Everything Isn’t Racial Profiling By Linda Chavez

Critical analysis

Racial Profiling is a Good Bias

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.'… I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."(King, 1963, P.49) These were the words of the infamous Martin Luther King, a man whose goal in life was to strain to give this world racial equality and stop racial profiling and injustice. Linda Chavez, the author of the article ‘Everything Isn’t Racial Profiling’ argues that racial profiling is an ugly business and that it is just wrong and unjust, as she herself was subjected to it. Linda’s argument is that racial profiling is undeniably wrong, but the fact that security puts people under scrutiny is correct. I think the author’ argument is quite legitimate and convincing. Racial profiling is biased, but in some cases it is permissible, especially when it comes to airline safety.

‘Everything Isn’t Racial Profiling’ is an article that talks about how racial profiling is generally immoral, but in some certain times putting certain people under scrutiny is logical. Chavez clarifies that it is unpleasant to be a victim of racial profiling especially if you know it happens because of your nationality or the color of your skin. Furthermore, Chavez goes on to explain how an Arab Americans get taken off aircrafts after being allowed to fly, the fact that they get pulled off planes because airline security suspected that they were perilous to passengers. Just because they are Arabs is what is erroneous and very prejudiced. Chavez also debates the tragic incident of September 11th and states that the skepticism towards Arab Americans was acceptable in that specific case.

Linda Chavez expresses herself in a way that changes the idea of racial profiling from being completely biased to it being a necessity when it comes to safety. If someone were to be racially profiled, he/she should just be cooperative and complaisant, although off course he/she will be a bit annoyed while doing so (Chavez, 2002, P.412). Linda Chavez herself was faced with these kinds of racial profiling situations, but she says, “I didn’t like being singled out, but I understood why I was being subjected to more scrutiny” (Chavez, 2002, P.413). When it comes to airline security Chavez states that it is unreasonable for airlines to look at certain people more closely than others since the history of those who tend to commit air crimes precedes itself. Linda Chavez uses a sincere and coherent tone in her article, and that tone is what really makes you re-think the fact that racial profiling is completely immoral. Since Chavez herself faced many obstacles concerning racial profiling, and the fact that she became director of the White House Office of Public Liaison for the Reagan Administration and later the chair of the National Commission on Migrant Education under the first Bush Administration (Chavez, 2002, P.411) tells us that she is a very credible source. The way Chavez additionally uses hyphens to persuade her readers and cause them to pause and re-think about racial profiling is literature genius, for example when she writes “racial profiling is an ugly business -- and I have been on record opposing it for years. But I'm not opposed to allowing -- no, requiring -- airlines to pay closer attention to passengers that fit a terrorist profile” (Chavez, 2002, P.412) Chavez also used many rhetorical strategies including persuasion and narration to convince the reader’s about her point of view, and with a sharp and modest writing tone I think Linda Chavez was effective in changing the way readers thought about racial profiling.

I personally used to think that racial profiling was a completely biased and unjust act and should not be tolerated by anyone, but now after reading Chavez’s article I think that racial profiling is not always an immoral act; sometimes it may be the only thing that keeps people safe. Racial profiling generally is a wrongful action since it entails picking someone out for special scrutiny simply because of his race. Chavez herself states that racial profiling is an “ugly business” and that she has opposed it for years (Chavez, 2002, P.412); although this is quite true, now I think in some cases racial profiling is a must, and people should cooperate even if it involves taking them into rooms where lights are dim and most of the security guards are looking at people in a grotesque way. For example, that exact scenario happened to me when I had just arrived at San Francisco’s airport in the United States. This off course made me feel a bit maddened and discriminated, but it also made me feel secure. The thought that many people other than me go through that same irritating inspection, and that maybe one of them might in fact be a danger to passengers on board the aircrafts kind of made me feel glad that I was being inspected and that the security officers are doing there jobs right.

Nobody likes to be chosen for racial profiling, but in some situations it is what makes people feel safe, even the people who are being racially profiled feel safer that security officers are doing their jobs right. White or black, tall or short, skinny or fat, all mankind are equal. As the famous Harper Lee stated, “Some negroes lie, some are immoral, some negro men are not be trusted around women - black and white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men”(Lee, n.d., P.21) Nevertheless, measures have to be taken to insure the safety of mankind.

Annotation

Thesis
Statement-Chavez thinks
Racial profiling is irritating but must be done

Thesis
Statement-Chavez thinks
Racial profiling is irritating but must be done

Very Important example-This
Example shows how someone was
Picked out just because he was Arab
Very Important example-This
Example shows how someone was
Picked out just because he was Arab
Racial Profiling is basically
Picking out Arabs and blacks for questioning Racial Profiling is basically
Picking out Arabs and blacks for questioning Bigotry-Prejudiced
Bigotry-Prejudiced
Racial profiling is an ugly business -- and I have been on record opposing it for years. But I'm not opposed to allowing -- no, requiring -- airlines to pay closer attention to passengers that fit a terrorist profile, which includes national origin. The problem is distinguishing between what is permissible, indeed prudent, behavior and what is merely bigotry. As the Christmas day incident involving an Arab American Secret Service agent who was denied passage on an American Airlines makes clear, it's not always easy to tell the difference. Racial profiling entails picking someone out for special scrutiny simply because of his race. It happens when highway patrolmen pull over blacks who've committed no traffic violations for spot checks but ignore other drivers who share similar characteristics, say out-of-state plates or expensive cars. It happens when security guards at a mall tail black customers in stores or insist on inspecting only their bags, ignoring whites. The underlying presumption in these cases is that blacks are more likely to be involved in criminal acts because of the color of their skin. This kind of racial profiling is both morally wrong and ineffective. But there are times when it makes sense to include race or national origin in a larger, criminal profile, particularly if you're dealing with a crime that has already been committed or is ongoing and the participants all come from a single ethnic or racial group. It would make no sense if witnesses identified a six-feet-tall, blond male fleeing a homicide but police stopped females, short men, or blacks or Latinos for questioning. Likewise, if you stopped every tall, blond man, a lot of innocent people would be inconvenienced, if only temporarily. Which brings us to the case of the Arab American Secret Service agent. Walid Shater was allowed initially to board an American Airlines plane in Baltimore headed for Texas, carrying a loaded gun, but then was pulled off the plane, along with a handful of other passengers, for questioning. In the intervening 90 minutes, Shater's lawyers allege that he was mistreated and denied the right to fly because he was an Arab American, while the pilot claims that the agent became loud and abusive, leading him to keep Shater off the flight. I can fully sympathize with the agent's anger -- but I don't think the airline acted improperly. I've had encounters similar to Shater's, largely because of my appearance. When I used to travel frequently in Europe from the mid-'80s to the mid-'90s, I was routinely questioned more than other passengers, I suspect because I look vaguely Middle Eastern -- or as one airline agent put Real life example that shows Chavez is a credible source
Real life example that shows Chavez is a credible source it, "Your passport's American, but you don't look American." On a trip from Israel in 1985, where I was an official government guest of the Israelis, security agents at Tel Aviv Airport questioned me for almost an hour. "But you can't keep me from leaving Israel," I protested. "No, but we can keep you from doing so on an airplane," the guard responded. They finally let me go when another passenger, who recognized me from the newspapers, vouched for me. On another flight, this time from Switzerland, I was asked to de-board the plane after the passengers were in their seats and questioned about items in my checked luggage. It was humiliating to be called off the plane and to have the passengers told the flight would be delayed because of concerns about one of the passenger's bags. But I didn't rush to file a discrimination complaint. I didn't like being singled out, but I understood why I was being subjected to more scrutiny. At the time I was hassled, Middle Eastern terrorism was very prevalent in Europe, and female terrorists were operating as well as men, usually on stolen or phony passports. It wasn't unreasonable for airlines to look at me a little more Thesis restatement,
Coclusion- Linda’s way of writing makes the reader actually want to change his mind about racial profiling
Thesis restatement,
Coclusion- Linda’s way of writing makes the reader actually want to change his mind about racial profiling closely than other passengers given these facts. In Shater's case, 19 Arab terrorist killed more than 3,000 Americans on Sept. 11, and several of the hijackers possessed stolen identification cards and pilots' uniforms. It wasn't unreasonable for the American Airlines pilot to be extra cautious with Shater under the circumstances, despite his official ID. As a law enforcement officer himself, Shater might have cut these guys a little more slack. Sure it's unpleasant to be a suspect when you're innocent. But it's worse to overlook terrorists because we ignored their pertinent characteristics. I sometimes felt annoyed when I was singled out, but I also felt safer because the airlines were doing their job.