Preview

Racial Profiling, Suffrage And The Civil Rights Movement

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2132 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Racial Profiling, Suffrage And The Civil Rights Movement
yEarl Bogan, Jr.
AAST 103
December 8, 2008
1st Semester
T/Th 9:30-10:45
FINAL DEBATE PAPER For decades African Americans have faced struggles throughout history. Most notably, African Americans were involved in slavery, suffrage, and the civil rights movement. These struggles were very visible and everyone was aware of what was going on. However, now African Americans are involved in a struggle that it not visible and recognizable. This is a struggle that is used to capitalize on wealth and prevent African American families and individuals from living normal lives. They are involved in environmental racism. Environmental racism “refers to intentional or unintentional racial discrimination in the enforcement of environmental rules
…show more content…
African Americans are usually the targeted victims in the act of racial profiling. It is believed that an African American driver will be more likely stopped than a White driver. Some police officers share the belief that Black drivers will most likely possess an illegal substance of committing an illegal act. However, policemen argue that they do not base their arrests on race but are greatening their probability of a successful search. Some policemen also argue that the probability of catching a Black offender is greater than catching a White offender. Whether the statement is true or not, it places a bias on African Americans and White Americans. The belief that African Americans men are more likely to commit crimes is unfair and not true. One cannot base the behavior of all African American men on the ones that have done wrong and been imprisoned. Another belief of racial profiling is it is the cause of the racial disparities in the American prison system. There are many more African American men in the jail system than there are White men. The previous statement is mostly likely to be true. Because some policemen hold biases and have prejudices against African Americans, it will cause more African Americans to be placed in the jail system. Another instance of racial profiling involved African Americans owning nice material possessions such as a car or a house and African Americans being in a predominately White neighborhood. For example, in an episode of Family Matters, Eddie was in his car travelling through a predominately White neighborhood and was pulled over by the police for “failure to signal.” However, the routine traffic stop turned into nothing more than

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In Eugene Robinson’s essay “You Have the Right to Remain a Target of Racial Profiling,” Robinson argues that police officers still racially profile when pulling over people for traffic offenses. He uses a Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics report that states that white, African-American and Hispanic drivers are equally likely to be pulled over by the police in a traffic stop. He doesn’t believe this to be true and delves deeper into the findings. Robinson notes that African-Americans and Hispanics are much more likely to be searched and be the subject of “police use of force”. Black drivers were also twice as likely to be arrested as white drivers, and Hispanics were more likely to receive a ticket. Whites were more likely to receive written or verbal warnings that blacks or…

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Summary and Responce

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In my summary of Eugene Robinson’s article “You Have the Right to Remain a Target of Racial Profiling”, starts off with the message that statistics released were from a study done in 2005, by the Federal Bureau of Justice. In that study black drivers were less likely to be stopped by police than drivers belonging to other groups. Mr. Robinson goes on to say that even with blacks being less likely to be pulled over, they are nearly 3 times more likely to be searched over white drivers. He goes on to say that the disparities between the racial groups might not constitute proof of bias, but to him are compelling enough because whites are less likely to experience police use of force than other racial groups. He also says that nearly 75% of whites and Hispanics were willing to concede to the fact that they had been caught dead to rights for red light or stop sign infractions. But just under half of the African Americans in the same situation felt that they had committed no infractions. He goes on to say that 9 out of 10 white drivers detained for some sort of vehicle defect thought that it was legitimate, but only 6.7 out of 10 black drivers felt the same way.…

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Racial Profiling is the biggest complaint in the black community, and one of the primary reasons why African Americans are put behind bars at a very fast rate. There could be a young sophisticated black male walking down the street , and because of his height, skin color, attire, and hair he could be stopped and searched. Sometimes the police may mistakenly identify a person as someone else and charge the person , and the individual may spend years behind bars until found innocent. "Blacks in Cleveland received one and a half times (1.53) their proportional share of traffic tickets, while whites received slightly less than two-thirds (0.60) of their share, another minorities received eight per-cent more than their proportional share of tickets (1.08)" (Dunn 971) The quote is saying that African American are pulled over for tickets more than white people. This quote show that cops pull people because they see black skin. A lot of times when a person is found innocent the government do not give them anything to make up for the time that was lost, but instead they throw them back into the world with nothing but confusion.…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In terms of motorists, in 2005 Black drivers were three times more likely to be stopped and searched by police than Whites, and were twice as likely than White drivers to be arrested during a traffic stop (“Reality of Racial Profiling”). These findings demonstrate that police are more likely to target people of color than Whites and case studies have shown that this practice is counterproductive and a misallocation of law enforcement resources. For example, in Arizona although Black motorists were more likely than Whites to be stopped and searched, Whites who were searched were more likely to be carrying contraband (“Reality of Racial Profiling”). The case study in Arizona exemplifies a problem in the criminal justice system that must be addressed. Minority motorists are more likely than White motorists to be stopped and harassed by police based off the inherent belief that people of a minority race, ethnicity, or religion are more likely to engage in criminal or unlawful activity than…

    • 1380 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Case Of Ronald Cotton

    • 1279 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Statistics based on the “Police public contract survey” show that it’s more likely for black drivers or motorist to be pulled over by the police, and often there’s not plausible reasons of why they are stopped. As if the blacker one is, the more he is expected to be in the wrongdoings. Even if most of racial discrimination and profiling occur in the US, we must know that is a worldwide issue. In the article Racial Profiling: The Parisian police…

    • 1279 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Central Park Case

    • 1516 Words
    • 7 Pages

    It is a known fact that there more afican amaerican in prison than there is of any race. African americans have always received the shorter end of the stick. In the article Crime, Cops, and Context speaks about the victimization of black and latino youth in New York specifically. These boys were victimized by New York police department. In the text it states, "Recent study figures predict that 80% of Black men ages 18 to 19 will likely bestopped by the police—versus 40% for Latino males, and about 12% for White males giving credence to the idea that 'race evidently became a factor in everyday policing'" (Rengifo, 2016,p. 456). This conveys the argument that blacks are targets to police officers. When a person sees a young black male in a group with friends they tend to believe the boys are in a gang or…

    • 1516 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    An Ethnic minority background increases your chances of arrest and conviction, some people argue that police racism in itself results in higher suspicion against black people in general.…

    • 3004 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    For more than 200 years before the civil war blacks weren’t treated equal and even after things didn’t get better only worse. The Williams vs Mississippi case was fought over black suffrage. The court case took place in Washington County, Mississippi. The jury consisted of all whites; the jury ratio was 9-0 (9 white men and 0 black men). Henry Williams was the African American defendant in the case who was charged for murder. He believed that if blacks were not allowed to be part of the grand jury then the murder charged against him should be abolished. Williams claimed that he was being discriminated against and was unfairly sentenced. Williams also believed he qualified for being able to vote hence, the case that the qualifications adapted into the constitution of 1890 were discriminatory towards African Americans as well as poor whites.…

    • 1234 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    I have had many classes throughout high school on racism and oppression. I had no idea what environmental racism was. It made sense when explained. It was when low-income and minority communities were forced to live in degraded environments. These households would be exposed to toxic waste, pollution, and urban decay. The statistic was that in L.A. county, people were divided by race from ages 0 to 17. 18.4% of Blacks contracted asthma, with Whites at 8.1%, Latinos at 6.4%, and Asian/Pacific Islanders were 6.7%. After everything we have learned in this class, these numbers did not surprise me. It is a harsh reality that Black communities are exposed to poor environments. There was a documentary in class that showed how neighborhood drilling was the main cause of health issues. People were starting to protest against this, which shows forms of resistance. In response to what happened in Aliso Canyon, U.S. cabinet members and celebrities showed up to speak out on this matter. However, the predominantly Black community of Eight Mile, Alabama had a similar crisis: a 500-gallon spill of mercapton that leaked into the soil and groundwater. Unlike Aliso Canyon, Eight Mile did not receive any support from celebrities or U.S. cabinet members. I find this shocking because it suggests that race played a major role in the outcomes of these two…

    • 890 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The judging of an individual’s character by their race did not become relevant because of the Rodney King beating, the attacks on the World Trade Center, or the illegal aliens crossing the Mexican border. Racial Discrimination has been a reoccurring issue for centuries. Throughout time, these judgments and discriminations have led to unwarranted searches, racial riots and unjust prosecutions. Racial Profiling not only adds to this overwhelming issue but is upheld by the U.S. government and prominent leaders. Racial profiling has caused divisions between black men and the police, negative effects on immigration and race relations, and false imprisonment, further proving that racial profiling is not defensible public policy.…

    • 1356 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Given the literature reviewed, there are three things that are clear. First, Racial profiling is real. Many media channels claim that there is no substance behind it. Yet, although it is real, it has not yet garnered the scholarly consideration it deserves. Current studies of racial profiling almost exclusively focus on one facet of African American lives, driving. Considering that most people, including minorities, spend considerable amounts of time in retail institutions, it seems that a rich area of potential research has gone unnoticed or has received less notice due to its connection to private security, which is probably the least studied zone of criminal justice. There are a few likely directions for future racial profiling research.…

    • 241 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    1 David Harris is a law professor at University of Pittsburg School of Law and has found that in 2003, many of the traffic vehicle stops resulted in illegal substances and goods being found by police officers. When Harris calculated the traffic vehicle stops he came across that White Americans contributed to most of the stops and that “that racial profiling is a counterproductive law enforcement strategy as well as a controversial one.” (Collica, 2012, chp.…

    • 1682 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Racial Profiling

    • 1103 Words
    • 5 Pages

    People of color get pulled over more than white people. Is it because the people of color are all criminals or because the police are getting lazier? people who use racial profiling usually have a negative perception or judgment about African Americans. Racial profiling is a hot subject in the world today. Racial profiling is a fact of life for many Americans today, and I for one think it’s sad. Authors Ahmed Rehab and Randall Kennedy both comment on the negative impact that racial profiling has on society today in America. These authors helped me to see the reason why racial profiling is still used, but at the same time they helped to confirm my position on why racial…

    • 1103 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Racial bias is not an inherent practice, but a result of social conditioning exacted by centuries of a culture built on the oppression of minorities. Though slavery ended in the 1860s, the fight for civil rights continued long after, and remains relevant to this day. Slavery is lauded as a non-issue, a thing of the past that has no bearing on our current ethos, but some maintain a flippant attitude toward casual racism. It’s this insidious form of racism that creates a hostile environment toward people of color, an issue that has festered into not only nationwide racial tension, but an atmosphere in which racial bias can not only be troublesome in matters of law, but also deadly. Racial profiling is the act of categorizing particular people or groups unfairly based on their predetermined physical attributes, behavior, religious affiliation, nationality, and/or race. When one puts people or groups into certain categories based on these things, they begin to perceive them as dangerous, negatively impacting the entire community.…

    • 1551 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Another racial stereotyping present in real life and films are the arrest of dark colored men. Racial profiling against blacks have gone on for decades. The most recent reference was the Trayvon Martin case, in which a 17 year old colored teenager had a hoodie on and 27 year old Hispanic American suspected him of suspicious behavior, and shot him claiming it was self-defense. Colored people are also more likely to get stopped by the cops while driving. Men in Black II poked fun at this when in the movie, the car had a robot driver and it was a white male. Kevin Brown asks, “Does that come standard?” and Agent J replies, “Actually it came with a black dude, but he kept getting pulled over.”…

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays