Racial Profiling by Law Enforcement is Unjustifiable

1304 Words3 Pages

Every individual in the world is different in some way from the person standing next to them. People differ in their culture, ethnicity, race, religion, personality, styles, interest, appearance and more. It is understood that someone may be similar to you not one person will be exactly like you. Growing up it is important for one to understand the differences of other people and show a level of respect for them. As human-beings, people typically learn through experiences. However, these experiences have the tendency to alter the way people perceive other individuals. Racial profiling, a term used more frequently when dealing with law enforcement, is defined as “any action undertaken for reasons of safety, security or public protection that relies on stereotypes about race, colour, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, or place of origin rather than on reasonable suspicion, to single out an individual for greater scrutiny or different treatment” (CBC). An analysis of racial profiling in Marita Golden’s After reveals aspects of invalid reasons for probable cause, intimidation, and stigmas.

Racial profiling gives police officers invalid reasons of probable cause to accuse an individual of a crime. Police officers must have a justified reason to disrupt the actions of an individual. Probable cause is considered to be “the legal standard by which a police officer has the right to make an arrest, conduct a personal or property search, or to obtain a warrant for arrest” (Silverman). Many people throughout today’s generation believe that police officers are most likely stop or arrest individials because of their race. Assuming that in individual is breaking the law because of the color of their skin is not an appropriate reason to state pr...

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...Racial Profiling Frequently Asked Questions.” CBC News. N.p., 26 May 2005. Web. 12 Apr 2011.

Golden , Marita. After. 1st ed. New York, N.Y.: The Doubleday Broadway Publishing, 2006. 6- 143. Print.

Meeks, Kenneth. Driving While Black Highways, Shopping Malls, Taxicabs, Sidewalks: How to Fight Back If You Are a Victim of Racial Profiling. 1st ed. New York, NY: Broadway Books, 2000. 19. Print.

Minzer, Max. “Putting Probability Back into Probable Cause.” Texas Law Review 87.5 (2009): 913-962. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 12 Apr. 2011.

Silverman, Steve. “What is the Definition of Probable Cause.” Flex Your Rights. N.p., 05 Mar 2009. Web. 12 Apr 2011.

Stewart, Eric A. “Either They Don’t Know or They Don’t Care: Black Males and Negative Police Experiences.” Criminology & Public Policy 6.1 (2007): 123-130. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 14 Apr. 2011.

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