Profiling By Sherman Alexie 's Flight Patterns

Brent Staples’ article “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space” (1986) discusses his point of view on racial profiling. He talks about how race and gender effect how people view each other consciously and unconsciously. Throughout his article, Staples uses the arrangement of his debate, structure of his paragraphs, and figurative language to help in his persuasive argument against racial profiling.

“In his short-story and poetry collections, Alexie illuminates the despair, poverty, and alcoholism that often shape the lives of Native Americans living on Reservations…. yet also leave readers with a sense of respect and compassion for characters” (Poetry Foundation). Irony, humor and sense of timing are characteristics

In “Why Profiling Won’t Work” by William Raspberry, the author uses the word “profiling” in the article is used to describe the process by which law enforcement look for physical looks and behavior to target possible terrorists. In the article Raspberry cares about his country, but he wants to inform readers about the useless profiling practices. By giving his personal experiences being profiled by law enforcement, Raspberry believes that since Americans looks all sorts of way that profiling can’t work because there is no way to tell terrorists from non-tourists. In "My Homeland Security Journey" by Meher Ahmad, Meher wants to also inform his readers about how effective racial profiling is as a tool in airport security and show the impact 9/11

In the article, “Being while black: resistance and the management of the self” by Laura Khoury discusses how racial profiling is used as a social control and the responses of those who are under control. It further explains how racial profiling gives an unwanted identity to African American which they must constantly defy. Khoury explains that African Americans are resisting without it being seen.

In "Just Walk On By" Brent Staples shows how history can repeat slightly from the past. Most would think after a long time profiling is something that society has overcame and learned from their mistakes to not judge a book by it's cover. For instance, In Staple’s fifth paragraph he mentions that "Black men" have a firm place in New

Racial profiling is a burden on many because of the few, and something people will. Have to live with for the rest of their life. As Brent Staples first discovered by merely walking down an uninhabited street. Turning the corner staples was noticed by a white woman, who in moments started running down the street away. Staples called this "the ability to alter public space in ugly ways"(Staples, 2) leaving him in a state of dismay. The acts come in all different shapes and sizes from the locking to cars as Staples goes past to people going to the other side of the road in fear to pass him on the same side. Staples describes how black men have a long history in mugging literature. As black male Staples has to live with racial profiling every

William Raspberry, in the article, "Why Profiling Won't Work," talks about many pressing issues that American officials have to face. They must maintain a balance between profiling individuals, while keeping away from negative stereotypes that many unfairly treat a group of people like the melting pot of ethnicity that we proudly call America.

Racial profiling by definition is, the use of race or ethnicity as ground for suspecting someone of having committed an offence. Racial profiling continues to be a prevalent and egregious form of discrimination in the United States. Upon my reading of “What Do You See” by Dean Simmon, he speaks on the ideas that people these days use racial profiling more than we may know. He is concerned about the fact that people, base people off of what see rather than actually getting to know the person. “When you see someone who is different from you,” writes Dean, “do not think of him or her as something, but as someone.” (276). It was brought to my attention that more than just a few people stereotype or profile. At the beginning of the reading it says some very common stereotypes. “White kids are rich, snobby, silver spoon brats who get what they want when they want it, but they are smart. Black kids are poor, lazy, drug-dealing thugs who wear their pants too low and talk in ‘ebonics,’ but they are good at sports. Mexicans are job-stealing, under-educated, breeding cockroaches who have twenty-five family members living in a two-bedroom house, but they are good workers.” (274). As we read some of the stereotypes Simmons writes we realize we have either used some of these stereotypes or heard them. Simmons also brings up a very valid point. “It is well known that all people are afraid of change.” (274). I am not usually one to admit that I am afraid of something but I must admit I am

Many believe racial profiling is an obscure inequality against an ethnic group to a widespread population of all ethnicities and how not only the discrimination is disrupting the 21st century, but also having a negative and powerful impact on the young adults on how they view different ethnicities, some people has stated, people has concluded that ethnicity is not only skin color, but, pure and cordially cultures that are rapidly dwindling due to fabrication, from other humans of the ideas that are held as “soiled truth” of different

In today's society, racial profiling is not unheard of, actually it is quite common. It is still at debate whether the act of racial profiling in moral or not. In the essay “Exile. El Paso, Texas”, Saenz describes his personal experience of discrimination due to his ethnic background. Saenz is a Mexican-American and because he lives in El Paso, which is a border town, he is often mistaken for an illegal immigrant by other Americans. Throughout the essay, Saenz’s feeling about his identity as an American had changed. He feels like he is always being judged by Americans sorely on his appearances.

Excerpt: “A thick scar ran from his right ear down his neck and beneath his collar. A black man with a violent history, William thought and immediately reprimanded himself for racially profiling the driver. Excuse me, sir, but I pulled you over because your scar doesn’t belong in this neighborhood.” (Alexie 61)

Profiling based on race, sexuality, gender, and various other personal aspects have many causes that are mainly societal and have had many negative effects in both people's personal and public lives. These profiles could be used to a certain person's advantage while it could be another's disadvantage, which is where the laws or bias towards those who are disadvantaged rebel against those biases to change the perspective. The area of which someone is at could hold different biases on aspects than another area could have, creating opportunities that are secluded to someone with a certain profile. Profiling, even though is sometimes beneficial to some, is more likely going to have a negative impact on someone's life based off of an uncontrollable

Alexie manages great tragedy without exploiting it, romanticizing the setting instead of the turmoil. He confesses things that tend to stay secret, things like shame. With total vulnerability, the

By discussing this issue, We Are Data shows how profiling people online according to their data is not just about advertising and making money, but algorithms also regulate our lived experience. For example, when a person classified as a “white man” visits a website like The Washington Post, its aggregate demographic profile becomes whiter and more male. The editor sees this information and can either try to maintain this audience group by putting out more articles for “white males”, or they can publish different kinds of materials to attract different groups such as “black women”. Either way, the algorithm now has done more than just appeal to different groups of people.

Profiling spreads false ideas about an entire group of people. A prime example is how the police treat those with colored skin. Those with colored skin are treated like criminals and are oftentimes treated as guilty until proven innocent rather than innocent until proven guilty. Bob Herbert's, a journalist of the New York Times, states in his article, “Jim Crow Policing,” “An overwhelming 84% of the stops in the first three quarters of 2009 were of black or hispanic New Yorkers.” The data presented displays that those with colored skin are more likely to be pulled over, showing that cops in New York have a bias against those with colored skin. Some may say that people with colored skin have a higher chance of being pulled over due to statistics that say that colored people commit more crimes, however it also proven in the same article that of all the stops, there was a higher percentage of drugs and weapons