Free Essays on Racial Profiling

Racial Profiling can be defined as the identification of racial factors, such as skin color, hair texture, facial structure, physical attire, gender, spoken language, accent, or religion. As noted above, there are many ways in which someone can be racially profile. Racial profiling has been used for many years. It started with segregation in the early 1900’s and recently with cases such as Major Aaron Campbell vs Florida. Yet, racial profiling has been overlooked and not investigated thoroughly until recently. Some believe that racial profiling is a good offensive tactic by law enforcement. But, others feel that singling out minorities to be involved in criminal activities is a violation of the law, the Fourth amendment, and their civil rights. According to Voice magazine, about 50 uniformed and undercover officers, Caucasians and African American, participated in an unscientific survey which contended that â€Å"the felon look† or â€Å"Tupac-thug-for-life† image and posture account for the majority of the stops and frisk done by officers.(Noel, 2000) During the survey the officers had to assign a high or low percentage to every piece of clothing a person is wearing. Therefore, showing us a glimpse into an officer’s mind. The following is a list that may constitute suspicion for a stop and/or frisk according to the survey: 1. A baseball cap, worn at any angle, accounts for about 10%. 2. A bandana, particularly red or blue, hints a gang involvement and accounts for about 20%. 3. An XXL hooded sweattop, or â€Å"hoodie†, accounts for about 20%. 4. Sagging or baggy trousers, accounts for about 30% of stops. 5. Exposed plaid boxer shorts, accounts for about 10% of stops. 6. Expensive high-top sneakers, unlaced, suggesting that the person may have done prison time, accounts for about 10%. These are just mere suggestions of how a suspicious person may dress and could be involved in criminal activities. Living ... Free Essays on Racial Profiling Free Essays on Racial Profiling I. Introduction What’s a person, group or society to do when the holder of law itself states that a police officer’s true motive for stopping someone was irrelevant. If that person is suspected of some kind of violation, the police officer may pull that person over even if the police officer was motivated by racial bias (Savage 2001). Challenge it, that’s what we can do. There are African-Americans and other racial ethnicities in our society who feel that police officers are racially bias towards them because the color of their skin happens to be shades darker than theirs. There are people out there who see this as unconstitutional and yet there is no supreme law directly stating that Racial Profiling is unconstitutional. It must be that there are people that are too scared to challenge something like this because it’s a real big controversial issue, which is considered to be too much heated of a controversial issue to debate at times. Debate after debate people b egin to lose track of what Racial Profiling really means. Then consider this, the neutral definition of Racial Profiling: the practice of police officers stopping motorist and pedestrians of certain racial or ethnic groups because the officers believe that these groups are more likely than others to commit certain types of crimes (House Research Organization 2000: 2). This active kind of practice of police officers to stop people solely on the basis of their skin color being shades different from theirs is, to no purpose, wrong. There are African-Americans and other ethnic groups in our society who feel that police officers are racially bias towards them because the color of their skin happens to be shades darker than theirs. In addressing this issue to you, this paper begins with a brief background sketch on racial biases against the African-Americans and other ethnic groups in society. Following that, addressing the issue through first... Free Essays on Racial Profiling Position paper: Is Racial Profiling Justified in Certain Situations? To begin with, I believe that when a traffic stop is made simply based on race and color than this is wrong and a violation of an individuals rights. However, I believe that in some situations racial profiling is justified. Some even consider the act of racial profiling as a valuable and effective way to reduce crime. When our national security is on the line, â€Å"racial profiling† or more precisely, threat profiling based on race, religion, or nationality is justified. Last week the FBI came under fire for questioning Muslims in Seattle about possible terrorist ties. Where else are federal agents supposed to turn for help in uncovering terrorists plots? How can people argue that profiling is offensive when prohibiting it jeopardizes our safety? Profiling in certain situations must be done and we must consider the missed opportunities. In summer 2001, Phoenix FBI agent Kenneth Williams urged his bosses to investigate Muslim men whom he suspected of training in U.S. flight schools as part of terrorist missions. His superiors rejected him and FBI director, Robert Mueller, said the reason was that there were concerns that the plan could be viewed as discrimatory racial profiling. If the FBI had taken the advice, the feelings of some Arabs and Muslims might have been hurt but the Twin Towers might still be standing and 3,000 innocent people might be alive today. Profiling is just one investigative tool among many that can be used. This is a situation where racial profiling is justified. We need to pay close attention to issues of security and public safety, issues that could mean giving up some of the freedoms that we enjoy especially in the time of the war on terror. People need to understand that they could be profiled and just except the fact. If you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to worry about. If the government needs to profile me... Free Essays on Racial Profiling Racial Profiling can be defined as the identification of racial factors, such as skin color, hair texture, facial structure, physical attire, gender, spoken language, accent, or religion. As noted above, there are many ways in which someone can be racially profile. Racial profiling has been used for many years. It started with segregation in the early 1900’s and recently with cases such as Major Aaron Campbell vs Florida. Yet, racial profiling has been overlooked and not investigated thoroughly until recently. Some believe that racial profiling is a good offensive tactic by law enforcement. But, others feel that singling out minorities to be involved in criminal activities is a violation of the law, the Fourth amendment, and their civil rights. According to Voice magazine, about 50 uniformed and undercover officers, Caucasians and African American, participated in an unscientific survey which contended that â€Å"the felon look† or â€Å"Tupac-thug-for-life† image and posture account for the majority of the stops and frisk done by officers.(Noel, 2000) During the survey the officers had to assign a high or low percentage to every piece of clothing a person is wearing. Therefore, showing us a glimpse into an officer’s mind. The following is a list that may constitute suspicion for a stop and/or frisk according to the survey: 1. A baseball cap, worn at any angle, accounts for about 10%. 2. A bandana, particularly red or blue, hints a gang involvement and accounts for about 20%. 3. An XXL hooded sweattop, or â€Å"hoodie†, accounts for about 20%. 4. Sagging or baggy trousers, accounts for about 30% of stops. 5. Exposed plaid boxer shorts, accounts for about 10% of stops. 6. Expensive high-top sneakers, unlaced, suggesting that the person may have done prison time, accounts for about 10%. These are just mere suggestions of how a suspicious person may dress and could be involved in criminal activities. Living ... Free Essays on Racial Profiling Racial Profiling: â€Å"Its Time to Put an End to this Unjust Practice† It has happened to actors such as Wesley Snipes, Will Smith, Blair Underwood and LeVar Burton. It has happened to football player Marcus Allen, Olympic athletes Al Joyner and Edwin Moses, and it has happened to attorney Johnnie Cochran. Police officers stop, question and even search black drivers who have committed no crime, based on the excuse that a traffic offense has occurred. The term black Americans use for these stops are â€Å"Driving while Black† or DWB. Driving while black is a prime example of racial profiling. The issue of racial profiling in America is one of great importance to the future of American society, and regrettably, is not a new issue. For decades black Americans have complained about this practice. Law enforcement officials across our great nation deny that racial profiling occurs, but an over whelming majority of the black community believes that racial profiling is practiced on a daily basis. During the Civil Rights Era, racial profiling was a major issue, thousands of black Americans were unnecessarily stopped and arrested based on their skin color alone. Yet, after all of our progress 2 since that torrid period of our past, we continue to fight for the stoppage of racial profiling in the year 2000. This issue screams to be addressed by the government and abolished in American society if we truly desire our country to be â€Å"The Land of the Free,† that we all know and love. Racism, and stereotyping in general, are issues that date back many centuries. It would seem that skin color alone may very well make you a suspect in America, and more likely to be stopped by our law enforcement personnel. The war on drugs has given police a license to target those people who they believe fit the â€Å"profile† of a drug dealer or a gang member. The prevailing perception in American society today is that most drug trafficke... Free Essays on Racial Profiling 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. Some consider racial profiling a viable tool to reduce crime. The New Century Foundation, a non-profit organization based in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Oakton, VA, published a report on the American Renaissance website, stating that African-Americans commit 90% of the approximately 1,700,000 interracial crimes of violence that occurs every year in the United States. They are more than fifty times more likely to commit violent crimes against whites than vice versa. According to this same report, African-Americans are much more likely to commit violent crimes than whites and when they commit these crimes, target whites slightly more than half the time. The foundation believes that these crime statistics warrant racial profiling as a crime deterrent and believe that it may even reduce crime. A recent article publish...