Sociology (Race and Ethnicity) - Assignment Example

Sociology of Race and Ethni The Jewish Theologian and Philosopher Abraham J. Heschel once said“Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.” The truth behind this statement is not far from the agreement and understanding of many leaders, historians, authors and philosophers. The differences created between mankind on the basis of race and gender can be traced back to many years. Some literature suggests that back in the 1800s segregated schools for students of different races existed (Saney , 1-4).

However, the issue of racial and ethnic discrimination was highlighted the most during the Hitler regime and his hatred against the Jews, which is believed to have led to the infamous holocaust. Addressing the issue of racial profiling, I strongly feel that with the current threat of terrorism to the society and the increased incidence of terrorist attacks, it becomes absolutely essential to implement the strictest possible measures of security. We need to understand that nothing is more valuable than human life.

Therefore, if the protection of human life causes us some inconvenience we should be cooperative. It obviously is very important to keep the sensitivities of the citizens of a country in mind and the criteria for racial profiling must be such that it is based on authentic evidence f a person’s identity and should not merely rely on the physical appearance of a person because that can hurt the sentiments of people. This issue was realized by the Bush Administration after which a ban was placed on Racial Profiling (US Department ofJustice , 1).

Works Cited Saney, Isaac. "The Origins of Racism." AfricVoice 1 February 2007. Web. : 1 and 4. US Department ofJustice. Fact Sheet: Racial Profiling. 17 June 2003.Web. 2 June 2011 .