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Is Racial Profiling an Acceptable Law Enforcement Strategy? There is no denying that in the United States racism is still a prominent problem among its citizens despite efforts to bring unity between the varieties of races. Over the course of history strides have been made towards this sense of acceptance although even today, there is still a long way to go. With media at the tips of our fingertips, it is easy to see all the horrible things that happen in our world on a day-to-day basis. Our headlines are splashed with “White Officer Kills Another Black Youth” and “Brutal Shooting of Black Man During Traffic Stop”. These words catch our attention and it is all too convenient to believe everything one news article has to say. With the racial …show more content…
Those who argue against racial profiling claim that it is a direct violation of the Constitution in that individuals are innocent until proven guilty and by racially profiling, officers are assuming guilt on minorities without probably cause. Probable cause is a fairly widely understood term throughout the United States, and so those who are against racial profiling argue that it is simply against the standards of our justice system and is unreasonable to allow this type of policing strategy into our system. Lynch discusses in his counterargument against Whitney and Taylor, that “the legitimacy of racial profiling – of targeting Black offenders over White offenders – is misleading at best, and at worst, a form of institutionalized racism” (Lynch, 2013). He presents the claim that it is an objectionable ideology to criminologists because our nation determines guilt based on evidence, and racial profiling strictly defies this concept (Lynch, …show more content…
Also reported by the UCR is the number of arrests throughout the nation which contrary to popular belief shows that whites were arrested more (6,502,919 arrests) than blacks (2,640,067 arrests) in comparison (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2012). Although let it be noted that number of arrests among minorities is reported as being 2,775,666 in total. This data makes it hard to debate the common assumption that police only target minorities. Police target people who do not remain law abiding. In inner cities where more minorities live, it is naturally going to mean that minorities will be the majority of individuals arrested because they are what make up the population of those specific
...So the question still remains, has American society really come that far in race relations and where do we go from here? Martin Espada answers the question by illustrating the intense level of racism experienced by a minority living in modern society. The civil rights movement did make positive changes for the African-American community on various different political and social levels. However, racism needs to be broken down to its smallest components, which are the individuals who support and teach racist attitudes. The family itself is the basic unity of society. Therefore, the only way racism will be completely eliminated on a social level is if it is stopped on the individual level. Treating racism as a social phenomenon will provide short-term solutions, but will not treat the virus of hatred perpetuating its continued existence in our society today.
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.
Opponents will argue that racial profiling is based on suspicious behavior and not on race. They feel as though racial profiling can potentially stop certain crimes befor...
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.
Racial profiling is a wide spread term in the American justice system today, but what does it really mean? Is racial profiling just a term cooked up by criminals looking for a way to get out of trouble and have a scapegoat for their crimes? Is it really occurring in our justice system, and if so is it done intentionally? Most importantly, if racial profiling exists what steps do we take to correct it? The answer to these questions are almost impossible to find, racial profiling is one of many things within our justice system that can be disputed from any angle and has no clear cut answers. All that can be done is to study it from different views and sources and come up with one’s own conclusion on the issue.
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.
Racial profiling in the dictionary is “the assumption of criminality among ethnic groups: the alleged policy of some police to attribute criminal intentions to members of some ethnic groups and to stop and question them in disproportionate numbers without probable cause (“Racial Profiling”).” In other words racial profiling is making assumptions that certain individuals are more likely to be involved in misconduct or criminal activity based on that individual’s race or ethnicity. Racial profiling propels a brutalizing message to citizens of the United States that they are pre-judged by the color of their skin rather than who they are and this then leads to assumptions of ruthlessness inside the American criminal justice system. With race-based assumptions in the law enforcement system a “lose-lose” situation is created due to America’s diverse democracy and destroys the ability to keep the criminal justice system just and fair. Although most police officers perform their duties with fairness, honor, and dedication, the few officers who portray to be biased then harm the whole justice system resulting in the general public stereotyping every law enforcement officer as a racial profiler (Fact Sheet Racial Profiling). When thinking about racial profiling many people automatically think it happens only to blacks but sadly this is mistaken for far more ethnic groups and races such as Jews, Muslims, Mexicans, Native Americans, and many more are racially profiled on a day to day basis. Many people believe racial profiling to be a myth because they see it as police officers merely taking precautions of preventing a crime before it happens, but in reality racial profiling has just become an approved term for discrimination and unjust actio...
There is considerable evidence that minorities and police are not in agreement on many issues, and the blame is being shifted from all parties involved. The police feel that they are fair in their treatment of minorities, but the evidence in many instance prove otherwise. When we view articles on the arrests of minorities versus whites, you will notice a variation in how various nationalities are treated. When reading the newspaper, you will see the photograph of a minority with previous criminal history and other issues outlined. This to me is done to paint a picture that shows the accused is already known for violating the law.
Racial Profiling can happen to anyone, anywhere such as the streets, in the airports, or even just walking home. Racial profiling and the media influence an individual’s perspective on a trial. Racial Profiling is using someone’s race or ethnic background as suspicion for committing a crime. Evidence from past trials dating back to 1920s Sacco and Vanzetti trial to George Zimmerman’s trial in 2013 prove that racial profiling has existed for nearly a century. According to the article “The Quiet Racism in the Zimmerman Trial” by Steven Mazie, he states
Before any argument can be made against racial profiling, it is important to understand what racial profiling is. The American Civil Liberties Union, defines racial profiling as "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"(Racial Profiling: Definition). Using this definition we can determine that racial profiling excludes any evidence of wrong-doing and relies solely on the characteristics listed above. We can also see that racial profiling is different from criminal profiling, which uses evidence of wrong-doing and facts which can include information obtained from outside sources and evidence gathered from investigation. Based on these definitions, I will show that racial profiling is unfair and ineffective because it relies on stereotyping, encourages discrimination, and in many cases can be circumvented.
Every day you see and hear about minorities groups complain about cops and their tactics against them stopping them while in traffic taking them in to custody or even getting kill over nothing. Racial Profiling is a common thing in this community and it is causing a lot of trouble. According to Minnesota House of Representatives analyst Jim Cleary, "there appear to be at least two clearly distinguishable definitions of the term 'racial profiling ': a narrow definition and a broad definition... Under the narrow definition, racial profiling occurs when a police officer stops, questions, arrests, and/or searches someone solely on the basis of the person 's race or ethnicity... Some ways to stop it is find out who is guilty of it, look at their
In the United States of America today, racial profiling is a deeply troubling national problem. Many people, usually minorities, experience it every day, as they suffer the humiliation of being stopped by police while driving, flying, or even walking for no other reason than their color, religion, or ethnicity. Racial profiling is a law enforcement practice steeped in racial stereotypes and different assumptions about the inclination of African-American, Latino, Asian, Native American or Arab people to commit particular types of crimes. The idea that people stay silent because they live in fear of being judged based on their race, allows racial profiling to live on.
The justice system is in place in America to protect its citizens, however in the case of blacks and some other minorities there are some practices that promote unfairness or wrongful doing towards these groups. Racial profiling is amongst these practices. In cases such as drug trafficking and other criminal acts, minorities have been picked out as the main culprits based off of skin color. In the article “Counterpoint: The Case Against Profiling” it recognizes racial profiling as a problem in America and states, “[In order to maintain national security] law-enforcement officers have detained members of minority groups in vehicles more than whites”…. “these officers assume that minorities commit more drug offenses, which is not the case” (Fauchon). In relationship to law enforcement there has also been many cases of police brutality leaving young blacks brutally injured, and even dead in recent years, cases such as Michael Brown, Dontre Hamilton, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and Freddy Gray just to name a few. Many of these young men were unarmed, and the police involved had no good justification for such excess force. They were seen as threats primarily because of their skin color. Despite the fact this nation is trying to attain security, inversely they are weakening bonds between many of its
This essay will bring to light the problem of racial profiling in the police force and propose the eradication of any discrimination. The Fourth Amendment states “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Despite this right, multiple minorities across the country suffer at the hands of police officers through racial profiling; the singling out of a person or persons as the main suspect of a crime based on their race. Many people have also suffered the loss of a loved one because police believed the suspect to be a threat based on their races therefore the officers use their authority to take out the “threat”. Although racial profiling may make sense to police officers in the line of duty, through the eyes of the public and those affected by police actions, it is a form a racism that is not being confronted and is allowing unjust convictions and deaths.
In this world today, hate is becoming increasingly more abundant, especially as it concerns race. Whether it be an unarmed black man shot by a white police officer or the use of racial slurs towards someone, it seems like racism is all around us. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, it shows a little girl named Scout using racial slurs. Racism is so culturally accepted in the town that it’s okay to use racial slurs such as the N-Word that even Atticus, a lawyer representing a black man falsely accused of rape, uses it a couple of times. Earlier this year, the Ku Klux Klan, a group of white supremacists, held a violent rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and proved that racism isn’t a thing of the past.