Whether for counterterrorism measures, street level crime, or immigration, racial profiling of minorities occurs frequently. However, racial profiling is illegal under many jurisdictions and many might say ineffective. Is racial profiling ever moral or is it always an unjustified form of racism? Is there any evidence that certain races or ethnic groups have a tendency to behave in particular ways? Or is racial stereotyping a result of deeply-held biases we're not even aware of? Ken and guest host Jenann Ismael share their profiles with Linda Alcoff from the City University of New York, author ofVisible Identities: Race, Gender, and the Self.
节目一开始，Ken就告诉Jenann Ismael(约翰的替身)，他是多么讨厌视觉分析，这意味着警察纯粹根据人的长相随机挑出可疑的人。Jenann对此并不感到惊讶，她问Ken反对哪一部分:种族方面还是侧写本身?Ken向Jenann保证他很关心种族问题。他解释说，犯罪侧写是可以接受的，是执法的一个有用工具，而且科学侧写也是可以接受的，因为种族不是唯一的考虑因素——人格特征等也会被考虑在内。但是，Jenann问道，当种族是一个复杂的定性分析案例中的众多因素之一时，它是一个可以被使用的特征吗?如果只基于一个特征，仅仅基于种族，就会有问题吗?以性别为例:我们自然而然地认为暴力犯罪是由男性犯下的。因此，对于种族定性，并不是有一个单一的因素使其成为一种可疑的做法，而是有其他原因。Jenann问Ken，如果我们不是生活在一个种族主义社会，他还会对种族定性有意见吗?肯说，在这样的社会中，不会有种族定性，因为种族定性是由“他人”引发的我们根深蒂固的刻板印象和偏见。Jenann继续思考种族定性是否是种族主义社会的一种症状，Ken则在思考隐性偏见及其代表的含义。
Jenann and Ken welcome guest Linda Martin Alcoff, Professor of Philosophy at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center and author ofVisible Identities: Race, Gender, and the Self. Jenann asks Linda what compelled her to study this topic. Linda explains that she has a multi-racial background, and that as she was observing conventions of behavior in the South during the civil rights movement, she found the resistance of individuals to said conventions very interesting. Jenann asks whether all racial stereotypes are harmful and whether it is okay to at times generalize about a group of people based solely on race and ethnicity. Linda explains that there are true and false generalizations, as well as contexts in which it is okay to generalize and contexts in which it is not, in which one must look into individual characteristics. The discussion then turns to what the difference between a stereotype and a true generalization is.
然后，肯试图找到侧写问题的根源:我们如何发展种族主义、同性恋恐惧和性别刻板印象?琳达解释说，例如，我们的物质环境、各种体验和娱乐意义上的文化都是导致这些刻板印象的因素。与此同时，琳达解释说，把刻板印象看作是由我们无法控制的环境产生的一种自动反应机制，是一种误导。琳达说，事实上，我们应该采取比我们对环境更多的集体控制，而且，就个人而言，我们可以选择住在哪里，做什么，寻找什么信息来源，因此我们可以对环境产生影响，可能会改变我们的肤色和犯罪之间的联系。肯想知道是否真的只是媒体和文化塑造了这些刻板印象，因为大脑似乎是根据刻板印象的概括来进行推理的。所以，我们的刻板印象不是与生俱来的吗?琳达同意这种观点，但她也解释说，虽然我们需要这种能力作为一种生存技能，虽然这是一种很好的判断机制，但我们在所有情况下使用这种能力的方式并不一定是好的。
Ken and Jenann welcome audience participation. Linda discusses new research on the subject of racial stereotyping and profiling. Questions regarding whether we should even hold people responsible for racial stereotyping, whether people use the new research and terminology to make apologies for profiling, and whether we are responsible for specific cognitive frames are discussed.
