Racial Profiling In The United States

Racial profiling remains a dormant issue in the United States. It is the act of the authority, mostly, police officers linking minority status to criminal behaviour (Glover, 2007). Several police officers in the United States target specific groups because they don’t display characteristics of typical Caucasian individuals (Glover, 2007). To put history into context, before 9/11, not many police officers profiled individuals based on their ethnic backgrounds but after the attack, there was an increase in racial profiling (Harris, 2006). A racial profiling method that became prevalent in the 1980s in the United States was administered by the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration. Operation Pipeline was a program that they launched to help police officers catch drug traffickers (Harris, 2006). In a video, they taught police officers to look for clues that would help them recognize criminals. It was noticed that police officers made a majority of stops to people with Hispanic last names (Harris, 2006). Marshall Frank, a former police officer was asked what police officers should do if they saw an African man driving around a white community. Frank responded by stating that the police officers should stop the vehicle and investigate the reason to why he was there even if there was no occurrence of a crime (Harris, 2006).

Data shows the racial profiling and illegal pullovers and search of cars driven by Black, and Hispanic males are a police action performed throughout the nation. “Even Famous Black celebrities and prominent African Americans say police have victimized them. They say they have been pulled over and subjected to a vehicle and physical search by police without probable cause, based on none other than the fact they are the black men driving an expensive car. Thus, the Police assumed they must be a drug dealer or involved in some criminal behavior to afford such an expensive car. “DWB” protocols by police and their departments according to the ACLU is also a violation of a person’s civil rights that are illegal, invasive as well as intrusive (8).”

The practice of targeting individuals for police investigation based on their race alone in the last few years has been an increasingly prominent issue in American society. Numerous magazines, newspapers, and journals have explored the issue of race-motivated police actions. Recently, the ABA Journal did a study of New Jersey and Pennsylvania traffic stops from 1998 to 2001, concluding that black drivers were more likely to be pulled over and arrested than whites. The study also delves into the legal ramifications of the 1996 United States Supreme Court ruling in the Whren v. United States case, which held that police officers subjective motivation for stopping a motorist on the

What makes America? Is it the freedoms granted to any American citizen? Is it the way the founding fathers fought for their own freedom against Britain? Is it instead the racial history behind this nation? America, since its origins has been a country of immigrants and for immigrants, yet since its origins, there has been discriminatory laws against blacks, Latinos, Asians, and every other race that is not considered white or Caucasian. Has this country that has been based upon racial profiling, that has fought wars as one nation (and even against themselves at one point), and has triumphed through the Civil Rights movement finally succumbed to justice or is racial profiling just as prominent today? Racial profiling still exists in America because ____________________, ___________________, and _____________________. (3 reasons stated in thesis)

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.

There are tons of cases of Racial Profiling. Now a days many people are being targeted or attacked by racial profiling. Laws are being passed but not every police officer is following up with it. And because of this more and more people are becoming irritated with the government system. Just because a particular person from a particular race does something wrong, everyone from that race is being discriminated by so-called other races. Racial profiling is getting worst by the years go by, it is becoming a hot topic. Ever since the major attack of September 11, 2001 many people have seen Muslims as terrorists. Racial profiling doesn’t just affect Muslims; it affects African Americans and Hispanics. Due to the action of just one individual, and from that individual affects the whole race behind it. It just doesn’t make that person look bad it makes they’re race look as bad as they do. That is why African American, Hispanics, and Muslims are being targeted. Racial profiling negatively impacts society.

With blacks being stopped more than half of the time, and Latinos being stopped around 30 percent, its clear why these groups along with other minority groups feel they are being singled out and picked on; in fact, Mayor Bill de Blasio even made a public apology for the policy’s negative impact after the New York Times (2014) claimed that Judge Shira A. Scheindlin described it as “a policy of indirect racial profiling.” It’s reasons like these that encourage people to believe this tactic is inherently corrupt. If police officers are not using clear logic and reasonable suspicion when stopping individuals, it can create a major separation between our law enforcement agents and society and allow for noble cause corruption. While this policy has the ability to create major distrust and dislike for the cops, however, it can also have a very positive impact as well. For example, if officers continue to improve the accuracy of their stops and become more successful in taking weapons off the streets and deterring crime, their communities should begin to back them and also this

The topic racial profiling is an ongoing debate that is currently being argued in America. Before being able to help understand the faults of racial profiling, one must know what it is. According to the National Institute of Justice, racial profiling in law enforcement “is commonly defined as a practice that targets people for suspicion of crime based on their race, ethnicity, religion or national origin” (“Racial Profiling”). Racial brutality tends to be an outcome of most racial profiling cases. Racial profiling will usually be most casually seen in traffic stops. Not only does racial profiling make police officers hypocrites for not protecting, and causing distress to, the society they sworn to abide to, but it also makes them breach the constitution of the United States of America. Racial profiling is an unethical, biased, and unconstitutional practice in law enforcement.

Not only is the policy not very effective but there is data to support that it is used to target communities of color. The majority of the people stopped are African-Americans, and then the next largest group is Hispanics. The smallest percent of people stopped are Whites. “Roughly 85 percent of people stopped in any given year are black or Hispanic. In 2012, blacks represented 55 percent of stops, Hispanics represented 32 percent of stops, and whites represented 10 percent of stops.” (Haq, 2013) The reason why these numbers are alarming is because whites are the majority in NYC. This is a huge disparity between the population and the number of stops. The specific target group for the policy tends to be Black and Hispanic males between the ages of 14- 24. This group only makes up about 14 percent of the NYC population but 70 percent of this group stopped and frisk. On the other hand some people would argue that the stop and frisk policy should be using crime data and not population data. According to Heather Mac Donald author of “ Cops are Racist” African Americans commit 66 percent of the violent crimes committed in NYC and when combined

Race has been around since time can remember; people have always been judged mainly based by their color. Things and particular events have happened to make people realize how brutal people have been toward minorities. They refer to this as Racism and Racial Profiling. Racial Profiling is more biased-based because of one’s skin color or religion, and can be seen as a widespread enigma, according to most of American society; the questions of race have been around for centuries and Americans are subjective to it as being the one thing that causes worry, initiating it to be the major problem in America and world-wide society.

Ever Since being forced to the united states as slaves blacks have been exposed to racism and legal discrimination citizens of African descent in the United States living threw things like Jim crow laws which were laws set to legally separate blacks like they were lesser to white citizens, or dealing acts of terror by groups like the KKK or other racist whites. And most importantly going through slavery which heavily set blacks back. Black men as a whole in society are believed to have the toughest time. They are often portrayed by society to be hoodlums or thugs when in reality that’s a small percentage, society lets a small amount represent the larger body. According to the Washington Post “African Americans are 13% of the country 's population, but they are 62.7% of convicted drug users/dealers. Caucasians are 80% of the country 's population, they are the majority of drug users/dealers but only 36.7% of them are locked up” this is a direct result of racial profiling and discrimination. We as a society need to improve and bring awareness to the topic of male males being profiled and discriminated against.

In Brian Withrow's article on driving and race-based profiling, we get insight on the potential theory on why some races, usually the minorities, are shown with racial bias and discrimination. A brief description of what race-based policing is, how the practice was measured, and how it compared to recent studies are included within this article. The author's main argument is that beneath the appearance of racial bias and profiling, there are more factors in play other than that of one's race or ethnicity that determines how and if someone should be investigated. One finding that Withrow came across was that the population of a beat correlates with the patrol deployment within a city since the demand for police resources are not equal throughout

On September 11, 2001, four planes were hijacked from different areas of the East Coast. Two out of these planes crashed into the World Trade Centers in New York City and over two thousand people were killed from that incident alone. One plane had also crashed into the Pentagon in near Washington, D.C. The last plane headed towards the White House but incidentally crashed in an open field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania (9/11 at nine). U.S Officials strongly claimed that the attack was linked to a terrorist group named Al-Qaeda. Ever since this occurrence many Muslims across the United States have been subject to racial profiling and security has definitely increased ever since, especially at airports.

. The United States has not evolved into a post-racial society (as cited by Bell, Hopson, Craig & Robinson, 2014, p. 34). In the legislation a bill is being passed in Rhode Island that will hold police accountable for their actions. Murphy (2014) reports that the bill will include computers that will document the dispatch of police the cause for the stop, date, time and location of the stop (p.1). The police vehicles will be equipped with video and audio recorders. The bill will include that an attorney will have the right to view all recordings from the stops that were made. Before the death of a young black male, Michael Brown, Hillary Clinton started a campaign to end racial profiling by getting a bill passed on three levels.

This quotation is significant to the theme of discrimination, as well as the social issue of racial profiling. Throughout Lilly’s life, her racial and religious situation causes her to be discriminated against, most of the time only because of her skin colour. Discrimination towards Lilly and other Muslims around her was a dominant theme in the novel. In this quotation, Lilly remarks that, even in the time period the book is set in (the late 1970s), people still did not fully understand or accept why people like her, decided to practice a religion that does not coincide with their race, as she remarks while struggling to explain where she exists in the world. Lilly highlights that her situation is rare in this quotation, and that is why she