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Racial Profiling

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Racial Profiling
Imagine driving to work, running late for an important meeting. You are driving the posted speed limit, obeying all traffic laws, and you car is in perfect working order. All of a sudden, flashing red and blue lights are behind you and you’re being pulled over. The officer treats you as a suspect right off the bat, smothering you with questions concerning what you’re doing, where you’re going; yet never really telling you why you’ve been pulled over. Without any warranted reason the officer wants to search your car. After much hassle you are finally free to go, yet still have no explanation as to why you were pulled over to begin with. Now imagine you are black and the officer is white. You have probably just experienced racial profiling.

Racial profiling is a problem which is gaining widespread notoriety in the United States. It may be the most important homeland issue we face today. Racial profiling is a clear violation of the civil rights of United States citizens. Not only does racial profiling affect civilians, but it actually makes law enforcement ineffective. Most efforts to investigate and eradicate racial profiling have failed due to unclear findings and a lack of accountability on the part of law enforcement. New measures must be taken in conjunction with current measures to curb racial profiling. A stringent federal program to monitor and survey our nation’s police officers is needed. The public also needs to become more involved in efforts to stop racial profiling. Until these measures are taken, racial profiling will continue to eat away at the heart of our nation.

Racial profiling is one of the most important civil rights issues facing our country today. Not only does racial profiling affect the direct victims, it negatively affects all people of color, in all generations, of all levels of economic standing. The integrity and accountability of law enforcement agencies is lost due to racial profiling. This integrity is lost in the communities

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