Racial Profiling by Police

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Recommended: Is there racial bias in the Justice system

"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." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

In a perfect world, everyone WOULD be judged based on the content of their character. But we do not live in a perfect world and humans have always pre-judged others based on physical and cultural differences. These are the first things we notice about a stranger, and first impressions are hard to forget. Racism and prejudice have caused us to make dire mistakes in the past, but we have learned from these mistakes and have bettered our society. However, society today is filled with stereotypes and prejudices about people of certain races. It is evident in all aspects of our lives, including media, culture, and even the legal system.

The police are there to protect and serve the community. Racial profiling has prevented police from serving all the community, because in their minds it has been segregated. This has often been disregarded while in reality, racial profiling has corrupted society’s perception of groups of people, especially in law enforcement. On our nation's highways, police ostensibly looking for thugs and criminals routinely stop drivers based on the color of their skin. This practice is so common that the minority community has given it the derisive term, "driving while black" – a play on the real offense of "driving while intoxicated."

Profiling is unconstitutional and violates civil rights. Police can search a person without a warrant if they have reasonable doubt that they are armed and dangerous; however, of people who are pulled over while driving, less than 4% of whites are searched while about 10% of bla...

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...ences and speak to each other on the same level, stereotypes would not be so relevant in the legal world.

Works Cited

Buchanan, Patrick J. “The Beltway Sniper and the Media”. The American Cause. The American Cause, 2008. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.

Driscoll, Sally and Newton, Heather. “Counterpoint: Racial Profiling is Discriminatory and Ineffective.” Points of View: Racial Profiling (2011): 1-3. Ebsco. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.

Head, Tom. “Why Racial Profiling is a Bad Idea”. About.com Inc. Civil Liberties, n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.

“How is the Criminal Justice System Racist?”. Defending Justice. Political Research Associates, 2005. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.

Olson, Walter. “American Airlines Lawsuit: John Cerqueira Responds”. Overlawyered. n.p., 2008. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.

“Racial Disparity”. The Sentencing Project. The Sentencing Project, n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.

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