Darnell Riley Riley 1

English IV

Mrs. Ramirez

17 January 2017

Racial Profiling

In this essay i will be talking about the ups and downs of racial profiling , the things that

could go wrong, and where racial profiling could lead you bad and good as well. The definition

of racial profiling is the use of race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of having

committed an offense.Racial profiling punishes innocent individuals for the past actions of those

who look and sound like them. There is no place in our national discourse, and no place in our

nation's police departments. The main people who are associated with racial profiling the most

is law enforcement.instead of profiling people the right way they do it destructive and

aggressively. In reality racial profiling does not work at all but it would probably work if law

enforcement didnt violate civil rights and used discrimination.The way they approach situations

are unlawful.

Racial profiling is a stopping tactic often based upon a person's skin color and a suspicion that a

criminal act is in effect.

Racial profiling has been widely attack when it comes to predicting crime and is actually

illegal in certain countries. The basis of racial profiling is the assumption that people of a certain

ethnic background are more likely to commit certain crimes. As it is stated in the PHCs files,

about 69% of drug customers are white people 14% are african american and, 7% are Latino.

However, police informs that amid those put in jail on drug accusations, 27% are white people,

47% are black people, and 20% are Latino. Studies show that police are more likely to pull over
and frisk blacks also latinos than whites. In New York City, 80% of the stops made were blacks

and latinos, and 85% of those people were frisked, compared to a 8% of white people

stopped.In todays world we live in a very media society. The media can change peoples

attitudes towards a certain direction depending on the circumstances. Racial Profiling is a very

sensitive topic many individuals can relate to. It is known as the thought of racial or ethnic

characteristics in figuring out whether an individual is considered likely to commit a particular

type of crime or illegal act.

Racial profiling has become an ongoing issue in law enforcement practices over the last

twenty years. An increasing number of reported instances in which law enforcement personnel

have been accused of targeting certain groups that cast a spotlight on racial profiling, as well as

increased tensions and debate over the legit part of the practice for various reasons.

Throughout history, tensions between police officers and communities of color have endured.

Hispanics and Latinos have faced intense pain and discomfort from law enforcement officials

under suspicion that they are illegal residents; Asian-Americans were discriminated against by

police officers in the communities in which they lived when they began immigrating to the United

States in large numbers in the 1800s. While the term racial profiling has only recently come into

use, law enforcement agencies have long used race, ethnicity, and national origin as grounds

for police action in the United States. During the years of slavery, blacks were not allowed to get

out of their plantations without passes, and they could be questioned or detained by any white

person without any reason for suspicion. After slavery was outlawed, many states continued to

control African Americans through curfews and the use of Jim Crow laws throughout the South.

Those of Middle Eastern descent face profiling in the wake of the September 11 terrorist

attacks.Some people may think racial profiling doesn't exist but in my opinion i feel like it is

everywhere especially to the african american race because with me being a african american
male i experience it a lot, and i remember once someone told me after after i had just told them

that I felt like i was being racially profiled they said it doesn't exist just because they dont go

through it they are just completely blind to the fact that it still happens. I can not think of a time

where i dont go somewhere and experience some sort of racial profiling. Whether i'm walking

into a store or going to work there is still somewhere where somehow profiling me based on my

race. The funny thing about racial profiling is it happens between races of the same kind just as

much as races of different kind. In a trial that was moved out of the community where Diallo

lived and to Albany in upstate New York, the four officers who killed Diallo were acquitted of all

charges . Racial Profiling is any police or private security practice in which a person is treated as

a suspect because of his or her race, ethnicity, nationality or religion. This occurs when police

investigate, stop, frisk, search or use force against a person based on suspicion from

another...When people profile me racially profile me I don't really pay too much attention to it

because I kind of gotten use to it. Racial profiling other older names are "institutional racism and

discrimination and owes its existence to prejudice that has existed in this country since slavery"

. This is america The land of the Free, racial profiling of minority groups seems all too

common. Many Americans believe that law enforcement as well as many other people often

discriminates on minority groups just simply because of their color of their skin. Civil rights

activist and many leaders of minority groups are pressuring Enforcement agencies to eliminate

racial and ethnic profiling during traffic stops and supposed random pedestrian.

No one is excluded from the potential to experience some type of racial profiling,

regardless of their race, gender, age, background or even religion.It happens so much I just try

to prove to be the opposite.If people look like they think i'm stealing from them i just show them

i'm in a good enough position to where i dont need to do that in order to get something i need

or want. The people who believe that racial profiling does not exist are the ones who usually
never been through or experienced it. The people who go through it the most or have been

through it are the one who often have the strongest opinion about the topic.

In the 17 going on 18 years I have been alive i have been through a tremendous

amount of racial profiling from just going into a store and walking down an aisle and having

workers follow me looking me directly in the eyes and coming back and fourth just because I

have a hoodie on, and im african american. Even being in a more white area and randomly

having law enforcement stop us, check us and ask us What we are doing? , and Where we

are going?. Just little stuff like that make people act a certain way and have a perticuliar

attitude toward certain groups and certain people. But at the end of the day it is up to you how

those type of interactions shape and change you. Because it could either change you for the

good or for the worst. For the good because it could make you stronger and make you have a

positive look on things to make you have a better encounter within many circumstances. For the

bad because it could make a person have a negative look on things and would probably build

anger and animosity and with that comes negative thoughts which brings bad encounters. Some

people dont understand the level of profiling that occurs when a couple guys hang out in the

area where they live and constantly seeing the same police officer and he knows you are not

doing anything But like I said a lot of people wont understand it til this happens to them. Often

times the ones who are affected the most are african males and latino males. Racial profiling

can go different ways and can lead to different things but all in all it is nothing to play with the

people that go through it take it as no joke because it is a serious ongoing situation that will

most likely never ever stop as long as the world continues to go the way it is. The law will

continue to handle situations without care, and likely to approach situations more aggresively as

time goes along. But it is okay though because we are evolving and nothing can stop that as

long as the world continues to spin. In conclusion, racial profiling is not only a violation of human
rights, but it has also been proven ineffective. The act goes against individual rights to equal

protection and many studies have shown does not contribute to the common good. . I do agree

that profiling should be used on be on the look outs, when racial profiling is needed to identify a

suspect in a specific crime and when nasty features areimportant . Otherwise, it is unnecessary.

Police should stop using racial profiling all together, and in reality ot really wastes time and

money. Using different methods based on acts of suspicion , is important to our security, while

racial profiling is not.The relationship between police officers and ethnicity communitys citizens

racial groups by different groups and how they interact. Racial profiling is a major part in

comprehending racial abuse. Such as suspiciously picking out a black driver not doing anything

but, the police think the driver is suspicious so he/she gets pulled over. Another factor was

people have the tendency to treats blacks unequal. The bible stated that the first thing to

understand in this discussion is that there is only one race ,the human races. Caucasians,

Africans, Asians, Indians, Arabs, and Jews are notdifferent races. Rather, they are different

ethnicities of the human race. All human beings havethe physical characteristics. More

importantly, all human beings are created in the image andlikeliness of god. (Genesis 1:26-27)

The topics being talked about in this essay are real life and a serious problem within out society.

But the question is what can we do to stop this from spreading to areas that arnt affected by it.

When it does happen how can we prevent it from going from an easy traffic stop to a young

african american or latino male or female being shot to death just based on the profiling and

simple thoughts of another person just because they think that person is up to no good.But in

reality he just was walking trying to get home to his mother but ends up with lead in his back.Is it

that important? Is it really worth the trials and tribulations just based upon the thought of

someone else even if they opinion doesn't matter some people put themselves in certain

positions to make it that important to push the issue and make racial profiling an big deal when
in some cases are but in most it just be because of what the color of my skin looks like, what

you sound like, how you dress. The list goes on but at the end of the day if society wants to

change we have to only change for the better.

 Work Cited

(By Donald Tomaskovic-Devey and Patricia Warren | May 20, 2009 | Spring 2009. "Explaining

and Eliminating Racial Profiling." Contexts Explaining and Eliminating Racial Profiling

Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2017.)

("The Facts on Racial Profiling." The Facts on Racial Profiling. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2017.)

(Http://kysu.academia.edu/ShawntaPrather. "Racial Profiling Research Paper 01."

Academia.edu - Share Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2017.)