Essay on Stereotyping and Racial Profiling

Stereotypes are a form of prejudice everyone will once experience in their lifetime. Stereotypes are centered around an individual's race, gender, social class, religion, and age. They have been known to be elements people use to make judgments and subjectify people to one key feature. As Gordon Allport states, “ To state the matter technically, a noun abstracts from a concrete reality some one features and assembles different concrete realities only with respect to this one feature”(364). Mr.Allport’s words can be summed up to say stereotypes have been used as key fundamentals to associate one feature or aspect of a person with a group that represents it, typically in an unfavorable way.

Stereotypes are generalizations about a group of people whereby we attribute a defined set of characteristics to this group. These classifications can be positive or negative, such as when various nationalities are stereotyped as friendly or unfriendly.

By stereotyping we infer that a person has a whole range of characteristics and abilities that we assume all members of that group have. Stereotypes lead to social categorisation, which is one of the reasons for prejudice attitudes.

Williams assumes that crime is related to poverty but, as in the US, white communities tend to be much wealthier than communities of color, people are, one more time, induced to stretch poverty into race. Moreover, in order to sustain her point of view, she points out that statistics have proven that in areas where there are many poor whites, the crime rate is almost the same as African Americans and Latino neighborhoods.

Innocent minorities may be portrayed to do be doing something bad. According to Sameera Hazif, Policy Director of Rights Working Group, an African American named Mahari Bailey was driving in his Range Rover and was asked to stop four times just because the police thought he was acting suspiciously (Hazif). Latino-immigrant, Angel Castro-Torres was stopped on his motorcycle by two police officers because he looked Latino.

Criminal profiling is designed to help police spot criminals by developing a set of personal and behavioral characteristics associated with particular offences, with a better “profiles” it is easier to treat whoever as a suspect. (Harris,11). But while using this tactic, it can quickly become into harsh racial profiling, only because they both share the same techniques. But many law enforcements might argue back that it makes perfect sense in using these specific traits due to that fact that certain races have larger involvement in certain crimes (Harris,17). By saying this, the officials basically have a free pass at detaining anybody, only on the basis of a suspicion which is concidently related to their skin color. There have been countless situations where innocent people who are automatically assumed to criminals and were discriminated against. One example dating back to 1998, happened to Sergeant First Class Rossano Gerald, an African American who had devoted his life to the United States Army, was on the way to a family reunion in Oklahoma. During the roadtrip Gerald noticed several patrol cars who followed him for a little bits of times. Then, he was pulled over six times and the seventh time after being wrongfully accused of going over the speed limit and even after providing a valid licence, proof of insurance and a army identification, was detained inside a police vehicle. The police then said that he has smelled drugs and called the dogs to look for

The robbery victimization rate for African Americans is 150% of that for whites, and they are victimized by rapes and aggravated assaults at similar rates that exceed those for whites.

In life, there is a common ground on which most every person can relate. At one time or another, we have all been promoters of or victims of the unremitting nature of stereotypes. According to the Webster’s dictionary, a stereotype is defined as “a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.” Most stereotypes take on a negative form and are based on characteristics such as age, gender, race, status, and personal beliefs. Generally speaking, the greatest problem that arises with stereotypes is that they judge group of people by the characteristics and actions of their ancestors, rather than on an individual basis. More often than not, these assumptions will

Additionally, African Americans and other minorities are more likely to be arrested by policemen due to their race. Many government officials believe race is tied up with crime, and they make assumptions based off the color of the offenders skin (Jost 7). In the twenty first century, one out of fifteen people incarnated were African Americans (Miller 1). Not only are minority adults more likely to be arrested, but also minority children targeted by police officers (“Justice on Trial” 4). Even though studies have shown that caucasian and minority youths have been dealing drugs at the same rate, African Americans and other minorities are more likely to be arrested for the crime (“Justice on Trial” 4).

Current socio-political controversy in America has hit an all-time high. Our country is divided regarding topics such as immigration, minimum wage, healthcare, and foreign affairs. These problems desperately need a solution, however, because of the variety of opinions as to how we should solve these, solutions that satisfy everyone have been nearly impossible to come by. One of the most prominent issues in our country that has been increasingly problematic is racial profiling. Racial profiling is seen throughout America at places like airports and on the highways. Multiple ethnic groups have been affected by this ‘strategy,’ such as Muslims and Latinos. One of the most subjected groups to racial profiling and arguably one of the most outspoken have been African Americans. The divide between African Americans and police officers has been continuously rising in the last decade, as many have spoken out regarding the unfair treatment of blacks by law enforcement. In the last decade alone, there have been far too many instances in which a black citizen’s life has been claimed by the hands of a police officer, such as in the case of the killings of Philando Castile and Michael Brown. The public response to these killings have been outrage and angst against police officers. Believing race was a factor, the public began to voice their opinions and protest the seemingly unfair treatment towards black individuals by police officers. This has only increased the tension between the two groups, as there are often racial profiling accusations toward police officers who pull over black drivers. The best way to approach a solution is to first look at the history of the problem and its contribution to the current situation. I believe the unfair treatment and racial violence towards blacks that occurred in American history has contributed to the rising tension between blacks and police officers, resulting in the current racial divide and constant confrontations between the two groups. The best example of this can be seen in the issue of racial profiling, in which the two groups’ perception of one another has been hostile and unwelcoming.

Have you ever heard someone say that all Asians are smart, or African Americans are always late, or girls can’t play sports? All if these are called stereotypes. Stereotypes are widely held beliefs for certain groups, and it can be positive, negative, or neutral. In the story “Girls Can’t Play”, Hazel faces a stereotype that girls can’t play ball. However, that is disproved in the story itself and in the article “Why Women Should Play” by Jennifer Shotz.

In today’s society it has become a norm to make assumptions of an individual and categorize them into groups that fit them. This would be known as stereotyping, and it occurs everyday and almost everywhere. It can affect someone’s everyday life along with their emotions. A stereotype is a widely held idea or image of a a group of people and is based off of some truth, while misconceptions are based off no evidence at all. Stereotypes can either be positive or negative. Stereotypes exist because that’s how the human brain functions, they see something that repeats within a group of people and that’s how stereotyping begins. An example of a positive stereotype would be that African-Americans are very athletic. However, there can be some negative

Lights! Camera! Judgement! In today’s world, racial profiling has been a central issue economically. These types of problem can be spotted anywhere to whether we see it or not. It is hard to believe racial profiling is one point citizens can never get enough of which makes things so conflicted and leads to a big mess. That is one way to how maybe war can create between people who are innocent and others who is racist even though they say they “are not”. Ever since racial profiling started in the mid 1900’s never stopped. It is hard to put an end to it but people has their own aspects of it which I do not blame them but makes them racist. People may fool around here and there but this is a serious issue happening globally. From social media to the real life thing can lead to violence and making a severe economic impact. I, myself faced something like this when I just wanted to look at something myself can and cannot afford, then later received a comment and body language which I will never forget.

Stereotypes are deeply embedded in every society in numerous ways. The dictionary definition of a stereotype is “one that is regarded as embodying or conforming to a set image or type.” Stereotyping or Labeling is a technique that “attempts to arouse prejudices in an audience by labeling the object of the propaganda campaign

Journalists have conducted observations and studies have shown that people in today’s modern society are still prejudice and stereotypical on the things they view in their daily lives. (James, 2012). Psychologists say that stereotypes are nothing but racism, sexism, and prejudice all summed up together making it a whole. Stereotyping is something that an individual acts upon someone that is weaker, lower status, or minors; furthermore, stereotyping can harm another person’s self-esteem, self-control, confidence, and performance in a task (Robles, 2012). Another problem is that stereotyping is almost everywhere like the work industry, schools, and families. Stereotyping is something that needs to be stopped and the person needs to change their point of view on the world; thus, if someone stereotypes another individual then it puts a label on that individual, also it can harm the person’s emotions and cause them to be ineffective in society. Another researcher has identified how in her opinion that stereotyping is bad for kids and people. “Stereotyping is typically bad because people can judge another person’s looks, personality, and nationality; moreover, somebody can dress in all black and can be judged that they worship the devil, someone will not believe in God and people who are religious can judge that person that they are atheist or that person is not normal for praising God.” (Paul, 1998). Stereotyping is deceiving another person and labeling them with a word or