unknown Posted December 19, 2002 Posted December 19, 2002 there has been alot of talk about this issue ever since 9/11 and its relation to Arabs and the profiling that goes on. living in Canada there are many different ethniticities and racial profiling is bound to come up. a while back the Toronto Star (newspaper) conducted a survey and wrote many articles about arrest rates of Metro Toronto Police. They came to the conclusion that Metro Toronto Police has been arresting more blacks then whites and in general arresting more minorties then the white population. the Toronto Star has now been sued by the Metro Toronto Police Service for deflamation of character. I agree with Toronto Police because the study that was conducted by the Toronto Star focused on arrest stats strictly from the Jane & Finch area as well as Region Park. Now for the people who are not familiar with Toronto Jane & Finch as well as Region Park are 98% black. So the study carried out by the Toronto Star is demographically wrong. If you focus on an area that is 98% black then the arrest rate is bound to have more blacks then white because the area is dominated by blacks. so the Toronto Star did not do their homework. they focused on one area instead of doing the study on a more broad level. i can relate to racial profiling myself. my parents are of indian decent. even though i was born here in Canada (THE BEST DAMN COUNTRY IN THE WORLD I MIGHT ADD) i still run into problems at airports and stuff like that. people make the assumption just because i look like the enemy to them that i am the enemy. i go down to the states very often and i am bound to run into trouble when i go down by myself. all of this is the result of racial profiling. by generalizing one single group into saying that they commit more crimes or are terrorists they are putting the other law biding citizens of that group in an awkward and sometimes dangerous situation like the Sikh man who got his head blown off at a gas station in Texas. anyway.......what are your thoughts?
WhiteBelt Posted February 23, 2003 Posted February 23, 2003 Racial profiling is bad, but is a by product of fear or racism. I don't know how you could possibly stop it when your enemies are predominantly of one ethnic origin. Imagine how it must be in middle east... BTW, I'm from Toronto too.
omnifinite Posted February 23, 2003 Posted February 23, 2003 Our brains are wired to form patterns so we can recognize whether things might be dangerous or not without having encountered it before. I think it still applies when it comes to "thing with giant teeth might maul me"... but in this kind of situation it probably just makes life harder. 1st Dan HapkidoColored belts in Kempo and Jujitsu
FinalHope Posted March 11, 2003 Posted March 11, 2003 Racsism is a tough issue. Personally, I despise it. Alot of my friends are black, or indian, and personally I am irish. Yeah I say things like indian, black, mexican, because thats what they are, its not derogatory. I live in the burbs of South Dakota, and being Irish, some smartass gangsta sterotypes (Indian, might I add, they are taking racsism further if you ask me.) calling me a freakin redneck. What the hell is with that!? I am IRISH for gods sake! I think the people commonly labeled victims are let to slide further with the issue, and thats a bad thing. On the other hand its alright to jest...I mean, come on. I say things like "Canada!? But thats just a myth!" or "Martin here is so black, that if he closes his eyes you cant even see him!" but they are for the pure spirit of humor. I would never say anything offensive, even if it is a joke.
Maestro Posted March 19, 2003 Posted March 19, 2003 I think that racism is probably the worst thing in our society today. I myself am white, but my friends are such a mix I think I might even have more non-white friends than white. Anytime I hear a racial bashing it is hard to control myself (not directed to you, Finalhope. I agree, there is a difference between true bashing and joking. My friends and I joke about race often) That said, it's easy to see where it comes from though. Most countries do not have the ethnic mixing that we have here in the states, so overseas occurences are more likely to involve people of a certain backround, hence the racial slant. Middle-eastern countries will typify the enemy as "white," because while we're all mixed up over here, they're predominantly middle-eastern there, so they choose to overlook our non-white populations and point to the whites in order to justify their own race. Omnifinite makes a valid point, but I think that that is less and less of an acceptable explanation these days, as racial lines are merging more than ever before. I think there are very few (if any) people in the States who do not know someone of a different race, so "fear of the unknown" as it is so often called, IMO, is no longer a valid argument for Americans. I think most of the people who still hold racist views are not afraid as much as they are simply indoctrinated and close-minded. I do not think, in the case of terrorism, that it is unacceptable to see our enemies as basically middle-eastern, but I do think it is unacceptable to typify middle-easterns as our enemy. There is a HUGE difference and I think people need to start realizing that. Might as well take my advice--I don't use it anymore.
BigGuy Posted April 18, 2003 Posted April 18, 2003 Just my oppinion but, I think there is a big difference between racisim and racial profiling. It shouldn't be called racial profiling in the first place. A better name would be suspect profiling. The terrorists on 9/11 were all of middle east decent, therefore dosen't it make sense to keep an eye on people of middle east decent. If a black guy robbed a bank would it make sense to also look out for white guys and mexicans just so you are not guilty of "racial profiling". No you look for the people who are suspects. If all of the terrorists were overwieght white guys with brown hair and a mustache then I would expect to be checked out. On the other hand if a police officer is pulling over a black,mexican,arab, or even a white guy , just because he dosen't like that particular skin color that is racisim and that is what needs to stop. If your going to dislike someone dislike the product not the package. Do you pick you favorite candy bar by the color of package it comes in. I don't and thats all skin is, a package. It's whos inside that counts they could be the sweetest person on earth or who knows they could turn out to be nuts. Take the time to find out. Later BigGuy BigGuy
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