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Latecomers' Thread | by BlurOfSerenity | 2003-02-27 21:58:31 |
| Just as acceptable as segregation |
by feleck |
2003-02-28 08:47:15 |
The problem with racial profiling is in the implementation, not the use.
Just as the problem(constitutionally) with segregation was in the implementation, not the use.
First segregation:
"Seperate but equal" school systems - ok, if society wants to segregate itself, that's fine, that's the society's choice. But each member of society should have the same rights/access to goverment services. The problem was, the school systems while seperate where NOT equal.
"Whites to the front, blacks to the back" - again, fine to segregate, but to make inconvenience one group more than the other is wrong. You could have alternating buses, or right and left sides, but front vs back was just plain wrong.
Now, racial profiling:
Let's look at speeding. Let's assume the following premise:
Premise: Most 'drugs' are couried between major metropolitan areas by young black men, driving their vehicles between the
regions.
Premise: It is illegal to stop someone and search them without proper cause.
Premise: In the course of a routine traffic stop, someone actively participating in a crime may give themselves away, giving proper cause to search the vehicle.
Solution: Target young black men who are speeding on the highway to pull over in order to probe for drug couriers.
Effects:
1) Its harder for a black man to get/keep a job because he is late more often to work - due to traffic stops
2) It takes him time
3) It places a higher financial burden(more speeding tickets) on black men than on any other segment of the population
4) In highly charged emotional scenes(just imagine if you were stopped by the cops on your way to work 2 or 3 times every DAY! - How would you react to the cop? Friendly or Angry?) situations can blow up and innocent men can get killed/beaten up by cops overreacting.
Just as people should have equal access to goverment services, they should be equally affected by goverment laws. Obviously the implementation of racial profiling fails miseribly.
SMART racial profiling of the above would have:
1) A designated area each day for the profiling, so the black man doesn't get stopped by half a dozen different cops trying to get to work.
2) A FAST method of probing
3) An understanding that giving out tickets for ANY reason(speeding, tail-light, etc) to someone stopped for racial profiling is not allowed(ie no financial burden)
4) Extra training for officers, and a NO TOLERENCE policy for those who react to angry/abusive people pulled over by racial profiling("You hit a guy who called you a bad name? Your dismissed from the force, you KNEW you were doing something that causes aggravation")
So, let us move into the area you are thinking of, racial profiling of people who seem of middle eastern descent upon boarding an airplane.
1) You have just inconvenienced them, now they must always arrive a good 30 minutes before the plane departs
2) The airline will have great temptation to bar them from the flight if the interviews take too long(as an 'just being safe') when in reality its not to be safe, its to get the plane in the air.
3) People not being profiled will tend to dismiss it as a minor inconvenience
So, how do you handle this?
1) Randomly select people as WELL as racially profile people - so people will know that it is a real hassle and not a 'minor inconvenience' - and be HARDER on randomly selected people(the tendency to go easy on them is just go great) to drive home the point.
2) Heavily fine/punish airlines who have their planes leave before someone being interviewed is finished
3) Heavily compensate anyone selected for intrusive searches/interviews. IE if we're gonna profile you, than you get to ride for half off.
Nothing wrong with segregation or racial profiling, as long as you make sure its implemented in an even handed manner, and that people affected by it are properly compensated. Its that compensation issue that is often ignored. |
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