Racial Profiling and Male African Americans
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
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The principle of law enforcement and the principle of equality among African American males make this issue even more difficult to analyze (Persico, 2002).
According to Delores (2007), although, many things in policing have changed as far as policies goes, many things will remain the same. Changes to the police policy were to improve the image of police in certain communities, and impact citizens in a positive way through trust and satisfaction. However, Delores (2007) states, officers perceive African American males as people who are capable of wrongdoing even though a crime has yet to be committed. In addition, in noncriminal or minimal criminal activities police view male African Americans as the most dangerous. Police officers developed ways to recognize certain kind of people, as emblematic assailants, meaning, police recognize the gesture, attire, language of a person, which is then perceive as a prelude to violence. However, sometimes officers make mistakes and innocent citizens like African American males end up paying the ultimate price. In 1998, four African American males name Keyshon Moore, Rayshawn Brown, LeRoy Jarmaine Grant and Danny Reyes all fell victims to racial profiling. The four victims were on their way to a
The professors use hard hitting facts that demonstrates the truth behind African Americans and the way the law enforcement perceives them, giving the reader some distinctive insight. The history of the law enforcement along with the criminal justice system has portrayed that they are disproportionality race-based. Blacks are more likely than whites to be racially profiled (Staples 2011), to be stopped by law enforcement, and receive harsher sentences. Unfortunately, it has been shown time and time again that judges, jurors, and the law enforcement finds it challenging for them to sympathize with African Americans. All in all this body of academic work has highlighted external factors that have shaped the lives of Blacks in America without giving due attention to the words of Rodney King, the man who became the face of racial injustice (Chaney and Robertson 2014). Four themes were unveiled in the analysis King’s quotes: appreciation for the struggles of former Civil Rights Activists, appreciation for the legal system, personal feelings related to police brutality, and the desire for non-violence as a catalyst for positive
Legewie, Joscha. "Racial Profiling and Use of Force in Police Stops: How Local Events Trigger Periods of Increased Discrimination." American Journal of Sociology, vol. 122, no. 2, Sept. 2016, pp. 379-424. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.uno.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=118161270&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Racial profiling occurs when authority uses someone’s race or ethnicity to decide whether or not to use enforcement. This controversial act is highly illegal and is mostly caused by stereotypes of certain races and ethnicities. Black males are mostly targeted due to the color of their skin, the type of car they drive, the genre of music they are listening to and how they are dressed. Some call this act DWB, driving while black. Black males are stopped and searched constantly with no probable cause just because of their race and gender. If a group of black males are riding in a car with hats on, and loud music they are more likely to get stopped than a group of white males doing the same thing. It is
Police enforcement targeting minorities based on the color of their skin and not by evidence of unlawful doing is racial profiling. Today, racial profiling among law enforcement has become a controversial topic throughout the nation. A recent event in Ferguson, Missouri, Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen, was shot and killed by a white police officer. The shooting caused major racial tension among the black community and mistrust in police. Michael’s death has lead to weeks of protest in which the officers responded with tear gas and rubber bullets and curfews for citizens. It’s wrong to target an individual due to the color of their skin, however, racial profiling is a procedure used by law enforcement regularly. This study focuses on racial profiling, how race and ethnicity play a major role in police stops and how it’s caused a major distrust in police. The studies expose racial profiling being used on racial minority groups in traffic stops, tasers use, based on assumptions that may be false.
What comes to your mind when you think of an interaction an authoritative figure (police, teacher, principal)? In the African American community it is usually fear and anxiety of the motive of the authoritative figure, especially if you are a male. The intersection of race and gender for the African American male provides a basis for premature judgment by many authoritative figures in their lives. African American males deserve the same equality to succeed in life as any other human being without the threat of the damned if you do, damned if you don’t moniker that defines the functional ability
One of the most imminent threats looming within American society is race relations. America is a melting pot of different races, cultures, and religions, yet the matter of racial profiling still remains prominent today. By definition it is considered “an activity carried out by enforcers of the law wherein they investigate or stop any individual in traffic or round up people of the same race or ethnicity for crime suspicion” (NYLN.org ). This profiling has become a significant catalyst in the tension that has been ensuing between minorities and the government. Hostility has grown due to the apparent and intentional targeting of “brown people”, and
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.
Racial profiling has become one of the most problematic practices in police departments. According to Bier, there are more than 900,000 officers in the U.S. In this country alone, there have been numerous incidents where people have been arrested and detained because of their ethnicity. A satisfactory example is an incident that happened right after
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.
With so many news stories and incidents surrounding the topic of race and the police these days, it is not surprising for people to come to the conclusion that racism may exist within the criminal justice system. We will be taking a deeper look into the problem to find out what other possible determinants may play a role in deciding how an officer makes an arrest or stop and continue to analyze what is happening in those contexts. The issues surrounding the topic of race is like the two faces of the same coin as there are usually two sides that we have to consider: reality and media portrayals. The reality side of situations is always there at the time, but it is so subtly hidden from society that nobody understands it unless they witness it firsthand and with the media spreading filtered information, it becomes even harder for us to identify the key issue; this is especially the case when dealing with the police and racial profiling. If you turn on the news and flip to a channel where it is reporting on the police and their arrests, you will most likely see more arrests pertaining to minorities than other ethnicities. In the news, we can often see a misrepresentation of ethnic minorities, usually African-Americans, being arrested when compared to others and this has caused problems around societies countless times. For this essay topic, I will be discussing the different issues surrounding race within the parameters of criminal justice and inequality; furthermore I will be
Imagine walking down the street one day with your friends, minding your own business when a police car pulls up next to you. As the car comes to a stop, a police officer rushes out with a gun in hand pointed at you. You are thrown to the ground, pinned under the officer, questioning what you did wrong. As you look around for help you realize that you have become the next victim of racial profiling. Racial profiling is the use of race or ethnic background to suspect someone of committing an offence. This problem has been going on for centuries and not only needs to be recognized, but also needs to be solved. Racial profiling in the United States must be addressed through an examination
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.
African-American males have fallen victim to law enforcement organizations, as they use racial profiling as a tactic to discriminatively enforce laws and regulations.
Racial profiling has become a major topic of debate between politicians, journalists, and even the public themselves. Some define this act of the police as a justifiable response of observing a suspicious character, but others see racial profiling as a way to discriminate against ethnic minorities. While racial profiling is highly favored by law enforcement to reduce crime, it accomplishes very little in the world of crime, and it conflicts with the relationship between the police and the community; therefore, the community must work together to put an end to racial profiling.
The excessive use of force and racial profiling by police are amongst the top controversial issues in politics and cultural studies. Racial profiling by the police is not a recent phenomenon. Urban ethnographies have been describing vividly the extent in which the police target most of the young black men, particularly in the poor urban centers. In the United States, racial profiling has been prevalent, with practitioners providing different explanations on the prevalence of racial profiling. Evidently, minority groups such as the African Americans are likely to be victims of police frisking and consequent arrests as compared to their white counterparts.