Racial Profiling at Its Worst

In the aftermath of the tragic killings of unarmed African American men by police officers, racial profiling has taken center stage in the news. As demonstrations are held throughout the country to draw attention to the plight of those who are profiled by the police mostly for their race rather than for things they did, it should cause us to stop and think. It is definitely a civil rights issue.

African American mothers have been interviewed in the media telling of how they have instructed their sons to be weary of the police and to behave respectfully toward them to avoid harassment. The boys and young men have been told that they need to realize that they may be targeted with racial profiling just for how they look. If they make a mistake, they may be likely to be treated differently than someone from the white population. If clean-cut looking, well dressed, successful young men who are African American actors and businessmen say they are sometimes routinely stopped by the police for no logical reason, there is a major problem for those who may look a little rough.

Is racial profiling a new phenomenon? No, it is not. During World War II after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which gave authority to the military to remove any persons from designated areas, racial profiling at its worse was manifest. Around one hundred twenty thousand Innocent Americans and immigrants of Japanese descent were forcibly removed from their West Coast homes to be incarcerated in what are now known as "American concentration camps" where life was difficult. It was clearly a racist move against people who were ethnic Japanese. Most of them lost nearly everything they had and suffered immense hardship. The majority were American citizens.

These people had done no wrong and were law-abiding citizens or immigrants who were quietly trying to make a living. Although the government had indicated that the mass evacuation and incarceration were done for military necessity because the people were suspected to be or become spies for Japan, there were never any cases of espionage among them. They were innocent victims of racial profiling.

There had long been laws against the immigrants from Japan. As they gained some success in the fields of agriculture and business, they were looked upon with suspicion. They were perhaps envied or resented for any financial progress they made. They were not looked upon favorably by the general public, and politicians passed laws against them. Their American children born in the United States faced some of the same prejudice and discrimination as they entered college and the work force. The racial profiling against those of Japanese heritage during World War II caused much heartache and grief. Some people suffered their whole lives from the experience which was an unjust result of racial profiling at its worst.

Racial profiling is clearly a matter of hate and discrimination. It is unfortunate that so many in this nation have not learned from the mistakes of the past. People in the Japanese American community want their story to be known so that no one else will have to suffer from such a travesty as the racial profiling which took place against them.