I've always been taught that the internment of people of Japanese descent during WW2 in the United States was a grave injustice, and with recent events, there've been fears that something similar might happen to people with an Arab or Muslim background. There's a great deal of apprehension over the possibility of racial profiling being used. But now, there are those who support the use of racial profiling, and who actually think the WW2 internment was justified:

http://www.conservativebookservice.com/BookPage.asp?prod_cd=c6528&sour_cd=FTE000101
http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=14603
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=14944

I find this line of thought quite shocking, and it certainly goes against most of what I've been taught about history.

No, it wasn't justified. In fact, it blew. :P

The problem with the West Coast Internments was that all Japanese were interred, solely on the basis of their being Japanese, or of Japanese descent, alone.  We were at war with Italy, Germany, and Japan, and the myriad smaller countries that were affiliated with them. Although there were people of different ethnicities interred, it wasn't there ethnicity alone that judged whether they would be interred, there was usually other information that was used to consider them a threat to national security. 

The problem with the West Coast Internments was that all Japanese were interred, solely on the basis of their being Japanese, or of Japanese descent, alone.  We were at war with Italy, Germany, and Japan, and the myriad smaller countries that were affiliated with them. Although there were people of different ethnicities interred, it wasn't there ethnicity alone that judged whether they would be interred, there was usually other information that was used to consider them a threat to national security. 


Actually, this is a lie which only causes more anger at this.

As I have posted before, Germans and Italians were interred.  IN the US, 110,000 Japanese were placed in internment camps.  At the same time, over 600,000 Italians were placed in similar camps.

Was it racial profiling?  Of course it was.  But remember, this was during a time of war.  The US had just been dragged into a war it had been trying to avoid for 4 years.  And Germany declaired war on the US, it was not the other way around.  In fact, the plan was to concentrate on Japan, until Hitler did that.  A lot of historians still wonder what would have happened if that event had never happened.

Is racial profiling wrong?  I don't think so.  It actually is just common sense a lot of the time.  Look for something that does not fit the surroundings.  If it does not fit, check it out.  This may be some black kids in a beat up Dodge in Beverly Hills.  At the same time, it also means checking out the white guy in the Corvette who is driving suspiciously through the ghetto drug area.

And as for terrorism, Racial Profiling has been proven to work.  The AL-Queda operative who had over 200 pounds of explosives that was stopped at the Canadian Border in 1999 was stopped for this reason.  If they had let him through, the attacks would have happened 21 months earlier then they did.

But I also think that "racial profiling" must be followed with probable cause.  It is not right to stop somebody just because they are out of place.  But if they are in the wrong place and acting suspiciously (cruising unusually slow, stopping in front of known drug houses, etc) then they should be stopped.

Any kind of profiling is WRONG and dangerous.

First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.
                                                  -Martin Niemoeller

We really need to learn from the past.



Cat
             
                           

Any kind of profiling is WRONG and dangerous.


There is a difference between profiling and targeting.

Most police work centers around profiling.  The FBI looks for serial killers by "profiling".  Sexual preditors are often found by this system as well.

Most police use profiling in one form or another.  You look for something that does not fit.  If it is suspicious, you check it out.  That is what we expect the police to do.

I find it interesting that "racial profiling" against minorities is considered wrong.  Yet the profile for serial killers is used and nobody says anything against it.  When they were looking for the DC Sniper, the "racial profile" used was of a "white male, 25-35 years of age, with a military or police background".  "White Male", that sounds like racial profiling to me.

In 1997, there were several gay men who were shot and killed.  Early "criminal profiles" was that it was a "white male homophobe".  Only later did the world learn it was Andrew Cunanan, a Filipino-American who was gay.

Racial profiling is a tool, and should be used responsibly.  Probable cause should also be involved in it's use.

Actually, this is a lie which only causes more anger at this.

As I have posted before, Germans and Italians were interred. 
They sure were, Mushroom, they sure were!

Satish,
I wouldn't bother with those websites.  They're just right-wing propaganda outlets funded by the same right-wing foundations and think-tanks whose sole purpose is to destroy democracy and advance corporate interests.

As I have posted before, Germans and Italians were interred.  IN the US, 110,000 Japanese were placed in internment camps.  At the same time, over 600,000 Italians were placed in similar camps.


Is racial profiling wrong?  I don't think so.  It actually is just common sense a lot of the time.  Look for something that does not fit the surroundings.  If it does not fit, check it out.  This may be some black kids in a beat up Dodge in Beverly Hills.  At the same time, it also means checking out the white guy in the Corvette who is driving suspiciously through the ghetto drug area.



First I will say that I believe that what was done was wrong.  That being said the question seemed to me
was if Japanese were singled out for special treatment in regards to internments.  Internments of those of European ancestry was of those who retained their immigrant status, not US citizens.  Of the Japanese 2/3 were American Citizens, naturalized and born and bred. it didn't make a difference.  Is
racial profiling wrong? Yes,  there isn't any reason for a nineteen year old sales clerk to follow a fifty
year old, well dressed, cash carrying,  African American woman around a store with the idea that she
must be there to steal something.  The African American in a mercedes in Beverly Hills is just as apt to
be pulled over as the kids in a beat up Dodge, and white guys in Corvettes do not have to go into the
ghetto to get drugs, they get them in Beverly Hills, but how often do you hear of police raids on teenage
home alone parties in neighborhoods where dad is the sherriff and mom is the judge?

The African American in a mercedes in Beverly Hills is just as apt to be pulled over as the kids in a beat up Dodge, and white guys in Corvettes do not have to go into the ghetto to get drugs, they get them in Beverly Hills, but how often do you hear of police raids on teenage home alone parties in neighborhoods where dad is the sherriff and mom is the judge?


Uhhh, gee.  How about this year?

It seems that Gregory Scott Haidl (son of Orange County California Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl) was arrested and tried with several of his buddies for the gang rape of a 16 year old girl.  They got this girl drunk and gave her drugs, and then took turns with her on the family pool table.

During the trial, their defense attorney Joseph G. Cavallo called the victim a "slut" who "craved" gang-bang sex.  After this, the jury was hung, so this scum is still on the street awaiting a new trial.

Oh, and within days of being released from his first trial, Mr. Haidl was arrested at a drug party at a friend's house (in the rich white neighborhood of San Clemente) with yet another underage girl.

Or how about this incident, covered by the AP:

Culver City officer claims councilman interfered in arrest of son
Wednesday September 01, 2004

CULVER CITY, Calif. (AP) The son of a city councilman was charged with felony drug possession after being pulled over by a police officer who alleges that the routine drug arrest was interrupted by the suspect's father.

Albert Vera, 39, was arrested Aug.7 by a police officer who stopped his pickup truck and found what appeared to be methamphetamine. Vera, whose father Albert M. Vera is a councilman, remains free on $20,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in court later this month, said Jane Robison, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

Police Officer Heidi Keyantash who pulled over the younger Vera alleges in an internal memo to police Chief John Montanio that the councilman threatened her and interfered with her investigation. She said he ``accused me of being 'out to get' his son and threatened me that, `Well, I'll get you! I promise, I'll get you.'''

The elder Vera denied any wrongdoing. He said his business is two blocks from the scene, and he went there after a customer said he saw the younger Vera surrounded by police.

``I went to see what happened. I didn't interfere at all'' in the investigation, the councilman said.

Keyantash also said Montanio ordered her to omit reference to the councilman's actions at the crime scene from her report of the incident.

Lt. Carlos Reynosa, a spokesman for Montanio, said the department has done ``nothing inappropriate in the handling of the Vera Jr. case.'' He said the chief welcomed an independent investigation ``from the district attorney's office or any other investigative body designated by the mayor and the City Council.''

City Councilman Alan Corlin called the allegations ``extremely troubling.''

``We need to get to the bottom as quickly as possible,'' Corlin said. ``This is the kind of thing that can completely erode confidence in our city and in particular our Police Department.''

The elder Vera was elected to the council in 1992 and reelected in 1996, serving two terms as mayor pro tem over that period. He left the City Council because of term limits, but was reelected after a two-year absence.

So I guess the sons of politicians do not get arrested (and even re-arrested for the same crime) here in the US. 

You could give a case and I could give a case. In an earlier post you said that there
should be "probable cause" beyond ethnicity.  The problem is that this is not the case.
The reason why there is a hue and cry about profiling is because the profile is
"African American"  or "Arab looking"(whatever that could be construed as), "latino"
without any other qualifying events to consider.  It happens to me every time I leave
the house, the only "probable cause" is the color of my skin

The internment of Japanese Americans was wrong, and, if I'm not mistaken, the gov't offered (a belated and insufficient) apology.  "racial profiling" is wrong and leads to things lilke the Rodney King incident (which, by the way, demonstrates the racist eliment to this practice).

"racial profiling" is wrong and leads to things lilke the Rodney King incident (which, by the way, demonstrates the racist eliment to this practice).


Actually, the Rodney King incident started when the CHP tried to pull over a car that was driving recklessly at high speed through a residential neighborhood.  After a 5 mile persuit, they pulled off of the freeway, and by the time they actually pulled over, it had progressed to where there were 4 cop cars involved.

And out of the 3 people in the car, King was the only one who was injured by the police.  Of course, the other 2 complied with all instructions given to them.

Actually, the Rodney King incident started when the CHP tried to pull over a car that was driving recklessly at high speed through a residential neighborhood.  After a 5 mile persuit, they pulled off of the freeway, and by the time they actually pulled over, it had progressed to where there were 4 cop cars involved.

And out of the 3 people in the car, King was the only one who was injured by the police.  Of course, the other 2 complied with all instructions given to them.

It's amazing we're still talking about the Rodney!  No, he was no innocent citizen, but after the cops subdue a suspect, they ought to just cuff him, shackle him if necessary, but don't just keep clobbering him a zillion times and calling him "n*gg*r."

It's amazing we're still talking about the Rodney!  No, he was no innocent citizen, but after the cops subdue a suspect, they ought to just cuff him, shackle him if necessary, but don't just keep clobbering him a zillion times and calling him "n*gg*r."



And that has happened how many times in the last few years?





Cat

Here is the lastest.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=519&e=4&u=/ap/20040913/ap_on_re_us/racial_profiling_3




Cat

Here is the lastest.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=519&e=4&u=/ap/20040913/ap_on_re_us/racial_profiling_3




Cat


But Cat (he says tongue in cheek) don't you know that all blacks are muggers and rapists, that all Arabs are terrorists, that all Jews are rich bankers, that all Latinos are drug trafficers... Don't we ALL know these things?

If you're White, you're alright.

If you're Brown, stick around.

If you're Black, get to the back.

What BS.  When will we get past this cr.p?

Did you know that there is only .1% genetic variation among humans?  We are 99.9% THE SAME.  isn't it time to celebrate that?

But Cat (he says tongue in cheek) don't you know that all Jews are rich bankers


I wish THAT one was true.  ;D



Cat

I wish THAT one was true.  ;D



Cat

Some are oral surgeons and psychiatrists.

Some are oral surgeons and psychiatrists.



Actually, my grandfather was a doctor-general practitioner.




Cat

Actually, my grandfather was a doctor-general practitioner.




Cat

My gramps was a psychiatrist, but we're not Jewish, we're just loony.  It's true.  Ever notice how most ophthalmologists wear glasses?  Well, most psychiatrists...
:P