New Risks, New Tactics: An Assessment of the Re-Assessment of Racial Profiling in the Wake of September 11, 2001

The terrorist attack on the United States on September 11, 2001, dramatically shifted the public dialogue across a whole range of issues. Gone were discussions of reform of the education system, further tax cuts, or a change in relations with Mexico vis-d-vis immigration issues. All of these issues were replaced by an almost unidirectional focus on the terrorist attacks-how they had happened, who had carried them out and why, and how we should respond. Given the enormity of the events, this was surely the only way things could have been.

We were faced with the huge, multifaceted problem of assuring our security and safety in a world that suddenly seemed much more dangerous than we had thought. At the same time, our emotions, both individually and collectively, became rivers of fear, horror, anger, grief, and outrage.