Racial Profiling of Minorities in America
The Racial Profiling of Minorities in America
Ethnic Studies 123 Professor Hebert Johnson
John Jay College of Crimnal Justice
By: Andy Victor
Our country was founded on this idea of freedom and how America was this land of opportunity. Time and history tells us it was easier said than done because racism restricted certain groups from achieving that “opportunity”. This social issue still haunts today but manifest not whips and chains but through racial profiling. Racial profiling is unjust, and a poison to the ideas of Democracy because it generalizes a specific group as being criminal and therefore makes the rest society inherit the same perception. In our society today, we have both Blacks and Latinos victimized depending on what neighborhood they are from and economical status. There are laws in place for the purpose of discouraging minorities to feel comfortable within their own skin. Two examples that will be further discussed are the SB 1070 and Stop and Frisk. Racial profiling can have a psychological effect to the targeted ethnicity. If the federal government does not intervene and seek to put an end to these unconstitutional laws, which discriminate against minorities, than we would be abolishing ones civil rights.
An established government with an interracial society has always been accompanied by racism. Racism, stereotyping, and racial profiling have existed in almost every society since the beginning of time. Each person has his or her own perception of how others behave based on experience and or teachings-a direct correlation to racial profiling. Racial profiling is simply, according to Dictionary.com, “government activity directed at a suspect or group of suspects based solely on race”. This social issue traces back to the slavery era in United States. A. Willis, author of The Roots of Racial Profiling, writes, “The Free Negro Registry was a means of identifying and tracking so-called Free
Ethnic Studies 123 Professor Hebert Johnson
John Jay College of Crimnal Justice
By: Andy Victor
Our country was founded on this idea of freedom and how America was this land of opportunity. Time and history tells us it was easier said than done because racism restricted certain groups from achieving that “opportunity”. This social issue still haunts today but manifest not whips and chains but through racial profiling. Racial profiling is unjust, and a poison to the ideas of Democracy because it generalizes a specific group as being criminal and therefore makes the rest society inherit the same perception. In our society today, we have both Blacks and Latinos victimized depending on what neighborhood they are from and economical status. There are laws in place for the purpose of discouraging minorities to feel comfortable within their own skin. Two examples that will be further discussed are the SB 1070 and Stop and Frisk. Racial profiling can have a psychological effect to the targeted ethnicity. If the federal government does not intervene and seek to put an end to these unconstitutional laws, which discriminate against minorities, than we would be abolishing ones civil rights.
An established government with an interracial society has always been accompanied by racism. Racism, stereotyping, and racial profiling have existed in almost every society since the beginning of time. Each person has his or her own perception of how others behave based on experience and or teachings-a direct correlation to racial profiling. Racial profiling is simply, according to Dictionary.com, “government activity directed at a suspect or group of suspects based solely on race”. This social issue traces back to the slavery era in United States. A. Willis, author of The Roots of Racial Profiling, writes, “The Free Negro Registry was a means of identifying and tracking so-called Free
Bibliography: Online Documents RAND co. (n.d.). Data collection resource center. Retrieved from http://www.racialprofilinganalysis.neu.edu/background/history.php Gonzalez, A. (2009, April 27). Aclu. Retrieved from http://www.aclu.org/racial-justice/department-justice-statistics-show-clear-pattern-racial-profiling The leadership conference. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.civilrights.org/publications/reports/racial-profiling2011/the-reality-of-racial.html Aclu. (2009, January 14). Retrieved from http://www.aclu.org/racial-justice/racial-profiling LaVeist, W. (2010, June 7). Stop hating on arizona. Retrieved from http://www.urbanfaith.com/2010/06/stop-hating-on-arizona.html/ Christopher Mathias. (2012, May 15). Huffington post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/13/nypd-stop-and-frisks-15-shocking-facts_n_1513362.html Baker, E. (2011). Conspire for change. Retrieved from http://www.conspireforchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/hts_racial_profiling_report_2011.pdf Ontario human rights commission. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/paying-price-human-cost-racial-profiling/effects-racial-profiling Tyler, T. (2001, May). Psychology responds to racial profiling. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/may01/raceprofile.aspx