When I took the profiling quiz for some reason I expected that at the end there would be some sort of rating for how much you racially profile. Some thing that said if you X many right then you profile etc. The more I thought about I realized that taking the test with that expectation even affected some of my answers. If I was between two choices I tended to pick the less likely candidate expecting that in the end I was appear to be less of a profiler. After all when you call something a quiz I get into that test taking mode and automatically try and guess what the test wants me to say. The more I have thought about it I have realized that this is how we all are when it comes to profiling. All to often we hear the word profiling and feel like we are expected to have negative feelings towards anything that has to do with profiling, and so we are against it in any form. While some forms of racial profiling are absolutely wrong and uncalled for I think that some forms of racial profiling are beneficial. The examples of profiling that we saw in the video clips clearly are uncalled for and should be dealt with and changed. A person living in this country should never have to feel that the color of their skin, or even their voice is keeping them from what they deserve. In the clips there are two key things that are taking place first the person on the other end of the phone, in both the HUD and 20/20 clips the landlord of the property, are gathering information about what race they anticipate the caller to be through the way the caller sounds and, second the landlord is then using that information in a negative way. I think that each of us do the first step hundreds of times a day and in many different ways. For the most part even if we have made assumptions about the race of a person we are speaking with nothing negative comes from that. Just because a racial profiling has occurred does not mean that it is negative. For example if a doctor determines that his patient is black then he may be more likely to order tests that look for problems that are more likely to affect blacks.
The question why do you think we discriminate based on dialect is an interesting question. One of the definitions of discriminate is to note or observe a difference. Of course we are going to notice things that are different then what we are use to that is just how we as humans are. It is natural to notice things that are different in our surroundings. I do not believe by taking note of a difference we are automatically going to treat some one negatively as the word discrimination has come to imply in current culture.
In the end I do think that we each carry on forms of racial profiling everyday, but that does not necessarily mean that the profiling will lead to improper treatment of the other person.
2 comments:
I really like your perspective in not only seeing discrimination as only a negative thing! Your post made me think in a different way about discrimination! We all have control over how we will "discriminate" and whether we will use it in a negative and hurtful way or in a way that will help society and people!
I never thought about that-- you're right! Though I've also read about discrimination in medicine in my Human Growth and Development class. It said that certain races require different care and have different risk factors, but many races are also neglected and not taken seriously by medical professionals... It's going to be really hard to find the friendly balance in between. We can't ignore race, but we can't be negative about it either. Embracing differences has always seemed to me to be societies biggest struggle.
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