Preview

Essay On Racial Profiling

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1103 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Essay On Racial Profiling
Prof. Audrey Breay
RWS 92B
April 6, 2011
Racial Profiling in Our Society
People of color get pulled over more than white people. Is it because the people of color are all criminals or because the police are getting lazier? people who use racial profiling usually have a negative perception or judgment about African Americans. Racial profiling is a hot subject in the world today. Racial profiling is a fact of life for many Americans today, and I for one think it’s sad. Authors Ahmed Rehab and Randall Kennedy both comment on the negative impact that racial profiling has on society today in America. These authors helped me to see the reason why racial profiling is still used, but at the same time they helped to confirm my position on why racial
…show more content…
Yes it may save time and prevent some crimes, but what about the people in between catching the suspect? Nobody cares if they are getting harassed and wrongfully accused (501-2). Kennedy also notices some of the other negative impacts of racial profiling. He uses a quote from a black political leader to show this negative social attitude. “There is nothing more painful to me at this age in my life,” Jesse Jackson said in 1993 , “than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start to think about robbery and then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved”(501). So if the advocate of colored people is tricked into thinking that African Americans are bad as a result of the popular trend of racial profiling, imagine the impact that racial profiling has on the average American citizen. These people are taught to profile every person they see because it will protect them from being hurt or harassed. Later on in the essay Kennedy states, “Individuals should be judged by public authorities on the basis of their own conduct and not on the basis of racial generalization”(502). This statement helps to show how racial profiling is wrong because it’s not based on a way a persons acts or behaves. Based on my personal experience I agree with this

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    the other children dug into their punishment of dirt and sand and stared at the dug pit every day.…

    • 366 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Eugene Robinson’s essay “You Have the Right to Remain a Target of Racial Profiling,” Robinson argues that police officers still racially profile when pulling over people for traffic offenses. He uses a Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics report that states that white, African-American and Hispanic drivers are equally likely to be pulled over by the police in a traffic stop. He doesn’t believe this to be true and delves deeper into the findings. Robinson notes that African-Americans and Hispanics are much more likely to be searched and be the subject of “police use of force”. Black drivers were also twice as likely to be arrested as white drivers, and Hispanics were more likely to receive a ticket. Whites were more likely to receive written or verbal warnings that blacks or…

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Racial Profiling is the biggest complaint in the black community, and one of the primary reasons why African Americans are put behind bars at a very fast rate. There could be a young sophisticated black male walking down the street , and because of his height, skin color, attire, and hair he could be stopped and searched. Sometimes the police may mistakenly identify a person as someone else and charge the person , and the individual may spend years behind bars until found innocent. "Blacks in Cleveland received one and a half times (1.53) their proportional share of traffic tickets, while whites received slightly less than two-thirds (0.60) of their share, another minorities received eight per-cent more than their proportional share of tickets (1.08)" (Dunn 971) The quote is saying that African American are pulled over for tickets more than white people. This quote show that cops pull people because they see black skin. A lot of times when a person is found innocent the government do not give them anything to make up for the time that was lost, but instead they throw them back into the world with nothing but confusion.…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ahluwalia was kicked off the plane because of his turban. He has modeled for major ad…

    • 231 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Did you know that an appalling, unconstitutional and pernicious attack happens continuously in today’s society against innocent citizens and nobody does anything about it? This practice is called racial profiling. Mr. Bob Herbert, a journalist for the New York Times, discusses this in his article, “Hounding the Innocent”. This article is an insightful and informative. He informs his readers about many actual situations of innocent citizens becoming victims of this cruel practice. Mr. Herbert is correct, racial profiling is unnecessary and hurtful or is sickening and should not even exist. Racial profiling is the practice of using one’s skin color as evidence for grounds of suspicion. How can one say that this practice is fair? Racial profiling should be eliminated; it is insensitive, unconstitutional and has a detrimental effect on society.…

    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Racial profiling is a very widespread topic. Racial profiling is beginning to spread across the United States and many other countries as if a fire spread in a forest. It is important for us to understand that racial profiling is impractical and hurtful to the persons targeted. It is also important for people to recognize that racial profiling puts fear into people’s hearts and that can have an emotional impact on the way people think, act and even their character. Racial Profiling should be a exercise that should be ended in all places including the court system and law enforcement. One can come up with several illustrations declaring its advantages and disadvantages. Although racial profiling can be useful in certain cases it is incorrect…

    • 146 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    A controversial topic in American Policing is the issue of racial profiling. Many people have different views when it comes to this subject matter. Many people believe that racial profiling is a myth or ploy and is ultimately nonexistent. Others feel that racial profiling does exist and is a key contributing factor that law enforcement officers use to determine whether to perform law enforcement. The topic of Racial Profiling has been passionately debated among citizens, law enforcement officials, policy makers, and legislators at various levels of government. These debates has led to a large number civil lawsuits nationwide, court-ordered data collection, investigations into certain law enforcement agencies, and the passing of various laws mandating cultural diversity training and prohibiting racial profiling practices in various law enforcement agencies. Still, the following questions have not been thoroughly answered: Are African-Americans and other ethnic groups stopped by police because they are more likely to have committed certain types of traffic violations? Is race a significant predictor of being “pulled over”, cited or search by police? Does law enforcement officials target motorists based on race? This research paper will emphatically prove that African-Americans and other ethnic groups are disproportionately cited for traffic violations more often than whites.…

    • 1595 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Racial profiling in america has brought big controversy against the law enforcement. There has been many videos shown on social media where a specific race have been violently handled by police. But behind all these videos are evidence or reasons why the officer stopped the person. I think that based on what part they are in, they are given information about crimes. They are told that certain things like if they if they wear or do something specific and people commit the crimes. Or they look unfamiliar to the place. The bad thing about racial profiling is that it is unfair to judge people by their race. I think people should be judge by their individual actions and not by their race. Police have caused so much anger towards them because of…

    • 166 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The racial profiling law of the law enforcement in america is way out of hand, the police are pointing fingers at any black male or female that looks ghetto or poor for robberies or breaking the law. The law is unaware of the brutal shootings and assaults the police have been getting away with, like shooting a innocent kid or a adult resisting arrest. Why not tase him? Or pepper spray . shooting is not the only option. Cops in the UK cannot use guns and they never kill kids or adults over a pullover or a ticket . you wonder why most innocent black people are scared of the police, me myself don't even like the police, they try turning the case on you or try to detain you over nothing.…

    • 192 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Police Profiling Essay

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Profiling has long been a subject of contempt when it comes to policing. Immediately following the attacks of 9/11, there was a surge in profiling in the United States. One can assume that the uptick in profiling stems from the horrid events that transpired on the day the United States was struck the hardest. In the aftermath of the 9/11 events, the predictive analysis tools were used by the intelligence community to assess and or thwart potential threats. This technique was supposed to be used to collect information that can be shared across the intelligence community. Somehow, the vision for this technique became skewed over time and is now used as a means for policing the general public.…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To what degree can ethnicity or race be utilized to target innocent individuals for stops, searches, and arrests? Although racism has always existed, through the past decade it has become more apparent. The United States has constantly fought difficult battles to put a stop against racism and discrimination. A numerous amount of faultless lives and liberties have been lost in search for racial equality. Unfortunately, racial profiling has become a more serious controversial issue in law enforcement practices that has reached public attention.…

    • 172 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Drug dealers are mostly Black and Mexican, Muslims are terrorists, and Hispanics are all gang members. These are things you might hear people who use racial profiling say. Racial profiling is used by police and people of authority to narrow down and target specific groups of people. This basically means that if a person is black, they are automatically assumed to be at a higher risk of having drugs then a white person. A police officer would more likely arrest a Muslim than a white person for suspicious behavior. Basically, people are judged unfairly and rights are compromised when racial profiling is used. There is no place for racial profiling in America.…

    • 901 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A: According to Professor David Harris of the University of Toledo College of Law, a leading expert on racial profiling, criminal profiles are a set of personal and behavioral characteristics associated with particular offenses that police use to predict who may commit crimes in the future, or identify what type of person may have committed a particular crime for which no credible suspect has been identified or eye-witness description provided. Criminal profiling becomes racial profiling when these characteristics include race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion.…

    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Racial profiling makes some situations easier to complete when a crime is present but some may say that law enforcers practice this to mistreat and harass other people. Racial profiling is an acceptable act that should be used to bring safety even though many view it as a negative form of practice, it can help save many people from devastating situations. Racial profiling is a tool used by law enforcers to help them out in their situation but later on it will become a custom ritual thing to use later in the…

    • 1020 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Have you ever racially profiled someone or been racially profiled? Racial profiling happens around us every day, yet we are unaware that it is not created solely by individuals or circumstance. All too often people misunderstand what true racial profiling is. It is not the act of disliking someone based on their race or ethnicity, it is much more than that. It is created by far greater powers but can also be demolished by them. Racial profiling happens to American citizens not just immigrants, is promoted by bad policies; however, these policies can be changed by the iron triangle.…

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays