Racial Profiling Against Black People Research Paper

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

The National Institute of Justice (“Racial Profiling”) stated that racial profiling, which is a form of discrimination, racism, and stereotypes is when law enforcement, based on a person’s race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion targets a person for suspicion of crimes. Today people can turn on their television, go online, and even listen to their radios and they will hear about racial profiling. Racial profiling is not anything new and has been going on throughout history; it goes all the way back to slavery. Racial profiling has recently started being recorded, which is why it has become such a huge national issue today, because people can no longer ignore it. This issue is not specific to one race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin. People of many races, religions, ethnicities, or national origins have been affected by racial profiling for years since the start of this country, but one group that has been affected by racial profiling at a high rate is African Americans. The goal of this paper is to analyze this main group that has and still is being affected by racial profiling and acknowledge other groups that are being affected as well.

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.

In communities where there are heavy percentages of racial and ethnic minorities, racial profiling can cause a gap between them and law enforcement departments. Communities and officers work better together if they are in a positive relationship. However, when the two parties are at odds with each other due to racial profiling, it diminishes the ability to find criminals and probe crimes and also minimizes belief in these agencies (Head). What racial profiling specifically does is cause a central problem to minority communities: trust. When there is trust between people, organizations, or other groups, there develops the power to cooperate and actually move forward. In a simple racial profiling case, an officer arrests an African American male

Limits should not be placed on a police officer’s observations simply because some critics claim that the content and substance of these observations may be racist in nature. Case law has supported racial profiling as long as it is not the only reason for police contact (Von Kaenel 2). Racial profiling critics think that strategies which focus on race will result in higher arrests for a minority group even though the particular minority group might be under in the general population (Von Kaenel 2). Critics also say it encourages unjustified detentions, “fishing expeditions” unlawful arrests, and will inevitably lead to an erosion of the people’s civil rights. But officials argue that disregarding racial profiling does nothing to protect the public and will delay the apprehension of a suspect (Von Kaenel 1). After reviewing this information, I believe racial profiling should be one of the strategies police use to narrow their suspect pool during criminal investigations.

Imagine that you’ve recently moved into a new town due to accepting a promotion for a new job. You’re excited for the next step in your career and the opportunities it will bring for you and your family. You’ve left home early to arrive to work on time when suddenly a cop pulls behind you, siren blaring and its florescent red and blue lights flashing. You slowly pull to the side after quickly checking your speedometer wondering what you could have done wrong. After turning off the car you pull out your license and registration and roll down your window as the officer approaches your driver’s side door. The officer directs his attention from the inspecting the outside of the car to you and asks if you’re new in town. After your response of yes

Racial profiling has gotten worse over the last decade. The issue of racial profiling has been one of the most important, if not the most important issue for a number of years throughout the U.S. Racial profiling has spread throughout the U.S. fast and it is still spreading as we speak. Evidence shows that African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to be stopped and searched by police, even though they are less likely to be found possessing contraband or committing a criminal act(Natarajan). The police’s use of excessive force is a national and systematic problem. They need to put all of the officers into a class which shows them that racial profiling is bad, considering how often it happens and how worse its getting. Racial profiling

One of the most important civil rights facing our nation today is racial profiling. The main source of those accused of racial profiling are police officers. In the eyes of citizens, racial profiling by a police officer can be defined as “any police-initiated action that relies on the race, ethnicity or national origin rather than behavior of an individual or information that leads the police to a particular individual who has been identified as being, or having been, engaged in criminal activity” (Ramirez, 2000). For instance, concerning traffic stops, the use of racial profiling can be defined as when the race or ethnicity of a person is a

The racial profiling still does exist in today’s society. When something happens, most of police officers and people accuse black males based on their record or they suspect African-American people because they made many serious crimes before and they still do. In the Brent Staples’ essay, “Just Walk on By," Staples always acted carefully or accused of something that he didn’t do because of his appearance. However, people should know that we don’t need racial profiling anymore . Although they look suspicious and seem they are going to make a crime, sometimes they can be the victim.

Reversing the racial discrimination and stereotypes against black youth. Racial profiling refers to the targeting of certain individuals based on race. Law enforcement authorities and also average people, not based on their behavior but rather the color of their skin and their stereotypical personality. Racial profiling has become a global issue rather than a problem that keeps occurring in the United States. As globalization expands and people migrate from different parts of the world to other, so does race related issues. People across the world are different but what people fail to realize is no matter how fair our skin is or how dark and rich our skin is, we all bleed the same color, red. As people, we do not take the time to stop and

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.

In this research study, there have been numerous occasions where the black drivers have been racially profiled by police officers. Research will show the need and a prevention process that would be beneficial to the black community and the police officers. The study is conducted in a rural area of Lee County, Ms which is very diverse with people of all races. The study will bring some insight on training methods to prevent racial profiling, and how well these officers use their training in their daily routine. In this study the Tupelo Police Department is broken down into three sections for the study. The first study will be conducted with the administrators, the second group will be the training officers, and the last group will be the street

From that moment in time onward, racial profiling seemed to gained leaps and bounds in America especially as it relates to the criminal justice system. This discriminatory practice of racial profiling has a lengthy history of oppression towards people of color based on their heritage, and reaches blacks on many fronts no matter their socioeconomic status or geographical location.

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,