¶ … attacks of September 11, 2001 spawned a number of dubious government actions, including the intensification of racial profiling to target Arabs and Muslims. This means that a certain section of American society is under immediate suspicion of terrorism simply for being of a particular race or religion. Tolerance and equality are two of the highest principles treasured by the United States and its inhabitants. The fear and suspicion cultivated by racial profiling, especially after September 11, represents an abomination of the rights guaranteed under the Constitution to all within American borders.
To suspect millions of law-abiding, innocent people of terrorism as a result of the actions of a handful, is like suspecting all white males of perversion as a result of a few perverted serial killers. It is illogical and causes more harm than good.
There are many actions that are helpful in preventing terrorism. Immigration laws for example can be tightened. Airport searching systems can be upgraded. All of these protection systems can be upgraded without having to resort to racial profiling.
Racial profiling furthermore breeds suspicion and distrust within the American nation (Harris). Americans distrust each other on the basis of, as mentioned above, religion and race. This more than any act of terrorism from the outside, is destroying the "way of life" the President is trying so hard to protect.
A further aspect of the issue is that the government is disproportionately increasing its own power while infringing upon the freedoms and rights of the American people. While the shock of the terrorist attacks makes this almost acceptable to many Americans, others suffer unnecessarily because of it. In this way the government also becomes the enemy. One wonders where such hysteria will end. A chilling thought is that the terrorists may have succeeded in their effort to create chaos in the hearts of freedom-loving Americans.
Bibliography
Ambrose, Thomas. "Profiling's place on Sept. 11." Insight on the News, Sept 16, 2002. News World Communications, Inc., 2002.
Derbyshire, John. "At First Glance - Racial profiling, burning hotter." National Review, Oct 15, 2001. National Review, Inc., 2001.
Elvin, John. "Antiterror tactics spark differences of opinion." Insight on the News, Feb 4, 2003. News World Communications, Inc., 2003
Harris, David. "Flying while Arab: lessons from the racial profiling controversy." Civil Rights Journal, Winter, 2002. U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 2002.
Johnson, Scott. "Better unsafe than (occasionally) sorry?." American Enterprise, Jan-Feb, 2003. American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 2003.
9-11 and Mass Commumications Three years after the tragedy of 9-11, the city of new York has cleared the rubbish our of the footprint of the two towers, but they are still a long way from clearing the wreckage out of their collective, and individual hearts. Never before has the nation been struck in an act of war as was seen on national television on 9-11-2001. Even when the Japanese planes
terrorist attacks changed the world, and the way America looks at the world, but they also changed the way the world looks at us. Causes of September 11 Earlier attacks, including Tokyo nerve gas, Iran barracks, Cole attack Muslim hatred of United States and call to "jihad" LAX security at airports and U.S. entry points Lack of reliable security and intelligence information Effects of September 11 Death toll and destruction "War on terrorism" Homeland security Emotional issues World outlook and
The National Housing Act indirectly promoted the idea of lenders offering much longer-term mortgages with the currently accepted concept of monthly payments with the dual interest and principal payment scale. Amortized real estate mortgages opened the door for an average person to purchase and own a single family home. As a result of the National Housing Act, the United States government inadvertently committed itself along with private lenders to insure
This doesn't explain why the Irish had such a difficult time, but in America, religious differences are often the cause of intolerance as well. The truth is that without immigrants in the 19th, 20th, and 21st century -- and of course the two hundred years before this, this nation would not be where or what it is today and to remain true to our roots we must accept that
Mexico faces an array of drug-related problems ranging from production and transshipment of illicit drugs to corruption, violence, and increased internal drug abuse. Powerful and well-organized Mexican organizations control drug production and trafficking in and through Mexico, as well as the laundering of drug proceeds. These organizations also have made a concerted effort to corrupt and intimidate Mexican law enforcement and public officials. In addition, the geographic proximity of
It is however as if the United States government was looking for needy terrorists to supply with arms. When Turkey's need was met, Colombia became the leading recipient of arms from the United States. This country is well-known for being an atrocious human rights violator, especially during the 1990s. Chomsky's premise that the United States government is essentially terrorist in nature does not appear to be far from realistic. Indeed,
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now