Examples Of Racial Profiling

The sense of sight allows people to see animals, leaves on trees, vibrant colors, people passing by, and many more. A person’s vision also allows them to see the color of people’s skin, the way they dress, their surroundings, and this vision can cause many problems. Police and other agencies may use their sight in many ways, to see people, cars, and crimes in order to protect society; however, this vision does not always help, it can also hurt. When it comes to a law enforcement figure’s vision of people, they may use their sight to single someone out just because of the way they look and the color of their skin, which is known as racial profiling. Racial profiling is the suspicion of certain races or ethnicities for committing or being involved
in a crime. This process of racial profiling violates people’s civil rights, and is used by many agencies of law enforcement such as police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and various other agencies.

Racial profiling is a heavily discussed issue in the movements involving civil rights and law enforcement.
Although racial profiling is technically illegal, due to the United States Constitution which provides everyone equal protection under law, it is commonly found in police departments throughout America. Throughout the history of the United States, police have had a reputation of being racist and hating African Americans, and although this is not the case for every officer, the examples of policemen using the so-called “strategy” of racial profiling are easy and accessible to find. An example of racial profiling against innocent people is found in a recollection of many events including racist police officers. Two friends, Marie Robinson and James Fields, were sitting in Robinson’s car in front of Fields’ house because Marie Robinson’s blood sugar levels dropped and she was drinking a cup of juice. The pair, both over the age of 50, were bombarded with accusations by a police officer saying that it was a drug deal and that Robinson was a prostitute, and when Fields attempted to object, he was thrown to the ground and handcuffed. Not soon after, Robinson required medical attention however the officer delayed over an hour to call an ambulance because he did not believe she was diabetic (Risen). So the question is, does driving while black make one more “guilty” looking than the next? More often than not, research finds that black drivers are more likely to be pulled over
in the first place.

Innocent black drivers everywhere are faced with racism in police, unfortunately. The first ever black President of the United States has spoke out about racial profiling, how it has affected his life more than once, and how he has gone over data and sees a certain sway. Obama states, “The data shows that this is not an aberration... It doesn’t mean each case is a problem. It means that when you aggregate all the cases and you look at it, you’ve gotta say that there’s some racial bias in the system.” (Bendery). Although most cases of police racism are found facing toward blacks, Hispanics are also heavily affected. Hispanic drivers are almost two times more likely to be pulled over by a police officer than a white driver (BJS- Traffic Stops). Of course, not every police officer is out to get people of color, nor is every person of color persecuted by police officers; however, police department's use of racial profiling does in fact violate people’s civil rights. Police are not the only officers who use the policy of racial profiling in their jobs, as do federal agencies. Many federal departments are accused of using the policy of racial profiling, such as the Transportation Security Administration, the National Security Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, has many policies set in order to protect traveling Americans. Unfortunately, these policies include “random searches” which persecute mostly Muslim- or Muslim looking- Americans. According to a Forbes article, the probability of finding a Muslim terrorist throughout these searches is one in 8 million; however, it has recently occurred that many terrorists do not actually fit the mold of a Muslim (Schneier). The TSA is not the only agency whose racial bias falls against Muslim-Americans. The National Security Agency is responsible for gathering foreign intelligence in order to keep the United States safe, and this power extends to protecting America from inside threats. The NSA, once exposed for abusing their power, has found that they should be monitoring Muslim-Americans, including 5 who all support other Muslims in some way, without cause other than the fact they share a religion with terrorists. These 5 people who are persecuted by the NSA live lives that practically mirror those of professional, white males. These investigations are justified because of the leeway given to NSA employees, as found in the quote, “Another leaked document punctuates this point with a dull, disgusting thud: a 2005 training document explaining how to “properly format internal memos to justify FISA surveillance” offers a sample memo that uses “Mohammed Raghead” as the name of a fictitious terrorism suspect.” (Lennard). If racial profiling is illegal in the eyes of the government, why is it somehow justified at the same time? Immigration and Customs Enforcement uses racial profiling as well, not against Muslim- Americans, but Hispanics. Throughout history, Hispanics have developed a reputation of being illegal, and are persecuted against for that exact reason. Hispanics across the United States are in danger of deportation, and many of them are citizens like the officers who are biased against them. In order to find illegal immigrants, officers look toward the Hispanic crowds. In 2011, an innocent, American citizen was profiled as an illegal immigrant while in an airport in Virginia. U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained and deported this young girl to Guatemala, without her parents, for two weeks. When this girl’s father filed a lawsuit against this government agency, it was almost dismissed because the actions taken were legal; however, the government settled the case and paid $32,000 to the family (United States). This was an innocent, American family mistreated by a government agency because of this so-called policy of racial profiling.

Racial profiling is an illegal act known throughout law enforcement agencies, and many times justified as a way to protect society.
This policy greatly effects and violates every day, innocent United States citizens by inflicting punishments not deserved, such as arrests and even deportation. Although many people may believe that racial profiling, if used correctly, could help agencies throughout the law enforcement community; however, the misregulation and failing statistics show that rather than help law enforcement, racial profiling hurts the reputation. Although it has been proven numerous times, racial profiling is an unethical and cruel way to support society, and still exists in the United States
government.