BY
“No. They already do it and it hasn’t worked. Do they propose to harass all Muslims and Arab-Americans and keep them from flying? There are substantive sercutiy measures they can undertake for all passengers without singling out people based on race or religion.”–anonymous
“Hmm. Ask Prof. Heymann. He’s the expert.”–Derek Windham ’02
“Depends on what ‘racial profiling’ is. If it is used for just questioning, yes. If it is used to eliminate passengers almost immediately, no. Security is paramount and so targeting people for questioning is OK under a compelling government interest. Denying people the right to fly out of hand is just too broad.”–Evan Belosa ’02
“No. Every passenger and their luggage should be thoroughly checked — that’s the fairest and most sensible way to combat terrorism. No random checks of people who fit certain profiles.”–Danny Swanson ’03
“No. In a civic democracy, there is no place for racial profiling. There are about 2 million Arab-Americans and 6 million Muslim-Ameri-cans in this country. Not even one-half of 1 percent of them have any connection to terrorism. Any increase in security should be uniformly applied.”–Najeeb Khoury ’02
“Yes. Given that all of the terrorists who hijacked planes on Sept. 11 shared a common ethnic background and ties to a religious belief that motivated their actions, it’s fair to use that common element as one of the tools to catch additional terrorists.”–anonymous
“No. Terrorists are not exclusively of one race. Aside from the problems of racial discrimination, racial profiling could potentially reduce the attention given to others.”–anonymous
“Yes. It makes me really uncomfortable, but I think it’s necessary.”–anonymous
“No, because it’s wrong, stupid and unlikely to yield any results for the grief it will cause.”–anonymous
“I’m not sure. I think [it’s OK] only if [law enforcement agents] have specific evidence of particular people they are looking for.”–anonymous
“No. But, instead, they should focus on really checking on passengers from all countries.”–“A Middle Eastern chick”