What Does It Work?

There have been many attempts to make racial profiling illegal, but all have failed. Racial profiling is defined as suspecting an individual of a wrongdoing based solely on the individual’s race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin (Racial Profliling: Definition 2). Racism spreads throughout all dimensions of life in American society; therefore, the history of racial profiling is extensive, but it was at an all-time high after the September 11th attacks (Persistence of racial and ethnic profiling in the United States: a follow-up report to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 10). It can be used in both positive and negative aspects, but is mostly used negatively. Racial profiling negatively effects society and the very existence of racial profiling is erroneous, discriminatory, and unjustifiable.

Racial profiling can be defined, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, as the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials [or security personnel] of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual 's race, ethnicity, religion or national origin. Although this act is not directly illegal, it violates core principles of our democracy: two of them being, the Fourteenth Amendment, which outlines the citizenship of African Americans along with equal protection of the laws, including the right to life, liberty and property, and due process, and the Fourth Amendment, which provides citizens their right against unreasonable searches and seizures. Racial profiling affects a wide range of minority groups. Reports on alcu.org state, “More than 240 years of slavery and 90 years of legalized racial segregation have led to systemic profiling of blacks in traffic and pedestrian stops” (Racial Profiling). Members of South Asian, Arab, and Muslim communities have also been categorized in regards to travel and terroristic activities by federal law enforcement and airline security due to the events on September 11, 2001. Latino communities have too been profiled and alienated due to the

Second, police in our country do racial profiling. This practice of law enforcement is morally wrong and personally sickening. Racial Profiling is the idea that just because someone is a different race automatically makes that one person a suspect. Racial Profiling goes against everything that the United States Constitution is about. The constitution is about freedom, equality, and the pursuit of happiness. Our law enforcement is put into place to serve and protect the innocent. The constitution protects us of unlawful search and seizers as well. Racial profiling makes our law enforcement give in their minds probable cause when there really is not any in the first place. Also, it goes against the United States Constitution. The American Civil Liberties Union and American Civil Liberites Union Foundation said, “Racial profiling is a longstanding and deeply troubling national problem despite claims that the United States has entered a “post-racial era.” It occurs every day, in cities and towns across the country, when law enforcement and private security target people of color for humiliating and often frightening detentions, interrogations, and searches without evidence of criminal activity and based on perceived race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion. Racial profiling is

Some Americans may consider the pros of racial profiling. Amongst some of the argued pros, is in the case of

Racial Profiling, it’s been the buzzword of the decade, its being talked about every time the news is on, it’s thrown around high-schools more often than test answers, it’s what George Zimmerman was accused of doing to Trayvon Martin, and it’s what Darren Wilson was accused of doing to Michael Brown. Everyone seems to have an opinion on Racial Profiling these days, some arguing that its morally right or wrong, others that its statistically supported or disproved, and many people argue over both. In a room of fifty people if you ask what they think about it you’ll get fifty different answers. After the recent incidents in New York and Ferguson that have made Racial Profiling the new poster child of every single media outlet, and after hearing so much about it I decided it was time for me to figure out what exactly Racial Profiling is and come up with my own answer to the million dollar question; should Racial Profiling be allowed as a tool of the police in their investigations?

Racial Profiling compromises the very fabric that America is built on. With Constitutional laws that protect us as American citizens from any mistreatment or discrimination, Racial Profiling is still being practiced , and it violates our human rights, and causes distrust in the very police officers that are in charge of keeping our communities safe, and disbelief in the Constitution that should afford all American citizens equal rights.

Racial profiling is usually seen as a way to increase safety. However, this is not always the case; in most cases it promotes negative thoughts about the race being targeted. As mentioned by Deborah Hellman, one

Even the United States struggles with issues of racial discrimination despite being a society highly based on immigrants and multicultural diversity. On one hand, people frown on treatment based on race, whether that is on an individual or group level. On the other, people are tired and annoyed by the seemingly constant call of discrimination. All of these feelings culminate into the debate pertaining to the use of racial profiling. Likewise, there are some individuals that hold a certain level of acceptance in regard to racial profiling. However, what is lost in the process because of that acceptance? There are many components that need to be thought about in reference to the use of racial profiling. In addition, it can be viewed

According to Scott Johnson, “racial profiling is the use of race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of having committed an offense” (Scott Johnson). The United States Supreme Court has ruled that racial profiling violates the constitutional requirement that all persons should be accorded equal protection of the law. However, is this requirement defensible in public policy? It has been proven in previous research studies that racial profiling, if applied correctly, can be a useful defensible public policy. Studies such as the one conducted by David Harris, who is a law professor at the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio, show that the racial inequality in arrests made as well as crime rates have been reflective of one sided racial policies.(Harris). Also, Harris stated that, “crime rates are equal among racial groups and arrests, convictions and incarcerations are unequal based on the premise that police, prosecutors and courts systematically pick on minorities due to the color of skin (Harris). For example, the Trayvon Martin case is evident that racial profiling was negatively applied due to stereotyping. Stereotyping is an exaggerated or distorted generalization about an entire category of people that does not acknowledge individual variation. Stereotypes form the basis for prejudice and discrimination. They generally involve members of one group that deny access to opportunities and rewards that are available to that group. This is a fundamental

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.

I would argue with Peter Schuck because racial profiling undermines human rights. The Fourth amendment states, secure from unreasonable searches and seizures of property by the government. It protects against arbitrary arrests and is the basis of the law regarding search warrants, and stop-and-frisk. Law enforcement violates the amendment when they make a traffic stop. In a study done by the New Jersey Turnpike, fifteen percent of all drivers on the Turnpike were minorities, that virtually all drivers violated the traffic laws, and that blacks and whites violated traffic laws at almost exactly the same rate, but that forty-two of stops and 73.2% of arrests were of blacks’ motorists. The Attorney General of New Jersey said, “that the use of arrest statistics could not justify racially disparate stops and searches, as those arrests were the product of racially discriminatory law enforcement practices” (Rudovsky 300). The statics done by Turnpike and Attorney General one could see that people get pulled over by their race. Statics show that 15.4% of the stops failed to comply with Fourth Amendment standards. The people that were being stopped was based on suspicion of possession of a weapon, yielded a weapon in only 2.5% of all stops were considered African-Americans. Officers would Force young men to lower their trousers, or otherwise searching inside their underwear, on public streets or in

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.

To determine whether racial profiling is morally wrong, it must be clear as to what it is and what it does. Racial profiling is the use of race as at least one factor in determining whether or not to investigate someone and how thoroughly to investigate them. It involves practices of unreasonable search and seizures because of a person’s race even when there is no logical reason to believe that particular person is guilty of anything. In this paper, I will consider an argument for the conclusion that racial profiling is morally wrong because it involves unreasonable search and seizures because of a person’s race and not their behavior. I will then consider the objection that racial profiling can be morally acceptable, when it is rational. I conclude that racial profiling promotes discrimination and therefore is morally wrong.

Racial Profiling is unconstitutional and illegal, yet it’s still used in law enforcement. The practice of racial profiling, as defined by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 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 2005). Racial profiling causes more harm than good, it can cause emotional, mental and more often physical harm to the person being subjected to the practice. According to the Fourth and Fourteenth amendments, racial profiling is unconstitutional. It causes distrust in law enforcement because ethnic

Racial profiling has become a severe obstacle in the U.S. today though most Americans know very little of this vital issue. Every day, people are being pulled over, harassed, and even killed for being of a certain race. There are new laws that politicians are trying to pass that promote racial discrimination. Racial profiling is immoral and does not increase public safety.