep this heinous practice legal, we'll never live equally under the law. It just creates more and more problems.

Of course.You can not outwit criminals or terrorists by only concentrating on people you suspect due to their ethnicity.This practice goes against everything the U.S. supposedly stands for.

racial profling exists because some minorities commit more crimes per capita than other groups of people do. it is unfair to law abiding citizens, but life is unfair.

this is real discrimination

It needs to be banned because racial profiling is judging someone for their race. Not every white person is a disgruntled post worker hiding a rifle in their suitcase and a KKK sticker in their car. Not every black person is thugging with the chicks. Not every Arabic person is blowing up things. Not every Asian belongs to the Yakuza or Sulsa Inc. See, What I've just named is stereotypes. Pure stereotypes. If you believe in racial profiling, That means you'd pull over, arrest, inspect, strip-search, or question a person just because they're black/white/Jewish/Arab/hispanic/etc.

It should be banned because it violates the constitutional rights of minorities, expecially blacks, and it will make some whites think that blacks are evil criminals whereas many blacks are good people.

You can't tell anything about a person by skin color alone. Don't discriminate, hate everyone equally. I'm just kidding of course.

I too think that too big a fuss is being made about this. However, I'm sure that in some areas, it is most definately a problem. Rebelyell, I'm a bit concerned with several of your arguments. On affirmative action (which I do not support), you wrote that focus on race for any reason, noble or otherwise, is racist. Well, doesn't the term, 'racial profiling', refer specifically to the focus on race with regards to crime. Of course racial profiling is wrong. If a crime has just been committed, and you see a man lingering around the crime scene, whether he is black OR white, he needs to be questioned. I'm not sure how exactly liberals plan to enforce a policy banning 'racial profiling'. There's always going to be racism in the hearts and minds of some Americans. However, I can see where it can become obvious that officers are using race as a factor in doing their detective work. If a black man is found near the scene of a crime, it is the duty of the police to question him. If the black ma... Read more

No, because it works.