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The National Institute Of Justice Defines Racial Profiling Essay

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The National Institute of Justice defines ‘racial profiling’ as “a practice that targets people for suspicion of crime based on their race, ethnicity, religion or national origin.” It creates a link between certain crimes and certain races which effectively creates stereotypes, and it tends to fail to consider non-Hispanic and non-Arab whites. While it targets many racial and ethnic groups, it greatly affects African Americans’ rights and their everyday lives. Racial Profiling, largely criticized within and outside the United States, is perpetuated by stereotypes, social bias, and fear and used largely against African Americans by figures of authority as an underlying justification for use of force, search, and suspicion. DWB, or “Driving While Black”, is described as the “racial profiling of black drivers” (Dunn). Substantiated by facts, DWB, in more laymen’s terms, means that black drivers are pulled over simply for being black whether there is probable cause or not. Ronnie Dunn, an associate professor of Urban Studies at Case Western University, did a study on traffic stops and violations across racial lines in and around the Cleveland area. Cleveland is an excellent setting for this experiment because while it has majority African American population, it is one of the most racially segregated cities in the United States which Dunn mentions. The study was done across 4 areas including inner-city Cleveland (Central City) and the more affluent suburbs (Westlake). The

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