Essay On Racial Profiling In America
Racial Profiling in America
CM107-32: College Composition I
Racial profiling (other than same sex relationship issues) seems to be the civil rights issue of our generation. While many brush it off, there are real live statistics suggesting that it is a very troubling societal issue. It doesn’t seem to be isolated in any one part of the country but some places are more notorious than others when it comes to racial profiling. There have also been high profile individuals like African American U.S. Danny Davis of Illinois who claims in 2007 was racially profiled after leaving a radio station in which he hosts a show.
The state of Missouri has very alarming statistics involving racial profiling. The attorney general, Chris Koster, put a graph on the web that outlines, by race, all stops, searches, arrests, search rate, contraband hit rate, and arrest rate. The average search rate for all stops in the state that year was 7.77%. The search rate for whites was 7.05%, versus blacks at 10.80% and Hispanic …show more content…
at 12.10%. The average contraband hit rate for all stops was 22.52%. The contraband hit rate for whites was 24.42% versus 18.42% for blacks and 13.51% for Hispanics. The final statistic I’d like to point out is arrest rates. The state average was 4.92%. White arrest rate was 4.15% versus 8.09% for blacks and 8.98% for Hispanic drivers. What can be gleaned from this numbers is that whites are less likely to be pulled over or arrested but are more likely to have something illegal. It is said that based on prison statistics blacks and Hispanics are more likely to commit a crime, but it would seem you are more likely to end up arrested if you are a minority, and arrests tend to lead to prison time. Based on these numbers it is reasonable to say that you are not more likely to catch a criminal by pulling over a minority. According to the American Civil Liberty Union, “the prison population grew by 700 percent from 1970 to 2005, a rate that is outpacing crime and population rates. The incarceration rates disproportionately impact men of color: 1 in every 15 African American men and 1 in every 36 Hispanic men are incarcerated in comparison to 1 in every 106 white men.” (Kerby, S.,n.d.)
Just a few weeks ago I was a passenger in my brother-in-law’s SUV.
His license plates were a couple of weeks out of date, which is a definite reason to be pulled over. The officer was driving in the lane next to us but slightly behind. The county sheriff deputy police cruisers are equipped with cameras that read every license plate it sees so I’m sure the fact that they were expired flashed on his display. Instead of getting behind us and pulling us over, he accelerated past us, looked into our vehicle then slowed to get behind us and on came his lights. I truly believe if we were not two youngish black guys he would’ve keep going. During the traffic stop, the deputy asked me for my identification, which I feel is odd because most of the times I get pulled over, 3-6 times a year, my wife is with me and she has never been asked to furnish ID. His goal was to see if I had warrant(s) so he could get an
arrest.
I don’t think that this issue will go away anytime soon, not in my life time. Race plays as big a role in our society now as it did 100 years ago, in my opinion. While traditional means of oppression have gone away, newish ones like racial profiling and absurd incarceration rates have replaced them and seem to be doing the job. With our society gradually turning into a melting pot, it will be very difficult to determine a person’s ethnic background. The only solution seems to lie with that.
References
Kerby, S. (n.d.). The Top 10 Most Startling Facts About People of Color and Criminal Justice in the United States | Center for American Progress. Center for American Progress. Retrieved September 28, 2013, from http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/news/2012/03/13/11351/the-top-10-most-startling-facts-about-people-of-color-and-criminal-justice-in-the-united-states/
Koster, C. (n.d.). Missouri Vehicle Stops Report. mo.gov. Retrieved September 28, 2013, from ago.mo.gov/VehicleStops/2011/
CM107-32: College Composition I
Racial profiling (other than same sex relationship issues) seems to be the civil rights issue of our generation. While many brush it off, there are real live statistics suggesting that it is a very troubling societal issue. It doesn’t seem to be isolated in any one part of the country but some places are more notorious than others when it comes to racial profiling. There have also been high profile individuals like African American U.S. Danny Davis of Illinois who claims in 2007 was racially profiled after leaving a radio station in which he hosts a show.
The state of Missouri has very alarming statistics involving racial profiling. The attorney general, Chris Koster, put a graph on the web that outlines, by race, all stops, searches, arrests, search rate, contraband hit rate, and arrest rate. The average search rate for all stops in the state that year was 7.77%. The search rate for whites was 7.05%, versus blacks at 10.80% and Hispanic …show more content…
at 12.10%. The average contraband hit rate for all stops was 22.52%. The contraband hit rate for whites was 24.42% versus 18.42% for blacks and 13.51% for Hispanics. The final statistic I’d like to point out is arrest rates. The state average was 4.92%. White arrest rate was 4.15% versus 8.09% for blacks and 8.98% for Hispanic drivers. What can be gleaned from this numbers is that whites are less likely to be pulled over or arrested but are more likely to have something illegal. It is said that based on prison statistics blacks and Hispanics are more likely to commit a crime, but it would seem you are more likely to end up arrested if you are a minority, and arrests tend to lead to prison time. Based on these numbers it is reasonable to say that you are not more likely to catch a criminal by pulling over a minority. According to the American Civil Liberty Union, “the prison population grew by 700 percent from 1970 to 2005, a rate that is outpacing crime and population rates. The incarceration rates disproportionately impact men of color: 1 in every 15 African American men and 1 in every 36 Hispanic men are incarcerated in comparison to 1 in every 106 white men.” (Kerby, S.,n.d.)
Just a few weeks ago I was a passenger in my brother-in-law’s SUV.
His license plates were a couple of weeks out of date, which is a definite reason to be pulled over. The officer was driving in the lane next to us but slightly behind. The county sheriff deputy police cruisers are equipped with cameras that read every license plate it sees so I’m sure the fact that they were expired flashed on his display. Instead of getting behind us and pulling us over, he accelerated past us, looked into our vehicle then slowed to get behind us and on came his lights. I truly believe if we were not two youngish black guys he would’ve keep going. During the traffic stop, the deputy asked me for my identification, which I feel is odd because most of the times I get pulled over, 3-6 times a year, my wife is with me and she has never been asked to furnish ID. His goal was to see if I had warrant(s) so he could get an
arrest.
I don’t think that this issue will go away anytime soon, not in my life time. Race plays as big a role in our society now as it did 100 years ago, in my opinion. While traditional means of oppression have gone away, newish ones like racial profiling and absurd incarceration rates have replaced them and seem to be doing the job. With our society gradually turning into a melting pot, it will be very difficult to determine a person’s ethnic background. The only solution seems to lie with that.
References
Kerby, S. (n.d.). The Top 10 Most Startling Facts About People of Color and Criminal Justice in the United States | Center for American Progress. Center for American Progress. Retrieved September 28, 2013, from http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/news/2012/03/13/11351/the-top-10-most-startling-facts-about-people-of-color-and-criminal-justice-in-the-united-states/
Koster, C. (n.d.). Missouri Vehicle Stops Report. mo.gov. Retrieved September 28, 2013, from ago.mo.gov/VehicleStops/2011/