The Pros And Cons Of Racial Profiling

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 emerges as a standout amongst the most dubious issues in the United States of America as well as different parts of the world all the more so in the created nations. Basically, it includes the utilization of the ethnicity, race or nationality of a person as the fundamental variable of law authorization methodology, for example, arbitrary checks, capture and so forth. In the United States of America, racial profiling is generally considered by numerous individuals as an apparatus of executing racial segregation especially towards individuals who are drawn from ethnic minorities.

Racial profiling is an example of police brutality, which is defined by Gross and Livingston (2002) as “the practice of some officers of stopping motorists of certain racial or ethnic groups because the officer believe that these groups are more likely than others to commit certain types of crimes” (p.1413). Therefore, individuals are treated unfairly by law enforcement solely based on their race. This type of mistreatment is unmerited and ultimately a violation of an individual’s rights. However, in many instances the courts do not find it a violation of their civil rights based on the fact that racial profiling is difficult to prove. Often, prosecutors are disinclined in bringing forth a case against officers on this particular matter. Officers are permitted to stop and search individuals and their vehicles whenever there is reasonable suspicion, however, there has been studies that prove that some law enforcement officers restrict these rights primarily to minority groups. Bowling and Phillips found that although there was no formal monitoring of use of these powers, it was concluded that it was particularly heavy use of these powers against ethnic minorities, largely of young black people (as cited in Sharp & Atherton, 2007, p. 747) . In several cases, officers argue that they reasonably pulled an individual over for other probable grounds such as: traffic violations, suspicious behavior, etc., with race never being an

Some say that racial profiling is a tactic that is very much needed to help officers with investigations. Racial profiling is actually unconstitutional because the fourth amendment prohibits unreasonable searches. The fourth amendment also sets out requirements for search warrants based on probable cause. The court case United States v. Brignoni-Ponce confronted the issue of race as being a factor to the suspicion of criminal activity. The officer that stopped the respondent's car said it was “ the apparent Mexican ancestry of the occupants.” This belief that the occupants were illegal immigrants did not satisfy the court and they ruled the case as violating the fourth amendment.

Racial profiling is a form of racism which involves an individual of a certain race or ethnicity is looked at or portrayed as a person more likely to engage in misconduct than any other race or ethnicity. In the United States, people view other other races as a sign of danger just because of their skin color and ethnicity. The truth is, everyone is capable of being any one of those people; it merely depends on the person’s background. Judging people by their race has both negative and positive attributes. Racial profiling has been known to be ineffective, and it degrades and violates people of their civil rights. Although there are negative aspects of racial profiling, it has benefited society and the United States by decreasing crime rates and terrorism. The question to be answered about this subject is: Should racial profiling be used?

States. The article “ What Is Racial Profiling?” the claims that In many countries, racial classification is illegal. That does not mean that it is there. There are a large number of ethnic or ethnic groups who are automatically charged with racially accused crimes. Unfortunately, racial classification often involves misconceptions about racial segments or ethnic groups. Another deal that has been made with specific ethnic groups is the fear that Arab Americans are more terrorist (par. 2-3). Website, speaks to the audience of people by providing the idea racial profiling. His purpose was to clear the understanding of rase by the police. They say that the problem with racial classification generally is that even if a racial or ethnic group is more exposed to specific crimes, most justice systems are based on individual rights. A person can not be suspected because of race or ethnicity, and the legal system in places like the United States depends on collecting documents to condemn someone (par. 5). Some people who argue that there is a certain kind of racial classification. When researchers are trying to find a suspect in a crime, they may try to identify the person's race to limit the investigation. For example, serial killers are mostly Caucasian men, and knowing this may help to eliminate suspects.

It really get so bad for Muslims that when passing okay through security at the airport and getting on the plane, the pilot having so call authority to request a Muslim to be remove from the plane because of the similarities in looks of the Muslim terrorist that crashed the planes. This was wrong, but in most American eyes felt justified and going along with it for the sake of feeling they would be safe because to them all Muslims at that time were guilty by association.

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.

Every day people are pulled over for seat belt violations, expired tags, and loud music, but does this become an issue when law enforcement starts pulling people over for no reason? Racial profiling, while used inappropriately, may have its advantages because it can help cut down on theft, drug trafficking, and prevent vandalism. However, there are disadvantages such as innocent people being affected, and business retail declining. Racial profiling has been increasing for many years. Racial profiling is a form of discrimination by which law enforcement uses a person’s race or cultural background as the primary reason to suspect that the individual has broken the law (Nittle). The term “driving while black” arose from the practice, as African American drivers frequently complain that police officers pull them over for no reason other than their race and the stereotypes linked to it (Nittle).

According to Pollock (2017) there is a perceived belief among minority groups in the United States that states law enforcement is fundamentally racist. In the minority neighborhoods, the police are looked upon in distrust. Racial profiling is when officers make traffic stops or consensual encounters with persons based off their race. Racial profiling began to assist border patrol and custom agents profile drug smugglers. Evidence has indicated that racial profiling does not occur because officers are racist. Sheriff Joe Arpio from Maricopa County Arizona, has been fighting with the Department of Justice over his practices regarding the treatment od Hispanics in his jurisdiction. Larry Sherman talked about loyalty to coworkers, that mostly

Violence has a way of achieving racial justice which is both impractical and immoral. The fact that violence often brings about brief results, in spite of short term victories, violence will never bring about permanent peace. John Howard Griffin once said, “Humanity does not differ in any profound way; there are not essentially different species of human beings. If we could only put ourselves in the shoes of others to see how we would react, then we might become aware of the injustice of discrimination and the tragic inhumanity of every kind of prejudice.” So why do we treat others different like we are in a race of competition? No one is going to win, because without one another we can not get the job done. Discrimination is the unfair treatment of people and groups based on characteristics such as race, gender, age or sexual orientation. Like Griffin stated, if we could only imagine ourselves being in the situation, our reaction and outcomes would be totally different amongst each other. There would no longer be a huge deal about public discrimination. Everyone would be entitled to the same choices, actions, and opinions without being judged. Even though the pros of racial profiling prevents terrorists attacks, it is reasonable, and it decreases crime rate, no one stops to think about the cause and effect of this idea. People should be against racial profiling, because it can easily escalate into racially motivated violence, it prevents law enforcement from serving the entire country, and it is morally wrong by creating higher discrimination rates. Racial profiling does not guarantee any type of success, and it can make people in communities feel unsafe.

Imagine walking into the pet shop and watching a puppy that is different than the others being abused while the other puppies are treated with excellent care. In our society this would not be tolerated, we would make an angry Facebook post of the abused puppy and make sure it and other puppies are treated with excellent care from then on. We are quick to recognize who is in the wrong in this situation, why is it any different with race? Shoshanna Hebshi, a 36-year-old woman who is half Jewish and half Arab, was targeted by her race and her name and was pulled off of an airplane to be stripped searched and held in a cell for four hours. Racial profiling is a huge issue and iron triangles may be a big part of that.

For as long as this nation has been established there have always been serious problems with racial profiling. Not only should it never be used, but it creates narrow-minded people by only allowing individuals to view other individuals in a limited viewpoint rather than giving them a chance to break and expand that certain viewpoint. In the documentary “Us Against the World” racial profiling was a huge factor. The documentary demonstrated racial profiling at its full potential and they provided various ways of evidence to show their audience.

Racial profiling is a very controversial topic in United States history, it has brought upon us wars, losing innocent people in our lives, and very large arguments between one another. The true meaning for racial profiling is judging someone based upon their ethnicity, and it can happen between any two different races. There are three main problems with racial profiling, one is that it occurs without being noticed by many other people, then this leads into people thinking it is not going to change anything. In that problem you would think that something big like that would change because it is affecting so many people but that why it goes unreported sometimes because they believe that nothing will ever change. Another one is that the people and the police offices do not fully understand the concept of racial profiling. This would then make it difficult to point out the differences in the crimes that could be committed by the different types of races. The last reason is because police officers believe that racial profiling rarely exist or does not happen at all in their eyes and when it does there is serious consequences. Everyone sees racial profiling in a different way or it could be the same way but they do not act the same way as many other people would reenact it. In the following paragraphs I will further explain each other problems that there are will racial profiling.

The privilege of the general population to be secure in their people, houses, papers, and impacts, against nonsensical quests and seizures, should not be abused and no warrants might issue, but rather upon reasonable justification, bolstered by pledge or certification, and especially portraying the place to be sought, and the people or things to be seized (Fisher, 2013, p. 70).