Racial Profiling And The Black Communities

The brutality of the police force has been a long worldwide problem, but especially between the years of 2012-2016. Black people are being unjustly beaten and shot in plain sight for doing nothing while being unarmed. Journal of African American Studies “Blacks are viewed as deserving of harsh treatment in the criminal justice system” (482). “Black males with more “Afrocentric” features may receive longer sentences than blacks with less Afrocentric features like lighter skin and straighter hair”(482). Nowadays it is important to know about the police force. It’s important to know our rights as citizens and be careful around cops. Not everybody is good, but not everybody is bad also. In The New York Amsterdam News 21 people were killed by Chicago police in 2008. Entire families were being attacked. They believe it’s because of their skin color and how they are different. The year of racism started off with the world seeing the police murder of Oscar Grant. “The media have pushed people away from hearing the issue of police brutality, and it has fallen off of the radar screen.”(2) “You can’t give in. They will try to make an example out of you, try to break your spirit!”(2) African Americans say do not trust the cops with anything. “They will ruin you.”(2)

Since the birth of our nation, racial profiling has been an issue longstanding and troubling among minority groups and still continues to exhibit severe consequences in communities.

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 a prominent aspect of culture in America today. Some people refuse to believe that racism still exists in the United States, which makes it such a controversial topic. There have been many cases that have come out that relate to racial profiling. Most of them have a tendency to be related to violent acts. They can involve all different races such as African American or Middle-Eastern people. Especially after 9/11,

The topic of racial profiling is very prominent in our American society. I witness accounts of it every day, whether it is while going through an airport, reading about crime, and it’s heavily influenced within the world of politics. Racial profiling is a way for law enforcement to target certain individuals that are suspected of committing a crime. This involves race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, etc. The act of racial profiling allows law enforcement to alienate certain communities, which, in turn creates racial divides and demonstrates a “militarization” of the police. Not only that, racial profiling is heavily influenced within American society through politics and the use of media.

Racial Profiling is just what it is. Targeting individuals for suspicion of a violation determined by the individual’s race, ethnicity, religion or national origin. Race and location are the supreme characteristics law enforcement visually examine when engaging in this type of profiling. African-American males are the primary victims of racial profiling in the United States. The phrase “driving while black” derive from African Americans protesting that they are pulled over by police officers for no reason other than the color of their skin. But racial profiling isn 't only about African-Americans, racial profiling deals with other ethnicity groups likewise. Police departments across the country too often use extortionate force, injuring people suspected of misconduct and sometimes killing them. Stop and frisk is the practice by which a police officer initiates a cessation of an individual on the street allegedly based on plausible suspicion of malefactor activity. Statistically, police have been more liable to perform stop and frisks in neighborhoods that are home to sizably voluminous numbers of African American and Hispanics. Racial profiling by the police is becoming progressively controversial. We know little about the extent of the problem and even less about public perceptions of profiling.

Criminal justice professionals can lower the controversy surrounding profiling in law enforcement by eliminating the practice altogether. There is more than enough meta-analysis data available to substantiate that the practice of profiling is discriminatory and violates an individual’s constitutional right to have access to equal protection. For most people, when we recognize anything that does not work we either get rid of it or attempt to fix it so that it is actually useful. The same philosophy has to be applied to racial profiling. If there is to be any solution to eliminating racial profiling there must be a proper balance between the constitutional safeguard of equal protection and police policies that use race appropriately (Jones, 2006).

Racial Profiling has been used by law enforcement officials from early 60’s during the civil rights movement. The term “racial profiling” which was introduced to criticize abusive police practices against people of different race, ethnicity or national origin. One must assess how to understand the practice, and how to keep it distinct from other issues. Racial profiling is defined as “any police-initiated action that relies on the race, ethnicity, or national origin, rather than the 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 5).

The most controversial issue related to law enforcement profiling is racial profiling. “Some law enforcement officers have created their own profiles based solely on race, ethnicity, or national origin rather than on the behavior of an individual” (Levinthal, 2012 pg. 123). For decades racial profiling has been a biased issue incorporated by a government system that discriminate on people who look a certain way or have been classified as a suspect. One would think individuals and agencies responsible for enforcing laws supposed to maintain public order and public safety. Instead to an extent individuals who think they are privileged and above the law have taken it upon themselves to target people for suspicion of crime by creating a profile

Since this is a Race and Ethnic class I decided to do my research paper and power point presentation on “racial profiling”. Starting off racial profiling refers to the biased practice by law enforcement officials focusing on individuals for suspicion of crime, based on the individual 's race, ethnicity, religion or national origin. Racial profiling is a very brood and sensitive topic because it’s a lot of it going on in the world today. My opinion is that racial profiling is a controversial topic in our society. The beneficial parts of racial profiling are firmly upheld by statistics that show that racial profiling is a compelling measure for fighting crime. In any case, there are decreasing consequences for certain minority groups on account of the sentiment that minorities are continually being preposterously associated with crime. Throughout my paper I will be informing you on the historical background, statistics, political views, my opinion, and contributing factors to the issue. The topic of my paper is racial profiling but I will mainly be racial profiling by police officers, since that’s a big topic in the world today.

African Americans, Whites, and Hispanics often perceive American social institutions, including the criminal justice system in starkly different terms. Research has shown that race is one of the most salient predictors of attitudes toward the police and other criminal justice institutions: African Americans are more likely than whites to express dissatisfaction with various aspects of policing. Whites tend to hold a favorable opinion of the police, favor aggressive law enforcement, and are skeptical of criticisms of the police. African Americans and Hispanics, however, are more included to viewing the police as contributing to their subordination through both legal and extralegal practices, as frequently involved in mistreatment of minority citizens. Their position increases the chance that they will see police misconduct as both a general problem and one that particularly afflicts Hispanics and African Americans. The reality is that most African Americans and Hispanics, like many Whites, want law enforcement amplified, though they want it achieved in a fashion that reduces abuses. (Weitzer & Tuch, Race and Perceptions of Police Misconduct, 2004)

Everyone hears about the controversial events that happen between the NYPD targeting African Americans. Every few months there seems to be another shooting, another protest. Your men are here to protect and serve New York City but now the NYPD is looking like the bad guys. In order to have peace in the city, the racial profiling needs to stop. This memo is to inform you on the discrimination happenings that occur against African Americans, which take place right the New York City’s streets. This letter also contains evidence and ways to stop the racial profiling among the NYPD and African Americans.

Racial profiling is a sensitive, yet longstanding violation of human rights in which law enforcement targets individuals for crimes merely based on their race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin. I chose this topic because there has been an alarming rate of incidents nationwide where individuals have fallen victim to racial profiling. This violation of this human right has a widespread effect on the lives of minorities and is beginning to shape their communities’ attitudes toward law enforcement. Law enforcement encompasses all individuals who are used for policing intended for public or private purposes. As a young, educated, African-American woman, I have been followed around stores and even denied for certain jobs

Over the years, law enforcement has been involved in many of unethical events that caused the community to lose trust in them. There are many of reasons why it is difficult for the police to have interaction with the citizens of the community. One reason the community do not trust the police is because of racial profiling. Racial profiling has been going on for years and now the community is getting tired of it. An example of racial profiling is a group of black teenagers being pulled over because of the kind of car they are driving. Along with this act and many of other police corruption acts has caused the community to question themselves about law enforcement. Many of concerns about police misconduct on the street still continue throughout the community. Cities across the globe have experienced intense altercations stemming from deadly shootings of citizens and allegations of excessive use of force. Police are sworn in to “Protect and Serve” everyone in the community no matter what race they are. Less than a week after Katrina hit New Orleans on September 4, 2005, police executed 40 year old Ronald Madison and 17 year old James Brissette and injured four others. Five of the New Orleans covered up the corruption by lying saying that people was shooting when they arrived at the scene. When the officers arrived at the Danziger Bridge they just started shooting at unarmed victims. Officers covered up the killing by planting a gun at the scene, fabricated witnesses and

Black men in the United States of America have never truly had good relationships with police officers. According to Brooks, blacks continue to be a marginalized group connected with a long negative history amid law enforcement (Browning et al. 1994; Brunson 2007; Chavez 2014; Dowler and Sparks 2008; Griffin and Bernard 2003; Hahn and Jeffries 2003). This evidence proves that perhaps, police officers communicate with black men different than they do with any other race. Officers should police with the same professionalism and mannerisms in black communities that they do in other populations. The only way that relationships between police officers and minorities will improve, is if black people feel as if they can connect with the officers. I’m not suggesting that in order for a black person to have a good relationship with a police officer, the officer has to be black. However, there needs to be a balance in the number of minorities that are employed as police officers. On the other hand, when black kids see