Persuasive Essay On Racial Profiling

Racial profiling has been in existence for many years. One defines racial profiling as a method law enforcement agencies use to determine whether a person may be a suspect of a criminal act. “Racial profiling and racial discrimination against blacks in criminal justice administration can date back into the late 1600’s.” (Staples 2011) This is when the court officials in Philadelphia authorized the police to take up any “Negro” seen “gadding about” without a pass from his or her master”

Racial profiling has been a recurring issue for quite a while in the history of America and it appears as if it will proceed the same. Many individuals do not know what racial profiling stands for and sometimes victims of racial profiling aren’t even aware of the meaning. Racial profiling is often identified as the use of race by any law pursuing organization to any extent, as a reason for unlawful conjecture in non-specific inspections. Every person is entitled to basic human freedoms and rights, which are undermined when discrimination based on religion, nationality, ethnicity, race, or other particular status occurs. It is unlawful to discriminate against citizens regardless of their race according to the United States Constitution, Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Racial profiling is a wide spread term in the American justice system today, but what does it really mean? Is racial profiling just a term cooked up by criminals looking for a way to get out of trouble and have a scapegoat for their crimes? Is it really occurring in our justice system, and if so is it done intentionally? Most importantly, if racial profiling exists what steps do we take to correct it? The answer to these questions are almost impossible to find, racial profiling is one of many things within our justice system that can be disputed from any angle and has no clear cut answers. All that can be done is to study it from different views and sources and come up with one’s own conclusion on the issue.

Racial profiling has been a touchy subject for United States citizens. Racial profiling has been around for quite some time in America and it more than often benefits the majority population (white America). More recently, the controversial topic has been brought to light. The debate over Racial Profiling topic is whether or not racial profiling is wrong or right. Multiple opinions from notable sources have been debating over this topic for decades. Some sources give reasons and examples in order to debunk the idea that racial profiling is necessary for police officers to do their jobs, as well as for normal citizens to form an opinion of fellow United States citizens and immigrants. While other sources give reasons to support racial

As stated above racial profiling has been around for quite some time. One example of racial profiling from history is one by the Spaniards. King Charles I came to the new land recently conquered by the Spain. He and his ambassadors wrote a Requirement that all Native Americans must submit to spanish authority and have to either convert to Roman Catholic Church or be persecuted. The document written by the Spaniards showed that even if you weren’t a native american or even looked like one of them, look alikes could face the same charges and consequences as the native americans. Not only did profiling happen back then but also recently. A modern day example of racial

The National Institute of Justice defines ‘racial profiling’ as “a practice that targets people for suspicion of crime based on their race, ethnicity, religion or national origin.” It creates a link between certain crimes and certain races which effectively creates stereotypes, and it tends to fail to consider non-Hispanic and non-Arab whites. While it targets many racial and ethnic groups, it greatly affects African Americans’ rights and their everyday lives. Racial Profiling, largely criticized within and outside the United States, is perpetuated by stereotypes, social bias, and fear and used largely against African Americans by figures of authority as an underlying justification for use of force, search, and suspicion.

With racial profiling heating up debates within the realms of politics, news, and social media it is clear that the topic is no longer to be discussed but rather has become a national epidemic of violent crime. It is a fact that African American males are targeted more than any other race. It is also a fact that racial profiling violates the U.S. Constitution by misusing the fundamental principle of equal protection under the law established by the 14th Amendment and imposes on the 4th Amendment which guarantees that all people be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.

Racial profiling has a strong history in these United States. First, what is racial profiling? Basically, racial profiling is an assumption about something solely based on a person’s race. It may also be a filter through one’s eye. For example, when a police officer decides to only stop African Americans, he is racially profiling; if he decides to exclude all African Americans from any stops he conducts, he is also racially profiling. Racial profiling is a form of discrimination people generally associate with law enforcement. In recent times, allegations of racial profiling have been rampant in the United States, having mainly the African American community as the target. Lately, though, Hispanics have also been the alleged target of racial profiling. Regardless, we can all be victims of racial profiling regardless of our race, and there have been laws written to prevent the profiling, but is it enough?

Racial profiling is a discriminatory practice where individuals are being targeted by law enforcement based on their race or ethnic background instead of crime suspicion. Racial profiling dates back to the 1700s -- the slavery era. African Americans who were free had to prove it with documents and papers called “freedom papers”; whether they were free did not matter, as they were continually subject to racial profiling. Specifically, in South Carolina, there were slave patrols who hunted for slaves and labeled them as being “runaways” simply because of their skin color -- these groups tortured and abused any slaves who attempted to escape. The extreme levels of racial profiling has changed over the years, but it is still significantly apparent in today’s society. African Americans are being pulled over and stopped since the color of their skin is yet being associated with criminality and wrongdoing. African Americans aren’t the only victims of racial profiling; Muslims are being labeled as terrorists and Latinos as illegal immigrants. Although some may argue that racial profiling helps law enforcement by narrowing their search for criminals on a particular group, it should not be accepted as a law enforcement practice because it is a violation of both the 4th amendment and the equal protection clause under the 14th amendment, making it completely illegal.

Racial Profiling is an act of discrimination against many groups of races and many times by the law-enforcement who we least expect it from. Law enforcement often uses racial profiling in the most unjust way for instance, in Hounding the Innocent by Bob Herbert, he states, “Ethnic profiling by

Today er live in a society that people believe in America as the melting pot. But in actual reality we are made up of a lot of racial profiling. “Racial profiling describes the practice of targeting or stopping an individual based primarily on his or her race rather than any individualized suspicion” (Warren 2009:137). Racial profiling originated from criminal profiling. Mary Sell (2003) wrote: “Before you solve a problem you have to understand it. Therefore, it is necessary to explain criminal profiling before explaining racial profiling ‘(Gillis 2001:201). In our society you would think that this would not be a problem because we are in the 20th century. But racial profiling has become a national problem and has spread to the public eyes

Racial profiling is a deep national problem in the United States despite the efforts of the civil rights movement. Ethnic minorities are often targeted by society because of their skin color and inaccurate stereotypes placed on them. Police officers use racial profiling to humiliate people of color by conducting ridiculous searches. This is also illegal because the U.S. Constitution protects the citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures. While racial profiling can help prevent crimes, it can perpetuate discrimination against minority groups and cause them to feel fearful of law enforcement; therefore, racial profiling should be stopped by changing the way people view ethnic minorities.

Racial profiling is defined by the National Institute of Justice as, “practice that targets people for suspicion of crime based on their race, ethnicity, religion or national origin.” Racial profiling has been an issue in America since the birth of our nation and maintaining a negative connotation. Despite the negativity surrounding this practice, it can be argued that there are positive aspects such as cutting costs on searching for criminals, and it can also be argued that this practice is unnecessary based on the efficiency of it based on its history.

Racial profiling is a longstanding and extremely disturbing national issue that is often not addressed due to the ignorant belief that the United States has entered a “post-racial era”. Racial profiling refers to the discriminatory act of targeting an individual for suspicion of crime solely based on the individual’s race, ethnicity, religion or national origin. This reliance on group characteristics used by law enforcement has proven to be extremely problematic as it undermines the basic foundation of justice, creates fear and distrust towards police by citizens and is statistically proven to not increase crime prevention. Racial profiling is an ineffective technique used by law enforcement to reduce crime.

Some level of racial profiling has probably always existed in the United States. The article “What is Racial Profiling ?”, found on the website WiseGeek, speaks to the audience of the general adult public who are seeking out information on different topics, and it provides evidence and specific reasons as to why and what certain ethnic groups feel they are being targeted. They say that if a person of a race group is assumed to be more prone to being involved in criminal activity, they might be more often suspected of committing crimes, even when no verification exists to defend this accusation.