Racial Profiling in Today's Society

1740 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Racial profiling and its effects on society

Racial Profiling in Today's Society Racial profiling is the tactic of stopping someone because of the color of his or her skin and a fleeting suspicion that the person is engaging in criminal behavior (Meeks, p. 4-5). This practice can be conducted with routine traffic stops, or can be completely random based on the car that is driven, the number of people in the car and the race of the driver and passengers. The practice of racial profiling may seem more prevalent in today’s society, but in reality has been a part of American culture since the days of slavery. According to Tracey Maclin, a professor at the Boston University School of Law, racial profiling is an old concept. The historical roots “can be traced to a time in early American society when court officials permitted constables and ordinary citizens the right to ‘take up’ all black persons seen ‘gadding abroad’ without their master’s permission” (Meeks, p. 5). Although slavery is long since gone, the frequency in which racial profiling takes place remains the same. However, because of our advanced electronic media, this issue has been brought to the American public’s attention. Some consider racial profiling a viable tool to reduce crime. The New Century Foundation, a non-profit organization based in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Oakton, VA, published a report on the American Renaissance website, stating that African-Americans commit 90% of the approximately 1,700,000 interracial crimes of violence that occurs every year in the United States. They are more than fifty times more likely to commit violent crimes against whites than vice versa. According to this same report, African-Americans are much more likely to commit violent crimes than whites and wh... ... middle of paper ... ...ldnet. Internet. 30 Nov 2000. Available: www.speakout.com/Issues/Briefs/1156 Harris, Jr., C.E. “Applying Moral Theories.” 3rd ed. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1997 “New Century Foundation to Release Interracial Crime Report.” 1999. n. pag. Online. AT&T Worldnet. Internet. 30 Nov 2000. Available: www.amren.com/colorpr.htm Olen, Jeffrey and Vincent Barry. “Applying Ethics.” 6th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1999. Toby, Jackson. “Racial Profiling Doesn’t Prove Cops are Racist.” Wall Street Journal (March 1999). N. pag. Online. AT&T Worldnet. Internet. 30 Nov 2000. Available: www.frontpagemag.com/archives/racerelations/toby3-11-99.htm Williams, Walter. “Racial Profiling.” (1999). N. pag. Online. AT&T Worldnet. Internet. 5 Dec 2000. Available: www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/williams031099.asp

Show More
Related

  • Racial Profiling In Bob Herbert's Hounding The Innocent

    378 Words  | 1 Pages

    People of color are being pursued on the highways in the land of the free. In Bob Herbert’s “Hounding the innocent” acts of racial profiling are displayed flagrantly. Racial profiling should be illegal, since it is unfair to its victims, demoralizing, and it breaks the trust between the public and the police.

    Read More

  • The Stop and Frisk Policy of the NYPD is Not Justifiable

    2285 Words  | 5 Pages

    The judicial system in America has always endured much skepticism as to whether or not there is racial profiling amongst arrests. The stop and frisk policy of the NYPD has caused much controversy and publicity since being applied because of the clear racial disparity in stops. Now the question remains; Are cops being racially biased when choosing whom to stop or are they just targeting “high crime” neighborhoods, thus choosing minorities by default? This paper will examine the history behind stop and frisk policies. Along with referenced facts about the Stop and Frisk Policy, this paper will include and discuss methods and findings of my own personal field research.

    Read More

  • Racial Profiling: The Color of Justice in America

    847 Words  | 2 Pages

    For the past few years there has been an ongoing debate surrounding the issue of racial profiling. The act of racial profiling may rest on the assumption that African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to commit crimes than any individual of other races or ethnicities. Both David Cole in the article "The Color of Justice" and William in the article "Road Rage" take stance on this issue and argue against it in order to make humanity aware of how erroneous it is to judge people without evidence. Although Cole and William were very successful in matters of showing situations and qualitative information about racial profiling in their articles, both of them fail at some points.

    Read More

  • Police Brutality and Profiling

    1182 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Racial Profiling: Definition." American Civil Liberties Union. N.p., 05 Nov. 2005. Web. 06 Mar. 2014. .

    Read More

  • Racial Profiling in Different Ways

    902 Words  | 2 Pages

    Risse, Mathias. Racial Profiling: A Reply to Two Critics. John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 24 September. 2006. Web. < http://www.hks.harvard.edu>

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Racial Profiling

    1072 Words  | 3 Pages

    Racial Profiling is a big issue amongst people of color and the police force. In this paper I speak about the relations both have between each other and how stereotyping has affected society as a whole.

    Read More

  • The War on Terrorism is an Attack on American Civil Liberties

    825 Words  | 2 Pages

    * Cassak, Lance, and Milton Hewmann.  Good cop, Bad cop: Racial Profiling and Competing Views of Justice.  New York: PeterLang Publishing, 2003.

    Read More

  • Pros Of Racial Profiling

    1179 Words  | 3 Pages

    The main benefit of racial profiling, based on opinions of others, is to save costs. The government’s resources are not unlimited, and any strategy that can be successfully used to limit the amount of money and time needed, may allow other demands of the government to use the extra resources (Huq). For racial profiling to be beneficial, the government must use this strategy properly. The race of an individual can be used as an identifier, much like gender and predominate characteristics. It would be extremely irresponsible for a police officer to search for a suspect of a recent crime and ignore their identified race when searching for the suspect. This form of profiling is acceptable because the identification of a suspect’s race allows police officers to use fewer resources than otherwise needed in a larger pool of potential suspects. Often, police officers have very little to go on when attempting to find a criminal. Officers should b...

    Read More

  • Racial Discrimination and Disparity in the United States Justice System

    2729 Words  | 6 Pages

    The issue of racial disparity in the criminal justice system has been a longstanding debate in this county. According to Tonry (as cited in Cole & Gertz, 2013) African Americans make up to 50% of the prison population but are only 12 % of the total United States population. Bobo and Thompson (2006) stated that Hispanics make up to 18 % of the prison population but are only 14 % of the total United States Population, while Caucasians make up to 75 % of the total population and are only 35 % of the prison population in American. (Coker,2003) supports Cole and Gertz and states that African Americans make up to half of the prison population while only accounting for 12 % of the population in the United States. According to NACP statistics (http://www.naacp.org/pages/criminal-justice-fact-sheet) African American and Hispanics make up 58% of all prisoners even though African Americans and Hispanics make up 25 % of the United States population. According to Hurwitz and Peffley (2010) Caucasian men older than 18 have a 1 in 106 chance of being imprisoned, while in comparison to a 1 in 16 chance of being imprisoned for African American men in the same age range. According to (Coker,2003) estimated that 28 % of African Americans will be incarcerated at one point in their lifetimes. Small (2001) stated that one out of three African Americans in their twenties are either in jail, prison, on probation, or parole. Small (2001) stated that although African Americans make up 13 % of all drug users in America, they are 35 % of the people arrested for drug possession and 55 % of the people convicted for drug possession. According to Small (2001) African American men are sent to prison for drug offenses at rate 20%-57% times great...

    Read More

  • Racial Profiling Thesis Statement

    1640 Words  | 4 Pages

    Racial profiling in America, as evidenced by recent events, has reached a critical breaking point. No longer can an African American, male or female, walk into a store, school, or any public place without fear of being stereotyped as a person of suspicion. Society constantly portrays the African American

    Read More

  • Profiling: The Negative Effects Of Racial Profiling

    1006 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 2003, 36 black police officers were asked to recount their lived experiences with having been the subjects of racial profiling, and a majority indi- cated that they had been stopped and questioned by other police officers ‘‘for no other reason than the colour of their skin’’ (Tanovich 2006: 1–2).

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography On Police Brutality

    1110 Words  | 3 Pages

    Holmes, Malcolm D. "Minority threat and police brutality: Determinants of civil rights criminal complaints in US municipalities." Criminology 38.2 (2000): 343-368.

    Read More

  • Is Racial Profiling Justified

    1427 Words  | 3 Pages

    Racial profiling and the various problems that arise as a result of it bring up many controversial issues. Racial profiling is a topic that weighs heavy on the minds and opinions of many in this country. It has been the subject of many disagreements as to whether or not it actually exists. Some argue that certain races can’t see it because they never experience it, but a case can be made that all races experience it at some point. One of the most controversial is the debate of whether or not racial profiling is justified. One of the hindrances to finding an answer to this question is the fact that many agencies and departments in law enforcement refuse to cooperate with studies to

    Read More

  • Racial Profiling: A Persistent Issue in America

    907 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout American history, there has been, without a doubt, an indisputable sense of racial tension among the various ethnic groups of the nation. These issues have been traced back since the establishment of the colonies and are still prevalent today in one form or another. Although the tension is no longer as intense as it was before, it continues to exist today in modern society in the form of racial profiling. Racial profiling can be defined as the use of race or ethnicity as criteria for suspecting someone of having committed an offense. In recent decades, a trend has been observed in which police forces have been distinctively targeting black and Hispanic Americans more often than other ethnic groups. Police departments have argued

    Read More

  • Visual Stereotyping

    632 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to the American Civil Liberties Union, racial profiling is a longstanding and deeply troubling national problem. Racial profiling occurs every day, all around the world, in many different states,cities, and towns. It is when law enforcement mainly targeted

    Read More

More about Racial Profiling in Today's Society

Open Document