Racial Profiling Persuasive Speech

There have been many attempts to make racial profiling illegal, but all have failed. Racial profiling is defined as suspecting an individual of a wrongdoing based solely on the individual’s race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin (Racial Profliling: Definition 2). Racism spreads throughout all dimensions of life in American society; therefore, the history of racial profiling is extensive, but it was at an all-time high after the September 11th attacks (Persistence of racial and ethnic profiling in the United States: a follow-up report to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 10). It can be used in both positive and negative aspects, but is mostly used negatively. Racial profiling negatively effects society and the very existence of racial profiling is erroneous, discriminatory, and unjustifiable.

Racial Profiling is an act of automatically defining or identifying someone based on their ethnicity. This act was most recognized during the late 1800’s in the U.S. under the Jim Crow law. It was passed in order to segregate whites and the colored in America. It fundamentally made whites superior to all. Though, in 1964 the Civil Rights Act passed stating that anybody of any ethnicity or religion are to be equal and united. However, today this law has never been truly accepted when seeing the statistics of the type of people being stopped by the police. In fact, based on the statistics of the people stopped, there is an ethnic disproportion which shows that the police use racial profiling. Even though innocent people are stopped, the

Racial profiling in the dictionary is “the assumption of criminality among ethnic groups: the alleged policy of some police to attribute criminal intentions to members of some ethnic groups and to stop and question them in disproportionate numbers without probable cause (“Racial Profiling”).” In other words racial profiling is making assumptions that certain individuals are more likely to be involved in misconduct or criminal activity based on that individual’s race or ethnicity. Racial profiling propels a brutalizing message to citizens of the United States that they are pre-judged by the color of their skin rather than who they are and this then leads to assumptions of ruthlessness inside the American criminal justice system. With

According to the 11 Facts about Racial Discrimination, “The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics concluded that an African American male born in 2001 has a 32% chance of going to jail in his lifetime, while a Latino male has a 17% chance, and a white male only has a 6% chance” (11 Facts about Racial Discrimination 1). Racial profiling, or discriminating against a whole group of people based on their race, is an unjust act and a big problem in our society today. Arresting people because of how they look like, or what they believe in is absurd. According to ACLU, “Racial Profiling refers to 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” (ACLU 1). Although law enforcement assumes they are doing their job, they need to remain objective and fair in all situations, because they are violating rights, lacking protection and risking lives.

Racial Profiling, it’s been the buzzword of the decade, its being talked about every time the news is on, it’s thrown around high-schools more often than test answers, it’s what George Zimmerman was accused of doing to Trayvon Martin, and it’s what Darren Wilson was accused of doing to Michael Brown. Everyone seems to have an opinion on Racial Profiling these days, some arguing that its morally right or wrong, others that its statistically supported or disproved, and many people argue over both. In a room of fifty people if you ask what they think about it you’ll get fifty different answers. After the recent incidents in New York and Ferguson that have made Racial Profiling the new poster child of every single media outlet, and after hearing so much about it I decided it was time for me to figure out what exactly Racial Profiling is and come up with my own answer to the million dollar question; should Racial Profiling be allowed as a tool of the police in their investigations?

Second, police in our country do racial profiling. This practice of law enforcement is morally wrong and personally sickening. Racial Profiling is the idea that just because someone is a different race automatically makes that one person a suspect. Racial Profiling goes against everything that the United States Constitution is about. The constitution is about freedom, equality, and the pursuit of happiness. Our law enforcement is put into place to serve and protect the innocent. The constitution protects us of unlawful search and seizers as well. Racial profiling makes our law enforcement give in their minds probable cause when there really is not any in the first place. Also, it goes against the United States Constitution. The American Civil Liberties Union and American Civil Liberites Union Foundation said, “Racial profiling is a longstanding and deeply troubling national problem despite claims that the United States has entered a “post-racial era.” It occurs every day, in cities and towns across the country, when law enforcement and private security target people of color for humiliating and often frightening detentions, interrogations, and searches without evidence of criminal activity and based on perceived race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion. Racial profiling is

Racial profiling is discrimination, and discrimination is wrong. Discrimination taints the entire criminal justice system. Racial profiling is nothing but public stereotyping. Therese extreme tactics make the justice system look bad in cases which their racial profiling was incorrect. It publicly puts all races in once category, bad or good. Discrimination has being going on for years and years in history. African Americans are one group of people who have worked so hard not to be discriminated against, and with racial profiling they are constantly being brought back down to the Jim Crow Era. When will it ever stop?

In order to understand racial profiling, it must first be correctly defined. Although different authors use different criteria for the term racial profiling, Merriam-Webster’s definition for the word racial is “of, relating to, or based on a race (Merriam-Webster, 2006; p.855).” The definition the dictionary puts forth for profiling is “the act of suspecting or targeting a person solely on the basis of observed characteristics or behavior (Merriam-Webster, 2006; p.830).” Based on these definitions, racial profiling could be defined for criminal justice purposes as targeting a person based solely on the characteristic of race. Most people, law enforcement officers included, would consider racial profiling based on this definition as

In relation to the debate of ‘racial profiling,’ Taylor and Whitney define racial profiling as “the practice of questioning blacks in disproportionate numbers in expectation that they are more likely than people of other races to be criminals” (Taylor & Whitney, 2002). Statistics show that African-Americans and Hispanics commit more crime than Caucasians, with 90% of the 1.7 million interracial crimes stemming from the hands of African-American men. Even looking at these numbers, does that make it okay for the police to arrest and interrogate these racial minorities at such a high frequency? Where are these statistics coming from? How accurate are they? Does the media provide a skewed analysis of these findings? These are the types of questions that need to be addressed in regard to evaluating the validity of racial profiling.

Before any argument can be made against racial profiling, it is important to understand what racial profiling is. The American Civil Liberties Union, 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"(Racial Profiling: Definition). Using this definition we can determine that racial profiling excludes any evidence of wrong-doing and relies solely on the characteristics listed above. We can also see

In America’s judicial system, the color of skin or race are often equated with criminal behavior. Dr. King once said “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” As United States citizens, we are not convicted of a crime until proven guilty. However, racial profiling aids law enforcement on deciding when to pursue or detain a suspect based on race. This method undoubtedly categorizes that certain races are more prone to commit crimes. Nevertheless, racial profiling is a violation of constitutional rights thus protected by federal law; oddly it is often disregarded by states.

Racial Profiling is unconstitutional and illegal, yet it’s still used in law enforcement. The practice of racial profiling, as defined by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), refers to 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”(ACLU 2005). Racial profiling causes more harm than good, it can cause emotional, mental and more often physical harm to the person being subjected to the practice. According to the Fourth and Fourteenth amendments, racial profiling is unconstitutional. It causes distrust in law enforcement because ethnic

Racial profiling is when someone’s race is used by law enforcement to assume criminal suspicions (Spagnoli, Filip). Law enforcement has used racial profiling to “help” prevent criminal activity. For instance, a survey done by the department of justice when officers focused more on African-American and Latino drivers they found that less of them had drugs the when they least focused on white drivers (The Truth About Racial Profiling: FIVE FACTS). Some officers assume that Hispanics and African-Americans are carrying around illegal substances and weapons. This is not always true! As the survey revealed, most of the people who did have prohibited items were white Americans. Law enforcement should begin stopping drivers by suspicion not by their race. In another survey done by Ian Ayres and Jonathan Borowsky they had found very similar information. “We also found that, once people were stopped, officers were more likely to frisk, search, or arrest African-Americans and Latinos than whites…when these frisks and searches are substantially less likely to uncover weapons, drugs, or other types of contraband” (Borowsky, Ayres). Officers are spending more time on race than focusing on real criminals who are ousting the reasons why this country is remarkable. Other cases like these have been confirmed as well. “Relative to stopped whites, stopped blacks is 127% more likely and

While racial profiling is used to solve many crimes, using race as a description of the criminal being pursued does not constitute discrimination. “Racial profiling does not refer to the act of a law enforcement agent pursuing a suspect in which the specific description of the suspect includes race or ethnicity in combination with other identifying factors.”1 Identifying and defining racial profiling simply on the basis of race can raise several issues. Using this definition solely based on race fails to mention when police act on the basis of race along with a violation. For example an officer who targets African Americans who were jaywalking would not be considered to be racial profiling because the people that were stopped were jaywalking and happened to be African Americans.

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,