Minorities are unfairly targeted by law enforcement

Double-Entry Research Log entry for Racial Profiling by Kris Hirschmann Current Hirschmann, Kris, Racial Profiling. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Print. Reading Notes Strong Response Notes –“ It is a duty now on every tribe in the Motivation; self-defense; Crusades Arab Peninsula to fight Jihad in the cause Of Allah.” –“ There is no way to determine their Wartime; world-wide; nationalism Loyalty…It makes no difference whether [a person] is an American citizen, he is still a Japanese.” –There is a belief in the law enforcement “ Driving While Black” ~ Driving While community that blacks are more likely to break Drunk; “ most street-level drug dealers in the law than [others]. Washington are black.” –From the post slavery decades…to the 1950s, Niggers, watermelon, boy, darkies, KKK, most white Americans thought it was perfectly sports, music, service/TV (Jack Benny & acceptable to treat black people differently Rochester) from white people. –It is patently unacceptable and thus prohibited –by George W.; McCarthy era under this guidance for Federal law enforcement officers to act on the belief that race or ethnicity signals a higher risk of criminality. This is the core of “ racial profiling” and it must not occur. –Because enforcement of the laws protecting In light of recent events…[the government] the Nation’s borders may necessarily involve a could be asked to trade off precious civil consideration of a person’s alienage in certain liberties against the prospect of grievous losses circumstances, the use of race or ethnicity in …from terrorist acts. such circumstances is properly governed by …the benefit of including ethnicity must exceed existing statutory and constitutional standards… its cost. –…in the war on drugs…law-enforcement Customs … selected suspects…using observa- officers have detained members of minority tional techniques and focusing on specific groups in vehicles more often than whites. Behaviors…Customs conducted 70 percent fewer searches and their hit rates improved. –Racial profiling is an essential tool in a war where the enemies are religious extremists. “…height of politically correct stupidity” …such action could have prevented the 9/11 attacks… fear of a PC backlash has hampered effective FBI counterterrorism efforts. II. Annotated Bibliography Hirschmann, Kris Racial Profiling. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Print. Racial Profiling is a collection of essays for a wide variety of audiences. Kris Hirschmann is the editor. It is one of a number of topics in a Greenhaven Press series called At Issue. The rhetorical context is that of debate although sources do not interact back and forth. Articles are paired in pro and con positions on various aspects of the subject of racial profiling. The editor is above it all, having chosen articles to juxtapose. The writings are numbered in order: 1, 2, 3, etc., not in pairs such as 1 (a) and 1 (b) which better allows each to stand on its own merit. The articles alternate as to whether they justify or oppose racial profiling. The first article is titled, “ U. S. Policies Forbid Racial Profiling.” The second is “ U. S Policies Sanction Racial Profiling.” Third is “ Profiling Muslims is Essential in the War on Terror.” Fourth is “ Profiling Muslims Hinders the War on Terror.” The next pair of chapters deals with airline screening and the next with the benefits of racial profiling versus loss of civil liberties. Chapter 9 is titled “ All Police Officers Practice Racial Profiling,” including black police officers. Chapter 10 says “ Racial Profiling in Law Enforcement Is a Myth.” Chapter 11 says “ Racial Profiling Is Useful if Properly Regulated.” Chapter 12 argues that “ U. S Racial Profiling Policies Are Based on Political Correctness, Not Logic.” The next-to-last chapter is titled “ Racial Profiling Has a Heavy Social Cost” and the final chapter is “ Racial Profiling Undermines the U. S. Legal System.” Some of the articles or chapters are written by authors of books on the subjects, others are statements by organizations. The author seems to be opposed to racial profiling but it would be hard to prove. Racial Profiling is a scholarly work. It is not personalized like, for example, Driving While Black. It is well referenced, including a list of periodicals, a list of books and a list of organizations involved with the subject. It also includes an index. For its brief length, Racial Profiling is very rich in content. The book is useful because of the wide range of issues it covers within the subject of racial profiling. Many of the articles include humor, such as the chapter including political correctness. I plan to make use of many of the insights provided by the book, which often fly in the face of common beliefs and broaden our thinking, especially about the U. S. Constitution. Finally, it is interesting to note that there are many kinds of profiling which have nothing to do with race.