The Pros And Cons Of Racial Profiling

The United States has been an attractive place because of the many freedoms it offers to its citizens and visitors. America fought long and hard to extinguish the racism that originated from slavery; up until the 21st century there are still problems with racial discrimination. Racial profiling goes against what the United States of America stand for and it is unfortunate for those who escaped from discrimination to be subjected to it again. The drawbacks of racial profiling outweigh the benefits. There is no doubt that ethnic minorities are targeted in the U.S. because of their differentiations. Racial profiling isn’t and should never become justified when used by law enforcement due to its unfair qualities.

The justification of racial
profiling will give officials the empowerment over others with the authority they are given.
The U.S. Department of Justice recently made an accusation against the Ferguson police in Missouri that they used, “systemic exploitation and discrimination against black Americans.” (Liguori, Michael) When the Ferguson case was on trial, it was obvious that the shooting of Michael Brown was provoked by racial profiling. The shooter, Darren Wilson, a white man was not charged for his act of self- defense which actually cost the life of an innocent man. This tragic case led for an increased number of African Americans feeling targeted because of their race. Racial profiling only causes problems. Racial profiling is an unfair bias against a particular race. Racial profiling implies that the skin color of someone determines their actions: Race doesn’t define them, their personality does. Criminals that are fortunate enough to be of an un-targeted race have the opportunity to hide behind those who embody the race that is profiled because of racial discrimination. Although profiling contains many drawbacks, there are benefits that interest the law officials. Time and money is saved by this “effective tool” because it finds possible
suspects quicker based on racial cues. Howard Teten, a former FBI chief, became extremely successful in using profiling to help him, “solve many crimes, and in 1969 he began teaching courses on profiling for the FBI.” (Cloud, John) But Teten’s techniques weren’t as effective as he thought they were because they then proved to be a quick but unaccurate way to catch criminals. The costs of racial profiling are symbolic in terms of an innocent person being stopped or targeted just because of the way they look. It doesn’t matter what a person’s race is, it doesn’t influence a person’s actions. It is just unethical to use someone’s external appearance to determine their innocence, especially since looks can be deceiving.

Schemas are mental structures that organize our knowledge about the social world and influence what we notice, think about, and remember. When schemas are applied to a certain racial group, that creates a stereotype which will rapidly morph to be a quick judgement when encountering others. The Martin vs. Zimmerman case started great controversy between people who thought George Zimmerman acted in self-defense or if he initiated the encounter. With all the facts that have been given about the night of Trayvon Martin’s death, it is possible that Zimmerman acted on automatic thinking. It was late at night, Zimmerman saw an African American male wearing a hoodie and deemed him to be “suspicious” looking. After analyzing all the possible situations that could have occurred the night of Martin’s death, Meyers deduced that, “Our lives and the sense we make of them have everything to do with the lens through which we see and approach our family, friends, coworkers, and strangers, and Martin may have been on the receiving end of racist behavior.” (Meyers, Seth) In conclusion, how Zimmerman perceived Martin had everything to do with Zimmerman’s actions.
Racial profiles are used constantly in the United States, they’re so common that people barely notice them.
In the article, What’s Race Got To Do With It?, the author merely brings up instances when an African American desires to do a normal daily task but faces obstacles because of their skin color; for example “driving while black” since the police stop them randomly when driving, “hailing while black” for the reason that it is harder to wave down a cab, and “ailing while black” because of the assumption for them to become addicted to their pain medicine. (Cloud, John) But not only are African Americans are targeted, other races are affected by social profiling too. After 9/11, the security in airports were raised to higher standards of safety. The equipment, protocol, and regulations all became more efficient in detecting terror threats. Unfortunately airport security also started searching Arab Americans in a more rigorous and disrespectful manner. Nafees Syed shared her story of when she visited the airport, 9 years after the 9/11 attack happened and was disgusted that she, “consistently faced [“random”] selections for extra screening at the airport after [she] decided to wear the hijab, or Muslim head covering. [She’s] been told to take [her] head scarf off or have [her] head probed while the passengers in front of [her] offered pitying smiles as they rushed to their flights.” (Syed, Nafees) Arab Americans that frequently travel will continue to deal with profiling at
the airport until people stop discriminating against the ethnic minorities that look different or have “weird” sounding names. Racial profiling gives racism the ability to thrive in the society, making it harder to get rid of racism.
Racial profiling shouldn’t be an accepted practice in law enforcement because criminals do not fit a specific profile. The usage of racial profiling undermines the ethnic minority that is being targeted and there is no legitimate reason for that to happen, especially when it is unethical. The practice of racial discrimination would just show how regressive the methodology of the law enforcement is when there are plenty of other ways to capture a culprit.