Racial Inequality In A Confederacy Of Dunces By John Kennedy Toole

The novel “A Confederacy of Dunces” written by John Kennedy Toole tells the story of Ignatius J. Riley; A middle aged overweight and slothful genius. Who after earning a Master’s Degree, is still incapable of finding reputable employment and still lives with his mother. Ignatius J. Reilly is by far one of the most hilarious, pessimistic characters you will find in a novel. The story is set in New Orleans, and Toole does a great job incorporating the accents and dialect of the natives, as well as accurate description of the geographic locations into the novel; Thereby, bringing the colorful spirit of the city of New Orleans close to the heart of the story. Although there is a sense of sadness for some of the characters and situations, most of

According to the CNN article titled “Poll: 1 in 5 blacks report 'unfair' dealings with police in the last month,” African-Americans were experiencing unfair police treatment due to their racial standards in their community. “Terms such as ‘driving while black’ and ‘walking while black’ have been coined, with studies showing that blacks are pulled over, questioned or arrested by police at a disproportionately higher rate than white Americans” (Poll: 1 in 5 blacks report 'unfair' dealings with police in the last month n. p.). Presumably, since African-Americans are people of color they are often treated unfairly in their communities, especially by white policemen because they can be racist towards them. Policemen will often end up focusing on their racial standards, and what the color of their skin is instead of what they act like as an individual, and how they treat others in their community. Moreover, in the film, Prom Night in Mississippi, African-American high school students were treated unfairly by white high school students, and also by other white people in their community. They were doing this because they too were only focusing on the fact that they are African-Americans, and how they did not see them as equal individuals within their community. For example, when the high school had two separate proms, one only for the white high school students, and

Racial profiling is a controversial issue because although police use it to prevent crime, the opposing view claims that innocent people are stopped for no logical reason making them feel unequal. In fact, in the article “I was Racially Profiled in My Own Driveway” by Doug Glanville, is an example of why people oppose this, it shows how a police officer stopped and questioned a black man (himself) shoveling his own driveway even when it was out of his own jurisdiction. Little did the police know but the man was Doug Glanville, a retired MLB player, trying to clear out snow. However, not knowing who Glanville was, the police was under the impression that Glanville was out in the neighborhood trying to make money. Nonetheless, as soon as the police officer found out that Glanville was shoveling his own driveway of his household, he paces away. As Glanville clarifies, “After a few minutes, he headed back to his vehicle. He offered no apology, just an empty encouragement to enjoy my shoveling. And he was gone” (Glanville 8). What Glanville is really saying here is that a cop went out of his jurisdiction just to confront Glanville because he is black and was in a wealthy neighborhood. This ultimately ruined Glanville’s day by wiping off his smile since he had been racially profiled as a suspicious suspect to the police. This is a clear example on why people are against the use of

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.

One major problem with the Justice System is that law enforcement use racial profiling affecting many people of color on a daily basis. Racial profiling is when law enforcement believe that certain groups are more likely to commit a crime rather than other groups. This is a major problem because in many cases there are very tragic incidents and as NAACP stated, “ Mr. Garner’s tragic death shows that for communities of color, including women and LGBT people of color, immigrants and low income communities, racial profiling has been and continues to be a constant reality of life, often with tragic and deadly consequences,” (45) Explains how racial profiling has become an everyday basis to minorities affecting them in many ways and unfortunately ends with death occasionally. Racial profiling is a huge dilemma

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

Racial profiling dates back to as earlier as the 1700s. It was during this time, that many African Americans were used as slaves, and those African Americans who were free were required to carry registry papers to claim they were indeed free. Though they were free, those African Americans were still racially profiled in Southern states. Some of the southern states even sent out special slave patrols that would hunt for what they believed to be escaped slaves. Members of these groups, if they found free African Americans accused them of being runaway slaves (Gale Opposing). After the Civil War, laws such as segregation laws, and Jim Crow laws were created to form more separation. These laws kept blacks and whites separate in public places such as restrooms, churches, public transportation, restaurants, and schools (Gale Opposing). Laws today for racial profiling may have changed, but attitudes toward it have not. We find that years later racial profiling continues, and many people are suspected of committing crimes for little more than the color of their skin. Police today use more racially driven practices to try and accuse many of crimes (Gale Opposing). Practices such as "Stop and Frisk" have proven to be more hurtful than useful, with data supporting that this practice has no proven practical use these actions are seen as a serious act of unfair racial scrutiny and are of no use in society today.

Racial profiling isn’t something new to today’s society. Most recently there were incidents in which the officers were accused of mistreating blacks such as Michael Brown and Freddie Gray. “Racism versus professionalism: claims and counter-claims about racial profiling” written by Vic Satzewich and William Shaffir discusses racism versus professionalism with officers. Their argument is more biased towards the police force and they argue that it’s part of their job. “

The fact remains that racial profiling began long ago before the excessive interaction seen on highways and city streets alike where minorities are principally stopped. This country has a history of profiling minorities, from the inhuman enslavement of millions of Africans during the institutionalization of slavery, to the unlawful imprisonment of Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War II; minorities around the country have consistently been the targets of racial profiling. The problem is far deeper than just black and white; its roots lie at the economic, social, and political disparities that Anglo-Americans enjoy over minorities in this country. These disparities are a result of a system based on class status and monetary gain, two attributes enjoyed far more widely by the mainstream population than minorities (statistics about economic disparities b/ blacks and whites).

According to Alexander’s statements in “The New Jim Crow”, the institutional racism persists. And that is in fact very true, as we can see it in racial profiling today. People, mostly people of color are victims of racial profiling every day. We rely on the police to protect us from any sort of danger, but racial profiling has led many people to live in fear. Racial profiling is patently illegal, and is breaking the U.S constitution, but it is still present, mainly in the small towns and states. People of color are generally just stopped by the police and undergo a series of humiliating and degrading interrogations, detentions, and searches, without any criminal evidence. Just as in Alexander’s book, she illustrates how racial profiling erodes the fourth amendment, and this includes: “Voluntary Cooperation,” stop-and-frisk, and pretext stops.

In Steve Chapman’s article “Are Blacks to Blame for Cops Actions?” the author addresses the most important controversial problem we had for centuries. Does racial profiling exists? If so, what is the problem with it? Many say that law enforcement are only targeting the minority, to be specific mainly African Americans. This is because they are the only ones to blame and that if they were not committing so much crime, they wouldn 't get so much attention from police(502). The author points out that blaming the black community for violent crime by blacks we fail to notice the truth of today’s real crime. I strongly believe with the author, we fail to notice the real crimes that are society has. Are we so distracted by what the media

Many People presume racial profiling is a recent phenomenon that occurred in the 80s as the news about African Americans being pulled over for “driving while black” made national headlines. “Racial Profiling,” however, has endured in various forms for decades in black communities from the slave trade, Jim Crow laws and in its most recent form as discriminatory conduct from Police Department personnel to the Criminal Justice System. Three Hundred years of unfair racialized practices that date back to the 1700s in the United States for people of African descent (1).

Michelle Alexander expresses in The New Jim Crow that blacks are being profiled and thus are being incarcerated or harassed more frequently than any other racial group in the United States. Although this statement is partially true, Alexander misses the fact that in recent years, other racial groups have been affected by the same unjust profiling done by authorities. Recently, overall police brutality and racial profiling has seen an increase in the United States population. Furthermore, unprovoked or inappropriate use of force by authorities has sparked conversation in America racial profiling and incarceration rates in the country. Due to this, claiming that Jim Crow laws or ideals continue to be present towards only one race is not appropriate according current circumstances. Despite vast evidence, Michelle Alexander’s contends racial profiling is specifically targeting young African Americans while data supports a massive increase in police brutality and jail populations in other racial groups as well. It is important to look at current incarceration rates throughout the entire country compared to overall ethnic makeup in order to effectively analyze the new Jim Crow in the United States.

My friend did not expect the police to handcuff him outside of his house in front of his neighbors. He did nothing wrong--an hour earlier he had called 911 to report that someone had broken into his shed and stolen a lawn mower. Yet when the police finally showed up to investigate, they immediately suspected the perpetrator was him. This grievous act was made very obviously due to the fact that my friend is an African American male. The scene of people of color being subjected to bias from law enforcement is unfortunately very common. There are many books and movies that expose this prejudice, including the book Just Mercy. Brian Stevenson, the author, asserts in his book Just Mercy that the race of an individual has the most impact on how he/she is treated within the criminal justice system.

Racial profiling has been an active issue in the United States since the late 1700’s. According to Keith Rushing- a Huffington Post Editorialist- “In 1704, South Carolina founded the first slave patrol in which white men policed black slaves on plantations