Racial Profiling in America After 9/11

Taylor Wiley

Professor Keener

2-22-17

                                Racial Profiling in America After 9/11

        In order to accurately define racial profiling, one would be looking at a case where a person’s race was used to assume involvement in illegal criminal activity without having any credible evidence or known evidence to charge the person in the case. Racial profiling has been a terrible problem worldwide, however especially in America, since the attacks on September 11 it has allowed this epidemic if you will to grow drastically. Certain races will always be related to certain crimes just solely based on statistics that they are higher in and in that regard, they do have a tendency to be profiled easier, things like African-Americans with drugs or violence and Muslims with terrorism. The problem comes in when law enforcement, and other agencies of the like, overlook the evidence, or lack thereof, and base their suspicion solely on a person’s race and the perception of that race in criminal activity. Soon there after the attacks on September 11, the influence on racial profiling against those of Muslim and Arab descent grew drastically. Racial profiling is an epidemic of sorts that has run across our country and is an inaccurate depiction of the type of people Muslim and Arabs really are; however, it continues on a daily basis and seems to be growing more in our culture today. This paper will discuss how racial profiling in the United States was effected by the attacks on September 11, what the United States government has done to prevent terrorism and racial profiling, as well as how the American people have reacted to the attack, nevertheless since this date racial profiling against those of middle eastern descent has significantly increased.

 Post September 11, Muslims and other middle easterners who live in the United States have been put through extreme racial profiling. Since, this has happened there is a perception that Arabs and Muslims are the likeliest suspects in an act of terrorism.  For instance, more than 1200 persons belonging to these groups were rounded up and arrested following the 9/11 attacks, with one person held in custody for as long as five years (Cainkar 145). Groups of people not of the Muslim and Arab population have rooted this perception and it seems to be becoming normal. Because of this law enforcement agencies in the United States are automatically using this bias and perception in the day-to-day work to associate Muslims and Arabs with terrorist attacks. The problem with this perception is that most Arabs and Muslims, who live in the United States, normal everyday law abiding citizens, and in fact not terrorists.

        The law enforcement agencies assumed terrorism was a fall back for Arabs and Muslims living in the United States, because of this, they suspect that they are involved or attempting to be involved in any and every terrorist activity. It has become evident over the years that racial profiling has worsened against Muslims since these attacks. Initially it was awful, it only worsened further when the enactment of the Patriots Act by President Bush, which targeted Middle Eastern Americans and linked them to a number of acts of terrorism without any evidence to support it. This was enforced mainly in part by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and countless other government authorities, who went over the top in raiding the homes of Middle Eastern Americans, by going through things like their personal information and financial records. Perhaps the most extensive policy had to do with special registration, whereby almost 130,000 non-immigrant aliens had to be photographed, fingerprinted, and questioned; this policy led to the deportation of more than 13,000 persons (Cainkar 235). This is a blatant and quite obvious violation of human rights, as there was and continues to be no evidence other than the person or persons being Middle Eastern or Muslim. The human rights of the American people are protected by the Caonstitution and with this type thought process it is getting out of hand; however, the way the people of America focus these days, it is going unnoticed. The United States Justice Department is and has been abusing the simple human rights of Arab and Muslims on a regular basis.

        Another strong indicator of the prevalence of racial profiling in America is that the federal government is significantly using racial profiling as a means of counter terrorism. It is a strong and widely used strategy, that unfortunately, until it stops working will continue to be used. It can be seen considerably in the entry points of the United States, places like the border and now especially planes. Authorities are beginning to put harsher policies on immigrants coming from Islamic countries that have a higher association with terrorism, such as Pakistan, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. In recent news, now President Trump has placed executive order over the entering of the country, of those of Muslim origin. This comes from a viewpoint that all Muslims are here for one purpose and that is to engage in terrorist activities here in the United States. Consequently, law enforcement agencies will continue to apply racial profiling methods against those of Islamic origin, even if they have no intentions whatsoever other than being a law abiding citizen. Of all the people rounded up and questioned not one individual was ever publically charged with terrorism (ACLU 11).  It is evident that after the attacks on September 11 and those that have happened recently worldwide, the anti-immigration and racial profiling perception towards Muslims and Arabs has increased. Since September 11, there is an official United States law enforcement policy that states that as officers have a right to question individuals particularly Arab Americans without any criminal charges in play. This kind of suspicion is used by many of us to use race and religion as a base to associate certain cultures with specific criminal activity.

        For Middle Easterners, racial profiling was a foreign concept in the United States until the terrorist attacks on September 11. At the time, and still relevant today, racial profiling existed solely in the world of common crimes, mostly committed by the African American community of the United States. At the time, most Americans thought racial profiling to be racist and very unacceptable. Once these attacks happened in 2001, Americans have slowly but surely accepted it nation wide as a means of protection and safety against something like that happening again on American soil. Immediately after the attacks, Arabs all over America were harassed, abused and their human rights as citizens violated by the American people, who at the time were scared they had plans to do something again. In the aftermath of 9/11, religious leaders, politicians, media pundits, and self-proclaimed terrorism experts exploited the feelings of an already-terrified citizenry by offering gross overgeneralizations and blatantly incorrect depictions of Muslims as monoliths of extremism and hatred (Peek 5). Just like any other country would the United states people and government increased national awareness and security, even though these thoughts and feelings were wildly misused and untrue, they still happened. Things like security check points at sporting events, airports and events became a major priority for the government, which took to no regard the Arab people.