Essay On Racial Profiling Is Morally Wrong
Racial Profiling is Morally wrong
Some people are not aware of the racial profiling that still exists in America, and if they are they make no effort of talking about it. Police prejudice and racial profiling is responsible for many false arrests, convictions and deaths of African Americans. Racial profiling is the use of race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone to have committed an offense. This has been an ongoing problem that African Americans have been dealing with for more than 500 years. Racial profiling of African Americans is morally wrong and is based on false assumptions.
Racial profiling is a violation of human rights for African Americans. It violates the 4th Amendment, which states; “The constitution, through the 4th …show more content…
amendment, protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government(Donalds 61).” The constitution is America’s handbook of principles that states the rights of all citizens. If any government agency fails to protect these rights they fail the people. It also violates the 14th amendment, which states; "No state may deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of laws (Donalds 62).” By searching blacks more often and whites less often, there is an unequal protection of the community. “What the Constitution forbids, however, is conducting such action solely on the bias of race or religion. Officers must have reasonable individualized suspicion that criminal activity may be afoot. Race and religion themselves don't count (price 2).” Profiling of African Americans based on their race is a violation of their rights.
Racial profiling of African Americans does not work.
“New York City Police Dept. A federal judge found that the departments infamous “Stop-and-Frisk” program constitutes discriminatory and constitutional racial profiling. The NYPD offered a second rationale for the disparity: that black youth are simply more likely to engage in “suspicious behavior” than whites. Judge Scheindlin found that the NYPD’s defense was actually no defense at all. She wrote that the NYPD’s logic was “effectively an admission” that racial bias was the only explanation for the NYPD’s disproportionate stopping of blacks (Price 2).” This shows that blacks and other ethnical groups are being strippen of their rights and being humiliated by police agencies that claim to have racial profiling as a working method to decrease crime. Statistics clearly show the bias that's behind African Americans and law enforcements. In Ferguson for an example, “African American drivers there represented 86 percent of all traffic stops despite making up only 67 percent of the city’s population; white drivers by contrast, account for only 13 percent of the traffic stops in Ferguson despite only making up 29 percent of its population (Zengerle 2).” This shows that they are being targeted, because the majority of their population has high arrests percentage. “African American drivers accounted for nearly 93 percent of arrests and whites only 7 percent (Zengerle 2).” What does this tell you? More blacks are arrested than whites in Ferguson even though they only make up 67 percent of the population. This is a clear understanding of how racial profiling of blacks does not
work.
Racial profiling keeps police from serving the community as a whole. Law enforcement agencies are responsible or generally seem responsible, for protecting citizens from criminals. When a law enforcement agency practices racial profiling it not only sends a message that whites are assumed to law abiding citizens while blacks are assumed to be criminals, but it creates a negative impression on police as well. Police are people that are there when we need help, they are always one 911 call away. “We rely on police to protect us from harm and to promote fairness and justice in our communities (Because Freedom Can’t 1).” If they make assumptions of innocent people because of the color of their skin or background, who is left to trust? Some people might argue that the police are just trying to protect the community that is understandable however It is not their job to humiliate african Americans. “The problem with racial issues in America is that people make assumptions, and sometimes deadly ones, on the way they perceive someones acts based on superficial things, like the way they dress.”- Merenu (Yousef 3).” If police want to serve the community equally, they must stop racial profiling.
Racial profiling can quickly escalate into racially motivated violence. A great example is the controversial cases that have been going on in Ferguson. Starting with the Travon Martin Case to the Michael Brown shooting and the Eric Garner controversial “I can’t Breathe” statement that caught the eyes of millions everywhere. The thing that these cases all had in common was the victims were all black men who were killed in the hands of white policemen based on false criminal assumptions. “The problem with racial issues in America is that people make assumptions, and sometimes deadly ones, on the way they perceive someone’s acts based superficial things like the way they dress.”- Merenu (Yousef 3).” The crazy thing about these three cases is when the trial was conducted they concluded the three white policemen in the three different cases were all not guilty of the the lives of the three black men. But the case that most Americans sympathize with is the Eric Garner case. The incident was caught on tape by a friend of Garner, It shows Garner resisting arrest, although not violently so- he shouts at officers, “Every Time you see me you want to arrest, I’m tired of this, this stops today… I didn’t do nothing… I’m minding my business officer…” while waving his arms animatedly- before Pantaleo (a police officer at the scene of the incident) comes behind and places his left arm around Garner’s neck. Garner falls backwards, at this point three police officers physically grab him. The officers with their hands around his neck tell him to put his hands behind his back. Garner complains that he cannot breathe. Pantaleo forces Garners head to the cement. Garner died a few minutes later (Sharpiro 1).” When the nation receives news of this incident on about every network they couldn’t help but sympathize. In fact; “ By 57%-22% of those surveyed say the grand jury made the wrong decision in not bringing charges against New York city police officer Daniel Pantaleo ( Page 2).” The countless amounts of protests and riots that happened in Ferguson that resulted from the jury concluding the policemen not guilty and letting them walk off free. Ferguson was basically a destruction town during this period of mourning and disbelief of the jury's verdict because of violent protest and raw riots. This is why violence is the effect from police practicing racial profiling.
Racial profiling can be decreased by taking precautions to stop assumptions by law enforcements. There are a lot of things we can do as well as the government to reduce racial profiling. One of the things is that; “race needs to be put at the forefront. Race need to be an issue that we discuss openly and at the length. When shootings happen we should not dismiss it. To progress as a nation that is a true proponent of racial equality, we need to talk about race (Yousef 3).” The smallest changes we can make as a nation will tend to solve to solve the biggest segregation problems. We need to take action by reestablishing black rights with law enforcement agencies. “The first step to equality is a change of perspective by seeking blacks and other people of color as people; not a stereotypical construction of a person (Yousef 3).” If we put in place precautions on how to handle racial profiling and pledge as a nation to speak up to those being served injustice in the court systems we can stop racial profiling because a group of people standing up from something they believe in is way more powerful than one voice trying to proclaim his or her opinion. Police should have some sort of camera with them at the place of the incident. “Nearly 9 of 10 surveyed say it would be a good idea for more police officers to wear body cameras to record their interactions (Page 2).” This would be a tremendous on the decision of the cases because it lets the jury actually see the evidence instead of just going from word of mouth. This will eliminate false assumptions and decrease racial profiling.
Profiling of African Americans because of their race is based on false assumptions and is morally wrong. Even if people choose to be oblivious to racial profiling that happens almost everyday in America, one thing they have to acknowledge is the prejudice, false accusations and racial profiling that police have conflicted onto African Americans. If this country is willing to thrive as a nation with equal rights for all we need to consider this: As a nation we tend to focus on how far we’ve come in terms of racial equality, but the reality is that racism still exist- its simply just taken on different forms. Just because we’ve “come a long way” does not mean we should settle for the current state of race relations (Romero 4)
Some people are not aware of the racial profiling that still exists in America, and if they are they make no effort of talking about it. Police prejudice and racial profiling is responsible for many false arrests, convictions and deaths of African Americans. Racial profiling is the use of race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone to have committed an offense. This has been an ongoing problem that African Americans have been dealing with for more than 500 years. Racial profiling of African Americans is morally wrong and is based on false assumptions.
Racial profiling is a violation of human rights for African Americans. It violates the 4th Amendment, which states; “The constitution, through the 4th …show more content…
amendment, protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government(Donalds 61).” The constitution is America’s handbook of principles that states the rights of all citizens. If any government agency fails to protect these rights they fail the people. It also violates the 14th amendment, which states; "No state may deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of laws (Donalds 62).” By searching blacks more often and whites less often, there is an unequal protection of the community. “What the Constitution forbids, however, is conducting such action solely on the bias of race or religion. Officers must have reasonable individualized suspicion that criminal activity may be afoot. Race and religion themselves don't count (price 2).” Profiling of African Americans based on their race is a violation of their rights.
Racial profiling of African Americans does not work.
“New York City Police Dept. A federal judge found that the departments infamous “Stop-and-Frisk” program constitutes discriminatory and constitutional racial profiling. The NYPD offered a second rationale for the disparity: that black youth are simply more likely to engage in “suspicious behavior” than whites. Judge Scheindlin found that the NYPD’s defense was actually no defense at all. She wrote that the NYPD’s logic was “effectively an admission” that racial bias was the only explanation for the NYPD’s disproportionate stopping of blacks (Price 2).” This shows that blacks and other ethnical groups are being strippen of their rights and being humiliated by police agencies that claim to have racial profiling as a working method to decrease crime. Statistics clearly show the bias that's behind African Americans and law enforcements. In Ferguson for an example, “African American drivers there represented 86 percent of all traffic stops despite making up only 67 percent of the city’s population; white drivers by contrast, account for only 13 percent of the traffic stops in Ferguson despite only making up 29 percent of its population (Zengerle 2).” This shows that they are being targeted, because the majority of their population has high arrests percentage. “African American drivers accounted for nearly 93 percent of arrests and whites only 7 percent (Zengerle 2).” What does this tell you? More blacks are arrested than whites in Ferguson even though they only make up 67 percent of the population. This is a clear understanding of how racial profiling of blacks does not
work.
Racial profiling keeps police from serving the community as a whole. Law enforcement agencies are responsible or generally seem responsible, for protecting citizens from criminals. When a law enforcement agency practices racial profiling it not only sends a message that whites are assumed to law abiding citizens while blacks are assumed to be criminals, but it creates a negative impression on police as well. Police are people that are there when we need help, they are always one 911 call away. “We rely on police to protect us from harm and to promote fairness and justice in our communities (Because Freedom Can’t 1).” If they make assumptions of innocent people because of the color of their skin or background, who is left to trust? Some people might argue that the police are just trying to protect the community that is understandable however It is not their job to humiliate african Americans. “The problem with racial issues in America is that people make assumptions, and sometimes deadly ones, on the way they perceive someones acts based on superficial things, like the way they dress.”- Merenu (Yousef 3).” If police want to serve the community equally, they must stop racial profiling.
Racial profiling can quickly escalate into racially motivated violence. A great example is the controversial cases that have been going on in Ferguson. Starting with the Travon Martin Case to the Michael Brown shooting and the Eric Garner controversial “I can’t Breathe” statement that caught the eyes of millions everywhere. The thing that these cases all had in common was the victims were all black men who were killed in the hands of white policemen based on false criminal assumptions. “The problem with racial issues in America is that people make assumptions, and sometimes deadly ones, on the way they perceive someone’s acts based superficial things like the way they dress.”- Merenu (Yousef 3).” The crazy thing about these three cases is when the trial was conducted they concluded the three white policemen in the three different cases were all not guilty of the the lives of the three black men. But the case that most Americans sympathize with is the Eric Garner case. The incident was caught on tape by a friend of Garner, It shows Garner resisting arrest, although not violently so- he shouts at officers, “Every Time you see me you want to arrest, I’m tired of this, this stops today… I didn’t do nothing… I’m minding my business officer…” while waving his arms animatedly- before Pantaleo (a police officer at the scene of the incident) comes behind and places his left arm around Garner’s neck. Garner falls backwards, at this point three police officers physically grab him. The officers with their hands around his neck tell him to put his hands behind his back. Garner complains that he cannot breathe. Pantaleo forces Garners head to the cement. Garner died a few minutes later (Sharpiro 1).” When the nation receives news of this incident on about every network they couldn’t help but sympathize. In fact; “ By 57%-22% of those surveyed say the grand jury made the wrong decision in not bringing charges against New York city police officer Daniel Pantaleo ( Page 2).” The countless amounts of protests and riots that happened in Ferguson that resulted from the jury concluding the policemen not guilty and letting them walk off free. Ferguson was basically a destruction town during this period of mourning and disbelief of the jury's verdict because of violent protest and raw riots. This is why violence is the effect from police practicing racial profiling.
Racial profiling can be decreased by taking precautions to stop assumptions by law enforcements. There are a lot of things we can do as well as the government to reduce racial profiling. One of the things is that; “race needs to be put at the forefront. Race need to be an issue that we discuss openly and at the length. When shootings happen we should not dismiss it. To progress as a nation that is a true proponent of racial equality, we need to talk about race (Yousef 3).” The smallest changes we can make as a nation will tend to solve to solve the biggest segregation problems. We need to take action by reestablishing black rights with law enforcement agencies. “The first step to equality is a change of perspective by seeking blacks and other people of color as people; not a stereotypical construction of a person (Yousef 3).” If we put in place precautions on how to handle racial profiling and pledge as a nation to speak up to those being served injustice in the court systems we can stop racial profiling because a group of people standing up from something they believe in is way more powerful than one voice trying to proclaim his or her opinion. Police should have some sort of camera with them at the place of the incident. “Nearly 9 of 10 surveyed say it would be a good idea for more police officers to wear body cameras to record their interactions (Page 2).” This would be a tremendous on the decision of the cases because it lets the jury actually see the evidence instead of just going from word of mouth. This will eliminate false assumptions and decrease racial profiling.
Profiling of African Americans because of their race is based on false assumptions and is morally wrong. Even if people choose to be oblivious to racial profiling that happens almost everyday in America, one thing they have to acknowledge is the prejudice, false accusations and racial profiling that police have conflicted onto African Americans. If this country is willing to thrive as a nation with equal rights for all we need to consider this: As a nation we tend to focus on how far we’ve come in terms of racial equality, but the reality is that racism still exist- its simply just taken on different forms. Just because we’ve “come a long way” does not mean we should settle for the current state of race relations (Romero 4)