Penn Station New York arrest

[stsinner]

I'm sorry this is my first post, but I just gotta ask. Do you by the quote below, say that a stereotype is based upon statistical observations?

Absolutely. Stereotypes are created by a people of a certain race/sex/ethnicity doing a certain thing often and therefore being associated with whatever that favorite car to drive it, favorite food to eat is, IQ level is, propensity to commit a crime is..

Right or wrong, that's what a stereotype is.

 

[THORHAMMER]

I'm sorry this is my first post, but I just gotta ask. Do you by the quote below, say that a stereotype is based upon statistical observations?

the actual Habit exists because of something observable I believe. (At least initially) Wether its a good or bad habit I'm not evaluating. You should give people the benefit of the doubt when possible, but other times you have to protect yourself, everyone needs to make their own decisions when and where and how. Its a balance.

Is it wrong to think your teenage son might start doing bong hits if hes hanging out with deadlocked hair guys who drive a VW van and listen to Phish all day while their eyes are super red. Sure maybe he will surprise you and turn down the drugs, or possibly they are just into music and enjoy pipe tobacco, but to anticipate the stereotype is just facts of life.

I think the problem is when we just judge based on looks as if they have already done the crime right? People dont mind stereotyping when its a good thing, for example a woman walking down the street with a Louie Vuitton bag enjoy everyone else assuming they are rich, or maybe someone famous. Guys get tattoos sometimes just to look like tough gangster types, when in reality they live with mom and havent been in a fight in 10 years,
Some single guys rent little rooms and have no food , but pay a 700$ month car payment to attract women, thats also a stereotype.

Nobody minds the stereotype as long as its intended. Im not saying its good or bad, just a fact of life.

 

[photographyprogess]

Then here we go:

Definition of Stereotype:

4. Sociology. a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group: The cowboy and Indian are American stereotypes.

Source

WikiPedia should also be read in this matter.

You could also read some litterature within my own field, sociology, where you will get some knowledge regarding this area as it seems like that you lack some knowledge in both social science and in statistics. The problem with some of the claims in this thread is the lack of documentation. To sadly too many people will refer to personal observations to generalize, something one should never do.

Until there is any documentation for claims, I do not see any reason for answering these claims, as I in this matter will relate to only documentation.

 

[usayit]

Stereotyping and racial profiling are different things...

There is nothing illegal about stereotyping people (it is human nature and it is not illegal to have thoughts). It is illegal to act with prejudice towards those stereotypes (including race).

Racial profiling is being prejudicial in an offical capacity. That is wrong. No exceptions. I understand what you are saying, Thorhammer, but I don't think there can be any exceptions. As you admitted, stereotypes is a human "habit" that we all possess. As such any system assembled and operated by humans to allowing racial profiling to a certain extent is inherently flawed. Such a system will still label a particular race/ethnic group as a "threat" in the eyes of the public... no matter how specific the exceptions defined. Such a system reminds me of a failed compromise we all know as "seperate but equal".

Also remember... that racial profiling is using race as the primary reason to stop/detain a person. Using race to identify/locate a suspect is NOT racial profiling.

 

[usayit]

This is hilarious to me because I used to live by an Amtrac station and I regularly walked their rails for pretty great distances taking pictures and waiting for trains to go by for photo opportunities for this same contest. It's a good thing there aren't over zealous officers patrolling the track out in the sticks, because I really do go where I am not supposed to.

Unfortunately, NYC is a victim and on edge ever since 9/11. Really can't blame them... it is fresh on every new yorker's mind and will remain so for many years. It is not uncommon to encounter a person (even in Jersey) who was directly impacted.

 

[table1349]

Ethnic Profiling is a double edged sword.

It may be needed in some small dose, but it has to be warranted, and done legally (if possible to do at all)

I can actually see balances of both in action, stereotypes are based on observation most likely, and investigations work off of facts and patterns.

If one out of 5 criteria points is ethnicity, then it makes sense to keep track of it along with all of the other criteria, but tracking past events and just outright stopping people from legal activities based on ethnicity are 2 totally different things.

I think we can all agree the latter would be very very wrong, but the first probably depends oh HOW intrusive it is. I don't mind some degree of tracking or investigation if the potential for a large death toll is very large, but they need to use common sense, and pick their battles and realize not all Muslims are terrorists, not all whites want to bomb things from Montana and not all blacks want to pillage and steal during a riot.

But if they have a checklist they use to cross off or discount certain scenarios, and one of those is based on past evidence or patterns, thats good police work, its pattern finding. But their needs to be some oversight so that it cannot be abused by someone with a racial bias, thats all.

Were all human and bound to get caught up in issues like race from time to time right ? Just realizing that can make a difference if we catch ourselves.

Ethnic profiling is a single edge sword just as racial profiling is. The two terms are actually interchanged when it comes to this issue. If a law enforcement officer were to stop someone of Hispanic origin just because they are hispanic that would not be racial profiling. Hispanic is not a race, rather it is an ethnic group. The act however of stopping that person strictly because they are Hispanic would be reported as and treated as Racial profiling.