Racial Division And Injustice : The Demeaning Denotation Of Difference

In today’s world we deal with multiple cases of racial profiling seemingly on a daily basis. Turn on the television, check the internet, or simply have a discussion with someone and you’ll hear about it. "Racial Profiling" describes discriminatory practices by law enforcement officials who target people for suspicion of crime based on their ethnicity, race, origin, or religion. The term first came about during the War on Drugs in the 1970’s and 1980’s when law enforcement were accused of pulling over motorists simply because of their race, then unlawfully searching their vehicles for illegal substances. There are varying opinions about this topic and as the year’s progress, it seems acts of racism, labeling, and profiling increase. Many of the instances of racial profiling that occur today involve criminal justice.

In her 2012 TEDx Talk, “How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion”, Peggy McIntosh discusses how race is a privilege system and how white people are given an advantage without even realizing it. In her lecture McIntosh says, “These privilege systems, which locate us above and below the hypothetical line of social justice, were invented and we were born into them. And we all know both sides and that is the reason for compassion, about the sadness of having been born into systems that gave us such… such different ‘politics of location’”. Here, it seems that McIntosh’s main goal is to inform people that we are born into a privilege system because of our skin color and the only way that we can prevent a social hierarchy we must be able to recognize that we are all different. I think that the human population should be able to identify that people are different and have compassion for the differences in society our world today could have little to no race issues. After listening to McIntosh’s arguments, I support the ideas she makes throughout her works and I find that privilege systems are still prominent in today’s society.

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

The definition of racial profiling is prejudging someone by their ethnicity or racial profile based on the stereotypes that an ethnic group may carry. Racial profiling acknowledgement in America has grown rapidly over time and has really been on the rise since the September 11, 2001 bombings of the Twin Towers in New York City and of the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.

I. Racial profiling is the practice of "selecting someone for investigation or stronger action on the basis of race, national origin or ethnicity." (Weinstien, Finnegan and Wantanabe 1)

Racial profiling is the use of race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of having committed an offense. An example of racial profiling would be if an African American driver is stopped in a white neighborhood because he doesn’t belong there or looks out of place. To fix the problem with profiling based off of race we can resist this by teaching younger generation to not fall into the same mindset as the previous generation have done.

Racial discrimination as gone on for decades in many diverse ways. One sole practice is through racial profiling. Racial profiling is the use of race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of having committed an offense. And law enforcement has been using it consciously and unconsciously for several years. Racial profiling is untrustworthy because it discriminates people of the minority, especially African Americans.

Racial profiling is a controversial and illegal practice in which an individual is targeted solely because of their race, ethnicity, or religion. This practice has been around for hundreds of years dating back to the beginning of slavery and still goes on today. Racial profiling comes in many forms and can be done by police officers, business owners or employees, airport security, or even regular citizens. Muslims, Hispanics, and African Americans are the usual targets of racial profiling. Muslims are usually labeled as terrorists, Hispanics are labeled as illegal immigrants, and African Americans are labeled as gang members.

Racial profiling involves using a person’s race in order to suspect them of doing something wrong or committing a crime. Racial profiling has been around for decades and has not went away. Law enforcement or people of authority use it in order to decide whether or not a person is suspicious. Racial profiling clearly goes against the fourth amendment right of no unreasonable search and seizure but has yet to be put to an end.

Racial profiling is the assumption that minorities are guilty while driving or while engaged in anything actually but specifically driving while being a minority. In fact racial profiling happens so regularly that legislation had to be written in California as a result of the deaths of unarmed Black men in their state. The law now says that police will have to publicly report according to race and other demographic characteristics of any person stopped by officers.

Racial profiling is a discriminatory act committed by law enforcement officials in which individuals are targeted and discriminated against based on race, religion, culture or any criteria which defines a person. Racial profiling is based around the suspicion of crime where officers turn to designated characteristics they believe to be associated with certain groups of people that commit misconducts.

Racial profiling is the act of suspecting or targeting a person of a certain race based on a stereotype about their race. Racial profiling occurs twice as much for minorities,such as Latinos,African Americans and Arabs,than it does to White Americans. Racial profiling has led to many disputes around the United States and now racial profiling is commonly used by hundreds and thousands of people around the country.

“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 subject of race, within the field of sociology, can often be viewed as both a fluid concept and a cultural experience. Contrary to popular belief, race is not biological, but is a socially constructed category of people that share the same biological traits. Race can often change over time and is formed primarily by our personal views and the views of others. These can range from ethnicity to self-presentation and feelings of place within society. One example of the fluidity of race can be seen based upon the classification of the White or Caucasian race. In today’s culture, this race has been drastically increased to include a vast array of “white” individuals.

Whether you believe it or not, racial discrimination is not a controversial matter of the past and has a profound impact on society. Nowadays we still inherit unconsciously misconceptions and prejudices that happen to be unnoticed in our day by day. Consequently, in order to raise awareness upon the connotation of this matter, we must educate people on behalf of assertiveness and comprehension. Therefore, it is remarkably important to acknowledge: the negative impact of racial discrimination on the individual and society, the necessity of derogating misconceptions and the values of cultural diversity.