Pros And Cons Of Racial Profiling

Racial profiling has been and will continue to be a problem in the United States. Many believe that racial profiling is more prevalent in today’s society; however, this issue has been a part of our society since slavery. Moreover, African American males are mostly the targets of racial profiling, especially in larger cities like New York City and Los Angeles. Racial profiling is becoming a huge problem within the police departments. Police officers are conducting more traffic stops on African Americans males than on any other racial group, for the reason that many police officers believe African Americans males are most likely to be engaged in some sort of criminal activity. Thus, racial

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

Every individual in the world is different in some way from the person standing next to them. People differ in their culture, ethnicity, race, religion, personality, styles, interest, appearance and more. It is understood that someone may be similar to you not one person will be exactly like you. Growing up it is important for one to understand the differences of other people and show a level of respect for them. As human-beings, people typically learn through experiences. However, these experiences have the tendency to alter the way people perceive other individuals. Racial profiling, a term used more frequently when dealing with law enforcement, is defined as “any action undertaken for reasons of safety, security or public protection

Racial profiling is simply, “the unlawful police practice of using race, color, or ethnic background, as the reason for conducting a traffic stop on an individual.” (Michigan Civil Rights Commission) This definition can be extended to any kind of discrimination mainly based on myths and stereotypes towards a certain race or ethnicity. However, the term racial profiling is commonly used when a police officer or any other law enforcer stops, questions, searches or arrests an individual purely on the basis of their race. African Americans or simply blacks have been the major racial group that has suffered much of racial profiling. Much of this is based on the stereotypes against the blacks are perceived as more likely to engage in criminal activities. For instance, in a 2013 Racial Profiling Data from Ferguson Police Department, out of 5384 police stops, 4632 were against blacks. (Ferguson Police Dept. 1) Despite the low population of blacks in U.S. compared to other races, the former continues being subjected to more racial profiling. Racial profiling against African Americans continues to expose the blacks to humiliation and racial injustices, as this paper will expose, thereby calling for the responsible authorities to address and find solutions for the problem.

Racial profiling is still an ongoing issue that occurs and such an issue has led to many problems for the minority groups of this country. Whether it be African Americans, Indians, Asians, Mexicans, or Muslims, all have faced profiling at some point in time. The problems caused by this controversial subject include the impending distrust between black communities and law enforcement, unfair treatment towards all minorities by law enforcement, verbal and physical abuse of minorities by police officers which can sometimes lead to death, emotional unstableness of the victims whom have faced such a terrible judgement, and the negative impact it has on children of the minority groups.

Racial profiling in law enforcement is referenced when a law enforcement officer targets an individual for suspicion of a crime. A broader definition of racial profiling in law enforcements is when a law enforcement officer, uses an individual’s race or ethnicity, age , time of the day (usually later in the day), dress code and also location to accuse a person of a crime. In today’s world the term racial profiling can be viewed in various view points, because of people having different opinions on the term, many disagreements occur. Some people believe that specific incidents are not cases of racial profiling and others think otherwise, needless to say an argument occurs.

Over the last twenty years the issue of racial profiling has become extremely combative with regards to law enforcement practices. A common misconception begins as some people are unaware of what racial profiling actually is. Racial profiling typically deals with incarceration, miss education, and to certain extent slavery. The topic of slavery is relevant in the conversation of racial profiling because like slavery, African Americans have suffered just due their own identity. Profiling is essentially the selection of an individual and categorizing them due to a specific racial group. The ever growing issue of racial profiling has become more evident to the public with the increasing number of instances that have been reported regarding

What is racial profiling? The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) 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” (2005). Do not confuse racial profiling with criminal profiling; criminal profiling is usually practiced by police in which they use a group of characteristics that are associated with crime to target individuals (ACLU, 2005). Examples of racial profiling include using ones race to target specific drivers for traffic violations and pedestrians for illegal contraband; another prime example is the targeting of Muslims, Arabs, and South Asians since 9/11 in

Racially biased assumption of people in poor neighborhoods who may have brothers, sisters, relatives, our wealthy friends who visit them in their less affluent community, then find themselves stopped by police and accused of dealing drugs or committing theft to obtain expensive items they have legally purchased. Unfair racial profiling, by police officers, that Police departments condone and feel are necessary to identify criminals and criminal activity before it occurs and causes harm to others. Assumptions that have for “Three hundred years” from Slave Patrols, Black Codes, Jim Crow, Convict Leasing and Racial Profiling that violate a persons’ “14th Amendment rights of “equal protection under the law.” As the 14th Amendment was ratified

Growing up as a white person, I have never had trouble with the police or any type of law enforcement. Nor have I been scared or afraid of them. Personally, I see them as the people who keep me safe, but that’s not the case for everyone. Racial profiling is a big issue here in America, and it needs to stop. How can we stop something that is considered to be the “norm” in today’s society? Let’s look at racial profiling, iron triangles, and how we could possibly put a stop to racial profiling.

Racial profiling is using someone’s race or ethnicity as a form of suspicion to have committed some type of crime. The negative stereotype of African Americans is a factor on why racial profiling exists. It is unlawful for an officer to stop an individual on the streets because of their race. Law enforcement often uses race as a proxy, it is perfectly legal to do, but it cannot be the only factor. Actual crime statistics show that black males are overrepresented in prisons and in jails compared to their numbers in the population, beliefs practices and extreme racial classification all support this association of race and crime (4 Truth and Justice, 2009). “The record shows that racial minorities have historically been viewed as objects of law enforcement and social control rather than as citizens entitled to civil protections” (Bass, 2001, p.163). This history shows patterns of racial segregation that are still persistent today. They may not be as straight forward, but the effects of the past decisions by police enforcing discriminatory laws are still evident. An example of racial profiling would be the police stopping and questioning African Americans indiscriminately. This will most likely discourage blacks from returning to “white” neighborhoods. If police officers are creating a fear of harassment for blacks entering places that are predominately white, that is modern day discrimination of creating race-based

“Racial profiling describes the practice of targeting or stopping an individual based primarily on his or her race rather than any individualized suspicion” as illustrated by Warren of Sage journals. Racial profiling is the use of race or ethnicity as reasons for suspecting someone of having committed an offense. African-Americans have been fighting what seems to be a never ending battle against oppression and racism. Over the years 2012-2015, reports of police killing unarmed black men in America have been alarming.

The targeting of individuals because of their skin color is as clear a form of discrimination as not hiring a person because of their race. Thus, racial profiling in simplest terms is intentional discrimination based on racial stereotyping. It is disheartening that such intentional discrimination is a widely used tactic by law enforcement officers, whether they openly admit to the practice or not. One must wonder what would happen if the demographics in the U.S. were to flip and white people found themselves as the minority more likely to be approached (harassed?) by police, if racial profiling would continue to be a viable practice. It is not possible. Lately tons of police officers have been killing African-Americans and getting away with it; the number of unarmed Blacks was at least 102 in 2015. There are several ways to prevent this from happening to people of

A major issue that has been at the forefront of the topic of race in America is racial profiling. This practice of targeting individuals based on the individual’s race is not new and has been in use for many many years. However it has recently come to national attention with the killing of unarmed black teenagers by police officers. The issue of racial profiling not only highlights the lack of equality in America but the issue of policemen using excessive force when dealing with criminal activity.