June 18, 2010

32 million subjected to racial profiling

Racial profiling is the practice of targeting individuals for police or security detention or other disparate treatment based primarily on their race, religion or ethnicity -- in the belief that certain racial, religious and/or ethnic groups are more likely to engage in unlawful behavior. Simply, put, it is a lax approach to security that substitutes bias for investigative facts. A 2004 Amnesty International report found 32 million Americans of various racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds have reported they have been subjected to racial profiling.

Treating certain groups of people as more suspect than others is contrary to our nations democracy. Our system of government sets limits on officials powers including those who make and enforce our laws. When law enforcement officials begin to substitute stereotypes for hard evidence, it easily becomes an abuse of power and will lead us down a slippery slope.

Racial profiling is also ineffective and counterproductive as a means of keeping our country safe. By disproportionately focusing on Muslim violent extremists, we ignore a very large problem brewing in our own backyards at our own peril.  According to MPAC's Post-9/11 Terrorism Incident Database, there have been 68 attempted or actual attacks against America by domestic non-Muslim violent extremists (including 5 cases of actual or attempted possession of biological, chemical, and radiological weapons). Meanwhile, there have been 35 attempted or actual attacks by domestic and international Muslim violent extremists since 9/11. (No cases of actual or attempted biological, chemical, radiological weapons were recorded.)

This also undermines national security by alienating the very communities that are on the frontlines of our nation's defense. MPAC's study also found nearly one-third of all Al Qaeda-related plots threatening the United States were foiled with the assistance of Muslim individuals and/or communities. Collectively targeting Muslim communities, rather than following where the evidence leads investigators, is counterproductive by punishing the very people coming to our nation's defense.

Currently, only fig leaf legal protections exist to protect against racial profiling. Amnesty International's report found that laws and policies at both the state and federal levels are severely lacking. Even the Justice Department's 2008 memo Guidance Regarding the Use of Race by Federal Law Enforcement Agencie contains exceptions for national security and border integrity cases and is only an advisory document, therefore not legally binding.

Given these discrepancies, Congress is currently looking at a legislative remedy. The most prominent bill seeking to resolves these issues is the End Racial Profiling Act, which would ban racial profiling in all law enforcement agencies local, state, and federal levels. Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing entitled, Racial Profiling and the Use of Suspect Classifications in Law Enforcement Policy.

During her oral testimony in the hearing, Executive Director of Muslim Advocates, Farhana Khera stated, Is this the country we aspire to be? Racial profiling yields negative results, erodes trust, and is simply bad policing.

We couldn't agree more. The time to end racial profiling is now.