The Patriot Act

Week 6

Qimin Li

Section 2

                I found the article about the USA Patriot Act to be very informative in the way that the U.S. had to pass another act in order modify many of the procedures intended to protect the privacy of its citizens. Since the attack occurred on the other side of the U.S., and when I was only a child, I have a vague recollection on what exactly I was doing and feeling at that moment in time. However, what I do remember was this strong hatred towards Muslims or anyone affiliated with that country, culture or race. It got to the point where there were incidents of murder and violence towards these American citizens, and they were labeled as a terrorist by being racially profiled. But I feel like this isn’t uncharacteristic of the government to take an extra step when it comes to protecting the country. For instance, the attack on Pearl Harbor led to our entry into World War II. The aftermath of this was detaining Japanese-American citizens and placing them into internment camps, fearing they were spies or would turn on America. This situation is very similar to how the U.S. handled terrorist attacking our homeland.

So my question is, how can the government protect its citizens without encroaching on their rights?