Argumentative Essay On Racial Profiling

There have been many attempts to make racial profiling illegal, but all have failed. Racial profiling is defined as suspecting an individual of a wrongdoing based solely on the individual’s race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin (Racial Profliling: Definition 2). Racism spreads throughout all dimensions of life in American society; therefore, the history of racial profiling is extensive, but it was at an all-time high after the September 11th attacks (Persistence of racial and ethnic profiling in the United States: a follow-up report to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 10). It can be used in both positive and negative aspects, but is mostly used negatively. Racial profiling negatively effects society and the very existence of racial profiling is erroneous, discriminatory, and unjustifiable.

Racial Profiling is an act of automatically defining or identifying someone based on their ethnicity. This act was most recognized during the late 1800’s in the U.S. under the Jim Crow law. It was passed in order to segregate whites and the colored in America. It fundamentally made whites superior to all. Though, in 1964 the Civil Rights Act passed stating that anybody of any ethnicity or religion are to be equal and united. However, today this law has never been truly accepted when seeing the statistics of the type of people being stopped by the police. In fact, based on the statistics of the people stopped, there is an ethnic disproportion which shows that the police use racial profiling. Even though innocent people are stopped, the

Racial profiling in the dictionary is “the assumption of criminality among ethnic groups: the alleged policy of some police to attribute criminal intentions to members of some ethnic groups and to stop and question them in disproportionate numbers without probable cause (“Racial Profiling”).” In other words racial profiling is making assumptions that certain individuals are more likely to be involved in misconduct or criminal activity based on that individual’s race or ethnicity. Racial profiling propels a brutalizing message to citizens of the United States that they are pre-judged by the color of their skin rather than who they are and this then leads to assumptions of ruthlessness inside the American criminal justice system. With

One of the most imminent threats looming within American society is race relations. America is a melting pot of different races, cultures, and religions, yet the matter of racial profiling still remains prominent today. By definition it is considered “an activity carried out by enforcers of the law wherein they investigate or stop any individual in traffic or round up people of the same race or ethnicity for crime suspicion” (NYLN.org ). This profiling has become a significant catalyst in the tension that has been ensuing between minorities and the government. Hostility has grown due to the apparent and intentional targeting of “brown people”, and

There are many types of racism in America that cause people to make accusations against law enforcement for discrimination. One type of racism is racial profiling. It is a strategy that encourages police officers to stop and question minorities only because of their race. It takes place in a variety of routine police encounters. Unmotivated searches occur everyday among the minority groups. Could you imagine waking up and being scared to walk outside your house because of the color of your skin? This is a fear of almost everyone belonging to a minority group. This continues to be a widespread problem throughout the country.

Before any argument can be made against racial profiling, it is important to understand what racial profiling is. The American Civil Liberties Union, defines racial profiling as "the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual's race, ethnicity, religion or national origin"(Racial Profiling: Definition). Using this definition we can determine that racial profiling excludes any evidence of wrong-doing and relies solely on the characteristics listed above. We can also see

Racial profiling has been one of the most controversial and prevalent topics in today's society. This form of harassment is demonstrated when certain ethnicities are being targeted by the law enforcements. An example of this can be expressed when police are targeting people with colored skin because they suspect them having some type of illegal substance, or suspect them of crime, which they have not committed. Racial profiling needs to stop before it gets out of hand, or cause violence. Law enforcements are mistreating blacks and Latinos by racial profiling. In the article “Jim Crow Policing,” by Bob Herbert, demonstrates many statistics on how many blacks, and latinos were stopped by the police. The article “Racial profiling has destroyed public trust in police. Cops are exploiting our weak laws against it,” by Ranjana Natarajan, explains where law enforcements are using excessive force on a black male, named Eric Garner. In “Racial Profiling in Preschool,” by Editorial Board, expresses how black adolescents are given harsher punishments than others. Based on the analysis of strong textual evidence and the conducted research, it is clear that racial profiling is an unnecessary policing strategy because there are many possibilities such as unjustified deaths, the isolation of individuals, and irrational accusations.

When people act on their stereotypical views, that is when stereotyping becomes a big concern and can affect others.Stereotyping is the main cause that leads to profiling. Anyone of any race can experience profiling, and racial profiling discriminates and victimizes people who may not necessarily be committing a crime.

Some level of racial profiling has probably always existed in the United States. The article Mac Donald says that there is something that the vehicles are stopping it belongs to drivers and the kind of vehicles. and also about the number and type of occupants fit the profile of a drug courier. But of course they do once the traffics are stopped and they want to research the vehicle. These are just for race or ethnicity (par.7-8)., found on the Article racial profiling website, speaks to the audience of the united state by providing the idea of how someone from the different race can drive differently, that make the police to stop them. The purpose of this article is to give reasons why some races are being pulled over most of the time. Finally, the author says that if police control this indictment, police safety will suffer especially the safety of minorities in the area of violence and drugs in the neighborhoods. The neighborhoods are sometimes good to compliment from them for police to achieve them (par.11). The article “What is racial profiling?”, found on the wise Geek website, speaks to the audience of a general public of information searcher and educate by providing they say that people get research or suspected of being criminal because of their

Racial profiling is an example of police brutality, which is defined by Gross and Livingston (2002) as “the practice of some officers of stopping motorists of certain racial or ethnic groups because the officer believe that these groups are more likely than others to commit certain types of crimes” (p.1413). Therefore, individuals are treated unfairly by law enforcement solely based on their race. This type of mistreatment is unmerited and ultimately a violation of an individual’s rights. However, in many instances the courts do not find it a violation of their civil rights based on the fact that racial profiling is difficult to prove. Often, prosecutors are disinclined in bringing forth a case against officers on this particular matter. Officers are permitted to stop and search individuals and their vehicles whenever there is reasonable suspicion, however, there has been studies that prove that some law enforcement officers restrict these rights primarily to minority groups. Bowling and Phillips found that although there was no formal monitoring of use of these powers, it was concluded that it was particularly heavy use of these powers against ethnic minorities, largely of young black people (as cited in Sharp & Atherton, 2007, p. 747) . In several cases, officers argue that they reasonably pulled an individual over for other probable grounds such as: traffic violations, suspicious behavior, etc., with race never being an

Racial Profiling is unconstitutional and illegal, yet it’s still used in law enforcement. The practice of racial profiling, as defined by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), refers to the “discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual's race, ethnicity, religion or national origin”(ACLU 2005). Racial profiling causes more harm than good, it can cause emotional, mental and more often physical harm to the person being subjected to the practice. According to the Fourth and Fourteenth amendments, racial profiling is unconstitutional. It causes distrust in law enforcement because ethnic

Racial profiling is when someone’s race is used by law enforcement to assume criminal suspicions (Spagnoli, Filip). Law enforcement has used racial profiling to “help” prevent criminal activity. For instance, a survey done by the department of justice when officers focused more on African-American and Latino drivers they found that less of them had drugs the when they least focused on white drivers (The Truth About Racial Profiling: FIVE FACTS). Some officers assume that Hispanics and African-Americans are carrying around illegal substances and weapons. This is not always true! As the survey revealed, most of the people who did have prohibited items were white Americans. Law enforcement should begin stopping drivers by suspicion not by their race. In another survey done by Ian Ayres and Jonathan Borowsky they had found very similar information. “We also found that, once people were stopped, officers were more likely to frisk, search, or arrest African-Americans and Latinos than whites…when these frisks and searches are substantially less likely to uncover weapons, drugs, or other types of contraband” (Borowsky, Ayres). Officers are spending more time on race than focusing on real criminals who are ousting the reasons why this country is remarkable. Other cases like these have been confirmed as well. “Relative to stopped whites, stopped blacks is 127% more likely and

While racial profiling is used to solve many crimes, using race as a description of the criminal being pursued does not constitute discrimination. “Racial profiling does not refer to the act of a law enforcement agent pursuing a suspect in which the specific description of the suspect includes race or ethnicity in combination with other identifying factors.”1 Identifying and defining racial profiling simply on the basis of race can raise several issues. Using this definition solely based on race fails to mention when police act on the basis of race along with a violation. For example an officer who targets African Americans who were jaywalking would not be considered to be racial profiling because the people that were stopped were jaywalking and happened to be African Americans.

Profiling is “the act or process of extrapolation information about a person based on known traits or tendencies”, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. The practice of racial profiling is coming up with these “known traits or tendencies” and using them when interacting with people of a particular race, without considering the individual. The issue with these generalizations are that they become engrained in society and have subsequent consequences on those they are imposed upon. In the case of black men in America, the repercussions of this idea are seen in most facets of life. Predominately, the wage gap between white men and black men is an ongoing issue that is linked to preconceptions. Additionally, the achievement gap in the classroom has seen disparities that have prevented black men from having the necessary foundation to be successful. Ultimately, racial profiling has most notably been exposed by the actions of law enforcement and the criminalization of black men. In Dominique Morisseau’s “Night Vision”, the character Ayana reveals how racial profiling black men has integrated itself into the subconscious, which has surfaced in negative impacts on economic, education, and legal outcomes in America.

Benjamin Todd Jealous once said, “Racial profiling punishes innocent individuals for the past actions of those who look and sound like them. It misdirects crucial resources and undercuts the trust needed between law enforcement and the communities they serve.”(Jealous, 2015). I couldn’t agree more with him. In today’s society more and more Black men and women suffer from police bias. Police is a powerful organization that was meant to serve and protect. Enforce laws and keeping communities safe. The problem is we fail to acknowledge that police are humans with real life bias. The problem with police is how much racial profiling is going up,