Racial Profiling
EQ: What are the specific reasons for an increased amount of Racial Profiling among African American males, how can it be decreased?
Shayla Walker
Senior Seminar
Ms. Hill
March 2, 2015
Over the last year Racial Profiling by law enforcement officers has gotten a wide range of attention through the media. Racial profiling has been happening for decades, officers use race as a factor in conducting stops, searches, and other investigative procedures. Not all black people are criminals, not every white person is racist, and not every cop racially profiles. In today’s society there are many prejudiced people. How one person looks can affect the attitude of the person looking at them. There are many reasons for an increasing amount of Racial Profiling among African American males, the first reason is Crime. Secondly, the law enforcement also make false accusations. Third, segregation, ever since segregation the society looks at African American males. One way that racial profiling amongst African American males can be decreased is by preventing violent crimes. Some people may wonder what is racial profiling.
Racial Profiling is a discrimination by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of a crime based on the individual’s race, ethnicity, religion, or nationality. It occurs in cities, towns, and across the country every day. Racial profiling is a longstanding and deeply troubling national problem that needs to end. Due to being racially profiled it has led people to live in fear, communities alienate themselves from law enforcement, and has caused people to lose trust and credibility in the law. Racial Profiling affects a wide array of communities of color when officers and private security targets people of color for humiliating and often frightening detentions, interrogations, and searches without evidence of criminal activity it hinders community policing efforts. Also it goes back to more than 240 years of slavery and 90 years of legalized racial segregation which has led to systematic profiling of blacks in traffic and pedestrian stops.
One of the most common forms of Racial Profiling is stereotyping. What is a stereotype? A Stereotype is often unfair and untrue belief that many people have about all people or things with a particular characteristics and surrounding race. In the article, “Mass media played a role in the way white Americans …[look at] African Americans, Crime, drug-use, gang violence and other forms of antisocial behavior among African Americans”(Balkaran,1999, pg.1).http://www.yale.edu/ypq/articles/oct99/oct99b.html The media had divided the working class and stereotyped young African American males as gangsters or drug dealers. The media also focused on negative aspects of the black community. Using stereotypes and accepting racism is another form of racial profiling by assuming the worst of people based on a biased perception of reality that is then projected and multiplied offending and endangering anyone of that same race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion it contradicts the idea of equality under the law.
Furthermore, Race discrimination is another form of racial profiling. Race discrimination is when an employer makes a job decision on the basis of race or when it adopts seemingly neutral job policies that disproportionately affect members of a particular race. There are two different types of race discrimination one is called Disparate Treatment and Disparate Impact Discrimination. Disparate Treatment is when an employee makes a claim about disparate treatment it means he or she was treated differently than other employees who were in similar situations, because of the employee's race. Such as; an employer commits disparate treatment discrimination when they promote only white employees to supervisory positions, requires only job applicants of a certain race to submit to drug tests, or refuses to allow employees of certain races to deal with customers.
Disparate Impact discrimination is when the employee does not claim that the employer intentionally singled out employees of a particular race for bad treatment. Also, the employee claims that the employer’s apparently neutral policy, rule, or practice has a disproportionately negative impact on members of a particular race. For example, an employment policy requiring men to be clean-shaven may discriminate against African American men, who more likely to suffer from Pseudofolliculitis barbae, which means a painful skin condition caused and exacerbated by shaving. Another example is, a ban on hiring any applicant with an arrest or conviction record could disproportionately affect Latino and African American men. (http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/fighting-race-national-origin-discrimination-29672.html)
Moreover, did you know that there are three different types of Racial Profiling: First is when patrolling on the lookout for crime in general. For example, random traffic stops targeting blacks of certain age range. Second, is when trying to catch perpetrators of a specific crime. For instance, focusing attention on individuals with particular background (middle-eastern appearance) after terrorist attack such as; On September 11th, 2001, two planes were flown into the towers of World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington D.C, and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. This was caused by nineteen militants associated with Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda. (http://www.history.com/topics/9-11-attacks)
Third, is when trying to catch the perpetrators of an ongoing crime, like rash burglaries or muggings in a particular area that has been reported by the victim as being a particular race. A prime example, is the Trayvon Martin case. Trayvon Martin was born in Florida on February 5th, 1995. Martin had no criminal record when he was shot and killed by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman on February 26, 2012, in Sanford Florida. There were incidents of criminal activities of rash robberies and burglaries going on frequently at the Twin Lakes townhouses. On the evening of February 26th, 2012, Trayvon went to the store and brought snacks. On his way back home Zimmerman called the police, and reported Trayvon Martin as a suspicious person walking the police dispatcher told Zimmerman not to follow Martin, Zimmerman agreed. During the phone call the police dispatcher asked Zimmerman was he following him, he replied he was, the dispatcher replied “We don't need you to do that. Zimmerman responded “They're always getting away” and hung up. After following him for several minutes Zimmerman approached Martin a scuffle broke out, and shot Martin dead. When the police arrived Zimmerman was bleeding from the back of the head and nose. Zimmerman told police Martin looked suspicious because he was wearing a hoodie, and when he confronted him they fought and he shot Martin in his chest. The day of the trial, Zimmerman was not guilty and was set free. (http://www.biography.com/people/trayvon-martin-21283721#arrest-and-trial-of-george-zimmerman) (http://abcnews.go.com/US/trayvon-martin-shooter-teenager-gun/story?id=16000239)
The most common form of racial profiling occurs when police stop, question, and search African American, Hispanic American, or members of other racial minorities disproportionately based solely on the individual's race or ethnicity. Driving While Black, It refers to the criminalization of black drivers. It occurs when policemen use traffic offenses as an excuse for stopping African Americans who have not committed any offense questioning them and searching them and their vehicles. In 1996, the television network ABC aired a report entitled “Driving While Black” in which three younger black men to drive around the city of New Brunswick, New Jersey, in a Mercedes-Benz. Three officers in the city pulled over the car for a minor traffic infraction and then proceeded to search the car and the young men. The show demonstrated with little doubt that the only reason the three men were pulled over was their race. The officers brought a Defamation suit against ABC, claiming that ABC had defamed their character and had violated New Jerseys anti wiretapping law. In 2000, a New Jersey Superior Court judge dismissed the lawsuit. The incident “Driving While Black” demonstrates that racial profiling does occur, but lawmakers and courts have had some difficulty controlling its influence.
In addition another form of racial profiling is Stop and Frisk Practices. Stop and Frisk means the Fourth Amendment requires that the police have a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been, is being, or is about to be committed before stopping a suspect. If the police reasonably suspect the person is armed and dangerous, they may conduct a frisk, a quick pat-down of the person's outer clothing. Stop and Frisks happens mainly in New York, in Harlem and the Bronx. The New York Police Department has the right to stop, question, and pat-down anyone who may seem suspicious. Only a few departments in the world stop more people than the NYPD, over 1.2 million in the last two years. Blacks and Hispanics makes up about 23 percent and 29 percent of the city’s population, 84 percent of recorded stops are young men of color and only 6 percent stops led to arrest. About 70 to 75 percent of the people described as committing violent crimes, assault, robberies, shootings, grand larceny are African American. African Americans are being stopped in relation to the percentage of people being described as the perpetrators of violent crimes. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg see's that stop and frisks works and helps prevent violent crimes. It also gets guns off the streets.
In an article, a 17 year old boy name Kasim Walters was stopped multiple times by the NYPD officers in his neighborhood of Flatbush, Brooklyn. He stated "In that moment you are so scared, the first thing I think is “am I going to get out of this alive" (Weir, 2013, pg.1) http://www.nyclu.org/issues/racial-justice/stop-and-frisk-practices. Stop and Frisk only happens to men of color, the police are stopping hundreds of thousands of law abiding New Yorkers every year. A majority of the people are blacks and Latinos. New Yorkers have been subjected to police stops more than 4 million times since 2002, and that black and Latino communities continue to be their primary targets.
In addition, the Jim Crow Law was created because of the racial segregation in the mid 1960s. Jim crow was more than a series of rigid anti-black laws. Under Jim Crow African Americans were regulated to the status of second class citizens, and represented the legitimization of anti-black racism. In the article, Pilgrim stated “ Many Christian ministers and theologians taught that whites were the Chosen people, blacks were cursed to be servants, and God supported racial segregation”(2000, pg.1).
The Jim Crow Etiquette:
According to my research, , the reason why African Americans are Racially Profiled is because African American males are images and stereotypes. They become targets of law enforcement because of the stereotypical image of the criminalized African American male. In my opinion, Racial Profiling has provided a big effect amongst the black community. Those who have experienced and suffered due to racial profiling has dealt with it emotionally, physically, and mentally. Also, it does not only affect communities of color, but it does affect the law enforcement. The police are never going to receive the benefit of doubt anymore because some may feel that the police are no longer there to support them, but in fact that they are there only to antagonize them. They're never going to get respect from civilians because of racial profiling. We as people are supposed to feel safe in this society and trust the law, but more African American males are killed by cops almost twice as frequently as any other racial group.
Bibliography
Bio.com. Retrieved May 11, 2015, from http://www.biography.com/people/trayvon-martin-21283721#arrest-and-trial-of-george-zimmerman
Racial Profiling. Retrieved May 11, 2015, from https://www.aclu.org/racial-justice/racial-profiling
Racial Profiling - Should Police Practice Racial Profiling?, Further Readings. Retrieved May 11, 2015, from http://law.jrank.org/pages/9628/racial-profiling.html
Racial Profiling and Stereotyping. Retrieved May 11, 2015, from http://www.life123.com/parenting/education/social-studies/racial-profiling-stereotyping.shtml
EQ: What are the specific reasons for an increased amount of Racial Profiling among African American males, how can it be decreased?
Shayla Walker
Senior Seminar
Ms. Hill
March 2, 2015
Over the last year Racial Profiling by law enforcement officers has gotten a wide range of attention through the media. Racial profiling has been happening for decades, officers use race as a factor in conducting stops, searches, and other investigative procedures. Not all black people are criminals, not every white person is racist, and not every cop racially profiles. In today’s society there are many prejudiced people. How one person looks can affect the attitude of the person looking at them. There are many reasons for an increasing amount of Racial Profiling among African American males, the first reason is Crime. Secondly, the law enforcement also make false accusations. Third, segregation, ever since segregation the society looks at African American males. One way that racial profiling amongst African American males can be decreased is by preventing violent crimes. Some people may wonder what is racial profiling.
Racial Profiling is a discrimination by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of a crime based on the individual’s race, ethnicity, religion, or nationality. It occurs in cities, towns, and across the country every day. Racial profiling is a longstanding and deeply troubling national problem that needs to end. Due to being racially profiled it has led people to live in fear, communities alienate themselves from law enforcement, and has caused people to lose trust and credibility in the law. Racial Profiling affects a wide array of communities of color when officers and private security targets people of color for humiliating and often frightening detentions, interrogations, and searches without evidence of criminal activity it hinders community policing efforts. Also it goes back to more than 240 years of slavery and 90 years of legalized racial segregation which has led to systematic profiling of blacks in traffic and pedestrian stops.
One of the most common forms of Racial Profiling is stereotyping. What is a stereotype? A Stereotype is often unfair and untrue belief that many people have about all people or things with a particular characteristics and surrounding race. In the article, “Mass media played a role in the way white Americans …[look at] African Americans, Crime, drug-use, gang violence and other forms of antisocial behavior among African Americans”(Balkaran,1999, pg.1).http://www.yale.edu/ypq/articles/oct99/oct99b.html The media had divided the working class and stereotyped young African American males as gangsters or drug dealers. The media also focused on negative aspects of the black community. Using stereotypes and accepting racism is another form of racial profiling by assuming the worst of people based on a biased perception of reality that is then projected and multiplied offending and endangering anyone of that same race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion it contradicts the idea of equality under the law.
Furthermore, Race discrimination is another form of racial profiling. Race discrimination is when an employer makes a job decision on the basis of race or when it adopts seemingly neutral job policies that disproportionately affect members of a particular race. There are two different types of race discrimination one is called Disparate Treatment and Disparate Impact Discrimination. Disparate Treatment is when an employee makes a claim about disparate treatment it means he or she was treated differently than other employees who were in similar situations, because of the employee's race. Such as; an employer commits disparate treatment discrimination when they promote only white employees to supervisory positions, requires only job applicants of a certain race to submit to drug tests, or refuses to allow employees of certain races to deal with customers.
Disparate Impact discrimination is when the employee does not claim that the employer intentionally singled out employees of a particular race for bad treatment. Also, the employee claims that the employer’s apparently neutral policy, rule, or practice has a disproportionately negative impact on members of a particular race. For example, an employment policy requiring men to be clean-shaven may discriminate against African American men, who more likely to suffer from Pseudofolliculitis barbae, which means a painful skin condition caused and exacerbated by shaving. Another example is, a ban on hiring any applicant with an arrest or conviction record could disproportionately affect Latino and African American men. (http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/fighting-race-national-origin-discrimination-29672.html)
Moreover, did you know that there are three different types of Racial Profiling: First is when patrolling on the lookout for crime in general. For example, random traffic stops targeting blacks of certain age range. Second, is when trying to catch perpetrators of a specific crime. For instance, focusing attention on individuals with particular background (middle-eastern appearance) after terrorist attack such as; On September 11th, 2001, two planes were flown into the towers of World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington D.C, and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. This was caused by nineteen militants associated with Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda. (http://www.history.com/topics/9-11-attacks)
Third, is when trying to catch the perpetrators of an ongoing crime, like rash burglaries or muggings in a particular area that has been reported by the victim as being a particular race. A prime example, is the Trayvon Martin case. Trayvon Martin was born in Florida on February 5th, 1995. Martin had no criminal record when he was shot and killed by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman on February 26, 2012, in Sanford Florida. There were incidents of criminal activities of rash robberies and burglaries going on frequently at the Twin Lakes townhouses. On the evening of February 26th, 2012, Trayvon went to the store and brought snacks. On his way back home Zimmerman called the police, and reported Trayvon Martin as a suspicious person walking the police dispatcher told Zimmerman not to follow Martin, Zimmerman agreed. During the phone call the police dispatcher asked Zimmerman was he following him, he replied he was, the dispatcher replied “We don't need you to do that. Zimmerman responded “They're always getting away” and hung up. After following him for several minutes Zimmerman approached Martin a scuffle broke out, and shot Martin dead. When the police arrived Zimmerman was bleeding from the back of the head and nose. Zimmerman told police Martin looked suspicious because he was wearing a hoodie, and when he confronted him they fought and he shot Martin in his chest. The day of the trial, Zimmerman was not guilty and was set free. (http://www.biography.com/people/trayvon-martin-21283721#arrest-and-trial-of-george-zimmerman) (http://abcnews.go.com/US/trayvon-martin-shooter-teenager-gun/story?id=16000239)
The most common form of racial profiling occurs when police stop, question, and search African American, Hispanic American, or members of other racial minorities disproportionately based solely on the individual's race or ethnicity. Driving While Black, It refers to the criminalization of black drivers. It occurs when policemen use traffic offenses as an excuse for stopping African Americans who have not committed any offense questioning them and searching them and their vehicles. In 1996, the television network ABC aired a report entitled “Driving While Black” in which three younger black men to drive around the city of New Brunswick, New Jersey, in a Mercedes-Benz. Three officers in the city pulled over the car for a minor traffic infraction and then proceeded to search the car and the young men. The show demonstrated with little doubt that the only reason the three men were pulled over was their race. The officers brought a Defamation suit against ABC, claiming that ABC had defamed their character and had violated New Jerseys anti wiretapping law. In 2000, a New Jersey Superior Court judge dismissed the lawsuit. The incident “Driving While Black” demonstrates that racial profiling does occur, but lawmakers and courts have had some difficulty controlling its influence.
In addition another form of racial profiling is Stop and Frisk Practices. Stop and Frisk means the Fourth Amendment requires that the police have a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been, is being, or is about to be committed before stopping a suspect. If the police reasonably suspect the person is armed and dangerous, they may conduct a frisk, a quick pat-down of the person's outer clothing. Stop and Frisks happens mainly in New York, in Harlem and the Bronx. The New York Police Department has the right to stop, question, and pat-down anyone who may seem suspicious. Only a few departments in the world stop more people than the NYPD, over 1.2 million in the last two years. Blacks and Hispanics makes up about 23 percent and 29 percent of the city’s population, 84 percent of recorded stops are young men of color and only 6 percent stops led to arrest. About 70 to 75 percent of the people described as committing violent crimes, assault, robberies, shootings, grand larceny are African American. African Americans are being stopped in relation to the percentage of people being described as the perpetrators of violent crimes. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg see's that stop and frisks works and helps prevent violent crimes. It also gets guns off the streets.
In an article, a 17 year old boy name Kasim Walters was stopped multiple times by the NYPD officers in his neighborhood of Flatbush, Brooklyn. He stated "In that moment you are so scared, the first thing I think is “am I going to get out of this alive" (Weir, 2013, pg.1) http://www.nyclu.org/issues/racial-justice/stop-and-frisk-practices. Stop and Frisk only happens to men of color, the police are stopping hundreds of thousands of law abiding New Yorkers every year. A majority of the people are blacks and Latinos. New Yorkers have been subjected to police stops more than 4 million times since 2002, and that black and Latino communities continue to be their primary targets.
In addition, the Jim Crow Law was created because of the racial segregation in the mid 1960s. Jim crow was more than a series of rigid anti-black laws. Under Jim Crow African Americans were regulated to the status of second class citizens, and represented the legitimization of anti-black racism. In the article, Pilgrim stated “ Many Christian ministers and theologians taught that whites were the Chosen people, blacks were cursed to be servants, and God supported racial segregation”(2000, pg.1).
The Jim Crow Etiquette:
- A black male could not offer his hand (to shake hands) with a white male because it implied being socially equal. Obviously, a black male could not offer his hand or any other part of his body to a white woman, because he risked being accused of rape.
- Blacks and whites were not supposed to eat together. If they did eat together, whites were to be served first, and some sort of partition was to be placed between them.
- Under no circumstance was a black male to offer to light the cigarette of a white female -- that gesture implied intimacy.
- Blacks were not allowed to show public affection toward one another in public, especially kissing, because it offended whites.
- Jim Crow etiquette prescribed that blacks were introduced to whites, never whites to blacks. For example: "Mr. Peters (the white person), this is Charlie (the black person), that I spoke to you about."
- Whites did not use courtesy titles of respect when referring to blacks, for example, Mr., Mrs., Miss., Sir, or Ma'am. Instead, blacks were called by their first names. Blacks had to use courtesy titles when referring to whites, and were not allowed to call them by their first names.
- If a black person rode in a car driven by a white person, the black person sat in the back seat, or the back of a truck.
- White motorists had the right-of-way at all intersections.
- Never assert or even intimate that a white person is lying.
- Never impute dishonorable intentions to a white person.
- Never suggest that a white person is from an inferior class.
- Never lay claim to, or overly demonstrate, superior knowledge or intelligence.
- Never curse a white person.
- Never laugh derisively at a white person.
- Never comment upon the appearance of a white female.
According to my research, , the reason why African Americans are Racially Profiled is because African American males are images and stereotypes. They become targets of law enforcement because of the stereotypical image of the criminalized African American male. In my opinion, Racial Profiling has provided a big effect amongst the black community. Those who have experienced and suffered due to racial profiling has dealt with it emotionally, physically, and mentally. Also, it does not only affect communities of color, but it does affect the law enforcement. The police are never going to receive the benefit of doubt anymore because some may feel that the police are no longer there to support them, but in fact that they are there only to antagonize them. They're never going to get respect from civilians because of racial profiling. We as people are supposed to feel safe in this society and trust the law, but more African American males are killed by cops almost twice as frequently as any other racial group.
Bibliography
Bio.com. Retrieved May 11, 2015, from http://www.biography.com/people/trayvon-martin-21283721#arrest-and-trial-of-george-zimmerman
- I used this article because it talks about Trayvon Martin and how he was Racially Profiled
- I used this because after the Terrorist attacked Hispanics were stereotyped.
Racial Profiling. Retrieved May 11, 2015, from https://www.aclu.org/racial-justice/racial-profiling
Racial Profiling - Should Police Practice Racial Profiling?, Further Readings. Retrieved May 11, 2015, from http://law.jrank.org/pages/9628/racial-profiling.html
- I used this website because it gives background information about my topic.
Racial Profiling and Stereotyping. Retrieved May 11, 2015, from http://www.life123.com/parenting/education/social-studies/racial-profiling-stereotyping.shtml
- I used this website because it talks about Racial Profiling and stereotyping and how is similar.
- I used this website because it talks about stereotyping and how it's another form of racial profiling. Also, it gives different examples of what people think of other races.
- I used this website because it’s another example of Racial profiling and it happens in New York a lot.
- I used this website because this is also an example of Racial Profiling