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Racial Profiling

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Racial Profiling
Should Racial Profiling be a Legitimate Law-Enforcement Policy? Racial profiling is an act where all people of a certain race are treated as criminal suspects by those of law enforcement. This occurs when police investigate, stop, frisk search or use force against a person based on race instead of a person’s criminal behavior. It often involves the stopping and searching of people of color for traffic violations. One controversial issue in the discussion of racial profiling has been how to prove if it is legitimate. On the one hand, some argue it is correct policy to search or investigate those of a particular race in order to control crime. On the other hand, some contend it is an unconstitutional stereotype that causes unfair treatment and harm to people of that race. Racial profiling occurs more than it should and there needs to be a legitimate law enforcement policy created to resolve the issue. Racial profiling has been occurring throughout our nation, for as far back as many of us can remember. Racial profiling stems from racism and fear of people who are different, ethnically and culturally, than the person making the judgments. During the Civil Rights Era, racial profiling was a major issue, thousands of black Americans were unnecessarily stopped and arrested on their skin color alone. According to Ben Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, “…racial profiling contributed to the assassination of our 25th president” (para1). Leon Czolgosz, a light skinned man who stood in line holding a revolver covered by a handkerchief was overlooked by security. They were too busy focusing on the big African American man, James Parker who actually was the one to seize Czolgosz after the shooting (para2). This reflects how racial profiling causes innocent people to be stereotyped and criminals to continue with their crimes. Sadly, it spreads even further than that, and continues to cloud the judgment of people who are in positions of authority. Racial


Cited: Ayres, Ian. "Racial Profiling in L.A.: The Numbers Don 't Lie." Los Angeles Times. N.p., 23 Oct. 2008. Web. 26 Oct. 2012. Bushway, Scott. "Combating Racial Profiling Claims." Police Department Disciplinary Bulletin 12.6 (2004): 7-8. ProQuest Education Journals. Web. 9 Oct. 2012. Heumann, Milton, and Lance Cassak. Good Cop, Bad Cop. New York: Peter Lang, 2003. Print. Jealous, Ben. "Put an end, finally, to racial profiling." USA Today. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context, 7 Aug. 2009. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. Mazelis, Fred. "New Jersey Internal Records Document Widespread Racial Profiling of Black and Hispanic Motorists." World Socialist Web Site. International Committe of the Fourth International, 2 Dec. 2000. Web. 26 Oct. 2012. "Racial Profiling." Gale Encyclopedia of American Law. Ed. Donna Batten. 3rd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2010. 233-38. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. The Scars of Stop-and-Frisk. NYTimes.com Video Collection. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context, 2010. Web. 23 Oct. 2012.
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