Racism And Police

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 dates back to as earlier as the 1700s. It was during this time, that many African Americans were used as slaves, and those African Americans who were free were required to carry registry papers to claim they were indeed free. Though they were free, those African Americans were still racially profiled in Southern states. Some of the southern states even sent out special slave patrols that would hunt for what they believed to be escaped slaves. Members of these groups, if they found free African Americans accused them of being runaway slaves (Gale Opposing). After the Civil War, laws such as segregation laws, and Jim Crow laws were created to form more separation. These laws kept blacks and whites separate in public places such as restrooms, churches, public transportation, restaurants, and schools (Gale Opposing). Laws today for racial profiling may have changed, but attitudes toward it have not. We find that years later racial profiling continues, and many people are suspected of committing crimes for little more than the color of their skin. Police today use more racially driven practices to try and accuse many of crimes (Gale Opposing). Practices such as "Stop and Frisk" have proven to be more hurtful than useful, with data supporting that this practice has no proven practical use these actions are seen as a serious act of unfair racial scrutiny and are of no use in society today.

Racism and police brutality in America” by Cassandra Chaney and Ray V. Robertson touch upon racism and brutality in America. Their article talks about respecting the cops but they also mention police brutality through stories from people that experienced this. Although Satzewich and Shaffir reached out to people to cops to write about their personal experiences and thoughts about racial profiling, Chaney and Robertson’s article is a stronger source because they used several sources and focus on both sides of the situation.

The concept of racial profiling has its wide range of definitions. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, racial profiling means “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.” In other words, racial profiling has its assumptions that particular individuals are more likely to be involved in transgression or unlawful activities based on individual’s race or background. Racial profiling does not just exist today; it thrives and mostly propels a brutalizing message and inhuman misconception to citizens of the United States whom they are pre-judged by the color of their skin. The primary cause of profiling is racism or race-related discrimination. Unfortunately, this unwarranted approach is now commonly used by law enforcement officers, even though it could be both unjust and unconstitutional. Not only does it violate the core principles of this country, but it can be dangerous and deadly because it threatens our privacy and security. It is also a threat to racial equality, where many influential and prominent people have fought for to accomplish. Although many heroic activist leaders have ended racial division to its certain extent, yet many African-Americans all over America still face the rigid unequal world because of unjustifiable race-related tragedies that tremendously affects African-Americans.

The concept of racial profiling has its wide range of definitions. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, racial profiling means “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.” In other words, racial profiling has its assumptions that particular individuals are more likely to be involved in transgression or unlawful activities based on individual’s race or background. Racial profiling does not just exist today; it thrives and mostly propels a brutalizing message and inhuman misconception to citizens of the United States whom they are pre-judged by the color of their skin. The primary cause of profiling is racism or race-related discrimination. Unfortunately, this unwarranted approach is now commonly used by law enforcement officers, even though it could be both unjust and unconstitutional. Not only does it violate the core principles of this country, but it can be dangerous and deadly because it threatens our privacy and security. It is also a threat to racial equality, where many influential and prominent people have fought for to accomplish. Although many heroic activist leaders have ended racial division to its certain extent, yet many African-Americans all over America still face the rigid unequal world because of unjustifiable race-related tragedies that tremendously affects African-Americans.

The first reading “Policing the ‘progressive’ city: The racialized geography of drug law enforcement” by Mona Lynch, Marisa Omori, Aaron Rousell and Matthew Valasik takes a closer look at the specific individual city organization within San Francisco and relates it back to areas like Cleveland, Detroit, New York, and Seattle to determine the city’s impact on racialized policing. Previous studies generalize their results to all cities, instead of looking at the historic and contemporary race relations, norms, political atmospheres, and the relationship between law enforcement and the community. Within San Francisco, there is an overrepresentation of African Americans in prison for drug offenses and they are concentrated in limited areas of San Francisco like the Tenderloin and Hunters Point due to gentrification.

Racial profiling is a tool used to pull over blacks and for reasons other than what the traffic stop should be. To the average person who does not experience this will view as a non-issue or not a big deal. But having an experience as a victim of racial profiling can leave a psychological scar for many years, depending on the severity of the traffic stop. The statistics show that these incidents are not random but shows a systematic pattern of law enforcement misconduct rather it’s coming from the individual officer or the police department, it’s clear that racial profiling has a disparate and degrading impact on blacks.

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.

Racial profiling has been an on going controversy that has yet to be resolved. There is a complicated history of this occurring. For years up until now things have not changed. Racial profiling is all around us and is “the practice by law enforcement officials of using race, national origin, or ethnicity as the primary or sole consideration when intervening in a law-enforcement capacity” (Racial Profiling, 2012). Young black and African-American men are being targeted everyday around the world. They are being stopped walking up to their homes and even walking in their neighborhoods. Many are being suspected of things they are not doing. Look at the consequences that are being faced with the shooting and killing of Trayvon Martin.

Tensions between police and communities of color have been happening since 1704 in South Carolina. Racial profiling is unconstitutional and harmful to human beings and today's society people can approve that racial profiling persists. Racial profiling is often encouraged to police officers when they either find a street-level crime, counterterrorism or even immigration law. Police cultures inculcate a sense of rights to authority over the rest of society. Due to their culture, certain officers are the ones that can set an image to the society so that people can follow them and understand they are doing the right thing, but it is a disturbing matter knowing that police officers does racial profiling.

Racial profiling is a big deal today in our society; incase you didn’t know racial profiling is the act of suspecting or targeting a person of a certain race based on a stereotype about their race. Stereotyping is the leading cause of racial profiling. Yes, it’s true, the police racially profile and are beginning to get out of control but racial profiling goes far beyond just the police. Look at the cases where it wasn’t the police who were at fault; cases like The Trayvon Martin case, the airport, the Christopher Dorner situation when the police were on the other end of things or even now where black people are taking it upon themselves to go out of their way to kill white cops. I’m not saying that the police aren’t wrong sometimes or that they never take advantage of their power but I people sometimes forget that police are human too. People as well as police officers need to remember that the police's job is to serve and protect the people and that not all police are bad. It’s also up to the citizens to be responsible and work with the police. In order to fix the problem and stop the corruption, the citizens of America need to look at the problem as a whole.

Racial profiling has been a hot topic recently and has influenced citizen’s perceptions of police. Minorities that been stopped due to racial profiling are more willing to voice their dissatisfaction with the police. Minorities who have not been racially profiled but hear stories about racial profiling may be more skeptical of future experiences with police. Research has found that minorities tend to rate officer legitimacy in a more objective manor when stopped by a minority officer (Tyler, 2005). Minorities that are stopped by White officers tend to be more skeptical of the officer behavior (Tyler, 2005). African Americans are the most skeptical of police behavior and especially believe

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

Racial profiling is distractive and detrimental to public safety because it poison relations between police.“Racial profiling is a sloppy, lazy substitute for actual policing. It is an abusive practice that targets innocent citizens solely because of the way they look” (Elliot). Today, African Americans are often suspected of committing crimes , which then leads to a problem. Most of the situations end up on the news. Many think of racial profiling as a recent problem that manifested in the 1980s , when news of African Americans being pulled over for “driving while Black” began making headlines. “ In Garner’s case, for example, police targeted him for the petty crime of selling loose cigarettes, the types of crimes black people are targeted

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,