Is Racial Profiling a Problem in our Society?
If a certain race, for example a white person robs a bank, is the whole white race held accountable? Now say a African American person decides to hijack a commercial plane and crash it into a city, because of this certain event, is the whole African American Community interrogated or under harassment, only by the reason of their skin color or cultural background? Or what about Arabs and Muslims, just because the Al-Qaeda was a mass-Arab organization, are all the Arabs alive on this planet terrorists, are all of them going to bomb everyplace they step foot in? These stereotypes don't just stop here, there are countless more races such as Hispanics, Japanese, Chinese, Indians, and Vietnamese- that have gone through prejudices based on racial stereotypes, for some only a few times, but for others it has become a part of their daily lives. Yes, one hundred percent, racial profiling is a very big problem in modern society that continues to haunts millions of people all around the world.
To prevent a crime or catch a criminal the authorities suchs as FBI, police, or Homeland Security use certain types information to narrow down the list of suspects. This process can include behavioral, cultural, and physical characteristics, basically its profiling somebody on the chances that they have committed a crime or are about to in the future. But there is a difference between looking at suspects through a behavioral scale then just pulling someone over because they are African American. The main definition of racial profiling is “ a form of discrimination by which law enforcement uses a person race or cultural background as the primary reason to suspect that the individual has broken the law” (...
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...deny anyone with jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws and yet being being pulled over cause they are black is “equal”? To agree with modern day society there is a need to tighten security and be alert against all types of crimes and acts of terror. But being picked on only because one’s skin color and/or background is just morally wrong. It is true that many races stick to one type of crime and it is alright to profile a group belonging to the same ethnic background, but not every single person should be held accountable for a crime committed by very stupid, and idiotic individuals. People should be able to live freely and not be in fear of being singled out, and despite there being laws and actions taken by the government to prevent racial hate crimes the biggest and hardest step is to change people's mindset and prove that not everybody is a guilty party.
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...
Terrorism and racial profiling is nothing new in our society. Although some people would like to believe that it is nonexistent, it is still a major issue in today’s world. With that being said, my view on the subject is that racial profiling is going to continue to happen whether we like it or not. I believe profiling isn 't necessarily meant to intentionally harm anyone, but is used as a tool to prevent terrorism. Past terroristic attacks have lead to the many stereotypes and prejudice that our country has today.
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.
One discriminating practice used by police officers is racial profiling. This is the police practice of stopping, questioning, and searching potential criminal suspects in vehicles or on the street based solely on their racial appearance (Human Rights Watch, 2000). This type of profiling has contributed to racially disproportionate drug arrests, as well as, arrests for other crimes. It makes sense that the more individuals police stop, question and search, the more people they will find with reason for arrest. So, if the majority of these types of stop and frisk searches are done on a certain race then it makes sense that tha...
Racial profiling, as defined in Criminal Justice Today is, “Any police-initiated action that relies on the race, ethnicity, or national origin, rather than the behavior of the individual…” (Schmalleger, 2009, p. 294) but is racial profiling limited only to police action? In June off 2002 a telephone survey of adults was conducted by the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut, in this survey people were asked, “Do you think that African Americans’ civil rights are being respected by the country’s criminal justice system?” 69% of Non-Hispanic Whites said, “Yes, they are respected.” as opposed to 33% of African Americans that think the justice system is fair. (Cole & Smith, 2007, p. 104) What causes this huge percentage gap among the races? Within our criminal justice system there are many disparities and cases of suspected discrimination, because of that our country is race divided on the issue of whether or not discrimination exists in a system perceived as the best of it’s kind.
Racial profiling is simply this, the color or race of a person while making a decision regarding that person. Usually when being racially profiled you are automatically marked as the worst example of your race. It is amazing the amount of things that a person can make up about your race. Most of the things they say are not true at all. You can't just say, “well all black people carry guns and eat chicken and watermelon.” You're racially profiling this person because of what you've observed among other black people. In this case, this is just morally wrong. Despite color a person of any creed can carry a gun, eat chicken, and watermelon. This statement would make you look completely idiotic...
The key to understanding racialized profiling is to understand what systemic discrimination and profiling mean. Systemic discrimination sometimes called systemic racism is defined as, “Patterns and practices… which, although they may not be intended to disadvantage any group, can have the effect of disadvantaging or permitting discrimination against… racial minorities” (Comack, 2012, p30). Profiling in policing is defined as,
There have been many studies and case reports involving racial profiling, particularly racial profiling issues involving traffic stop and seizures. In a study done of reports on the stop-and-searches done on Interstate 95 in Maryland, it was found that 28.4 percent of black drivers and passengers and 28.8 percent of white drivers and passengers stopped were found with illegal contraband. (U.S. Department of Justice) The disparity between the two statistics is a mere .4 percent and shows that race is not an issue. Further reading into the seventy one page report written by the U.S. Department of Justice sho...
There has always been racial profiling in our history. The problem here is that at some point the ones who are oppressed and discriminated sooner o later will claim why they are treated unequally. There are many examples around the world, but one only has to take a look at how the American society has been designed to realize the great difference between individuals. It was even normal and acceptable to see these differences during the creation of this nation because the ones who supposedly had the power and knowledge of conquering made sure to create a huge division between leaders and subordinates.
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
Just what is racial profiling? Racial profiling is a law enforcement and security agency practice that encourages officers to stop, search, and investigate people based on race, ethnicity, nationality or religion. While racial profiling is most commonly committed against ethnic minorities, many instances of racial profiling occur in reaction to specific crimes, making any racial or cultural group subject to more intensive scrutiny by the authorities. (ebscohost.com) This is what I think bout racial profiling, it like it occurs when the police targets someone for investigation on the basis of that person's race, national origin, or ethnicity. Examples are the use of race to determine which drivers to stop for minor traffic violations and the use of race to determine which motorists or pedestrian to search for contraband. Universally attested and detested, racial profiling is a widespread police tactic. Although blacks and foreigners experience different forms of racial profiling, they both share many similarities.
Racial profiling occurs when a police officer uses a “profile” as reasonable suspicion to stop a person with the intent to obtain consent to search their belongings (Pollock, 2010). These stops are usually traffic stops and the officer is looking to obtain consent to search the individual’s automobile. The “profile” used is based on race. In these cases, an officer is using their discretion to target minority groups because they believe they are involved in criminal activities...
My Personal belief is that stop-and-frisk was not racial profiling. Based on the information and statistic the information does give a highlight of what would seem to be racial profiling, but what about the other information and statistic not given. When looking at the data, 88% of minorities are innocent but 12% are not. 10% of people that are not minorities are being stopped and frisk, but there is no percentage of how many people are innocent or not innocent. This could come up with the argument that really the majority is the problem, but without all the facts the stop-and-frisk policy cannot be racial profiling until all the fact point to racial intentions. Yes, more minorities are being stop-and- frisk but 97% of the people being murdered are minorities and 89% of the accused murderers are minorities.I kind feel that police officers would be prone to want to change the rates and lower crime, which seemed to have worked. I feel that the idea behind stop-and-frisk was intended to help lower crime rate and just because certain majorities of races does show a high level of concern wouldn’t that draw flags in a police officer mind to want to change that.
Racial profiling does indeed exist in America. This practice is especially damaging to African Americans, who are frequently shamed by society as criminals, drug addicts, or welfare abusers. This societal flaw is evidenced by recent injustices to both Mike Brown and Trayvon Martin. Years of abuse of power have brought this issue blazing to the forefront of hot topics in America.
Everyday people are pulled over for speeding, and broken tail lights, but does it become an issue when law enforcement start pulling people over for no reason. Racial Profiling, while sometimes used inappropriately, can sometimes be a good thing because it can help cut down on illegal immigrants, drug trafficking, and help prevent terrorism. Many issues arise regarding legal immigrants and non-legal immigrants in quiet neighborhoods nationwide. Racial profiling has been increasing for many years, from the 1500’s up to present time.