 Author |
 Post
|
 |
|
Sonia J.S
Joined: Dec 14, 2009
Posts: 3 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Tongue-tied
User is
Offline
Age: 23
Country: Pakistan
Province/State: Sindh
City: Karachi
|
Racial and ethnic profiling at airports: Is not that new form of Nazi mentality?
January 6, 2010 - 12:14 PM
|
|
Just two days ago, it has been announced that citizens from 14 states will be subjected to extra scanning, screening, pat-downs, interrogation, in sum... more stringent security checks before entering US territory. Now this may seem appropriate to US govt, but are not they stereotyping ordinary citizens of those countries into something that will degrade them?
Many experts say that racial profiling cannot help terrorism. The fact that gunmen in the past have sprayed bullets in US campuses, schools, and churches were Americans. Richard Reid, who tried to blew up a flight some years ago was in fact British.
Doesn't the new move resonate of Nazi mentality when the Nazis branded people from a particular religion as bad for their society? Isn't profiling today's ordinary citizens a reflection of then victims of Nazi trauma when they were forced to wear Star of David?
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Elmo
Joined: May 3, 2009
Posts: 3 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Tongue-tied
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Female, 17
Country: New Zealand
|
Re: Racial and ethnic profiling at airports: Is not that new form of Nazi mentality?
January 7, 2010 - 06:39 PM
|
|
I absolutely agree. A person's ethnic origin has no correlation whatsoever to how likely they are to be a terrorist. Subjecting some people to more rigourous security measuresa based purely on their race is not helping anyone foward and does nothing to further th fight against terrorism.
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Sohyeung Kim
Joined: Nov 5, 2009
Posts: 5 (view all)
Poster Rank:
User is
Offline
 Virtual Volunteer
Gender & Age: Female, 25
Country: Canada
Province/State: Ontario
City: Toronto
|
Re: Racial and ethnic profiling at airports: Is not that new form of Nazi mentality?
January 9, 2010 - 10:35 PM
|
|
It's not only racial origin but also gender plays role too. I remeber I was transferring in one of US airports, but I was let go without extra scanning while my cousin, who is a male, had to face extra scanning and questions.
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Alexander Dale
Joined: Nov 16, 2009
Posts: 12 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Soft-spoken
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Male, 24
Country: United States
Province/State: Pennsylvania
City: Pittsburgh
|
Re: Racial and ethnic profiling at airports: Is not that new form of Nazi mentality?
January 13, 2010 - 03:04 PM
|
|
I don't agree that this is anything like the Nazis. The states that have been selected for additional screening are largely those which are known to house terrorist organizations. On a similar vein, a person's nationality has a lot (though obviously not everything) to do with the likelihood that they could become a terrorist. It is far more likely that someone growing up in a fragmented, feudal, or fundamentalist culture with terrorist groups will encounter them and agree with their beliefs than it is for someone from the U.S. and Britain.
That is not to say it is an absolute - but it does make it more likely. And if we want to increase security, it makes the most sense to focus on the places which have the highest likelihood of originating terrorists. (Similarly, my guess is that most terrorists have been men, so it makes sense to monitor them more closely as well).
The argument that there are Americans that shoot up schools and churches and therefore we shouldn't monitor airline security is two separate issues. The American cases are, to my understanding, individuals rather than groups, and stem from personal problems or instabilities rather than a belief system which hates the U.S. based on religious or freedom-related reasons.
The better metaphor for the situation is 'A few rotten apples ruin the barrel' - it is incredibly unfortunate for completely innocent arabs or men that past terrorists have tended to be arab men. That doesn't mean profiling is good - it would be great if we had another method - but for the moment I believe it is far more effective than truly random searches with the same low security levels everywhere.
Finally, though, the primary reason is that this has nothing to do with the Nazis is this: The Nazis were selecting groups they didn't like and wanted to get rid of in an offensive move. The U.S. government is selecting the groups which, historically have been responsible for many of the attacks against the U.S.A. and keeping higher security on them. We're not trying to eliminate them - it's a defensive maneuver. Those two things are worlds apart. Don't pull Godwin's law like that.
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Alyssa Gerber
Joined: Feb 10, 2010
Posts: 1 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Tongue-tied
User is
Offline
Age: 29
Country: Canada
Province/State: Ontario
City: Toronto
|
Re: Racial and ethnic profiling at airports: Is not that new form of Nazi mentality?
February 10, 2010 - 02:31 PM
|
|
While I don't think that heightening airport security is a Nazi-esque move, I do believe that the way in which many major North American airports implement heightened security is highly ineffectual. The waits can be excruciatingly long. And while the new body scanners will help detect prohibited items on someone's person, perhaps airport security official should spend more time looking at the actual individual, rather than a virtual representation of him or her as an x-ray image. For example, certain psychological, emotional, or visual cues (ie; is the individual sweating, do they appear nervous) could be overlooked if officials spend more time focusing on the body-scan image.
I also believe the guidelines for items which can and cannot be brought aboard an aircraft are flawed, as people seem to find a way to circumvent the rules, and bring aboard prohibited items, as in the case of the "underwear bomber". Also, the list of prohibited items keeps growing larger and larger.
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Alexander Dale
Joined: Nov 16, 2009
Posts: 12 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Soft-spoken
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Male, 24
Country: United States
Province/State: Pennsylvania
City: Pittsburgh
|
Re: Racial and ethnic profiling at airports: Is not that new form of Nazi mentality?
February 10, 2010 - 02:40 PM
|
|
Definitely agree that a lot of the airport security measures are ineffectual and annoying. Unless you require people to fly naked without any baggage, there will always be something someone will find that will cause problems. Currently we just get more paranoid without actually seeming to effectively solve things. Not that I can really see a truly effective solution.
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Mai-Erin18
Joined: Feb 3, 2010
Posts: 5 (view all)
Poster Rank:
User is
Offline
Country: Canada
Province/State: Alberta
City: Stony Plain
|
Re: Racial and ethnic profiling at airports: Is not that new form of Nazi mentality?
February 11, 2010 - 05:03 PM
|
|
you made a very good point here. I truly would have to say that this isn't something that can easily be resolved because there are so many ways we can take security measures, but we also need to be very equal. If security is tightnening, then EVERYONE should have to go through the same process, whether they appear to be of an ethnic origin that could make them more likely to be terrorists or not.
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
|
Display posts from:
|
