Racial tradgedy
Racial profiling is irrational, unjust, and unproductive, but one thing it is not is un-American. Racial profiling has been part of the U.S. criminal justice system for as long as there has been a U.S. criminal justice system, and part of North American colonial justice systems in the centuries prior to its formation.
While little has been done to root out the problem, it is at least acknowledged as a problem today--a considerable improvement over the explicit policy-level endorsements of racial profiling that characterized law enforcement treatment of people of color in centuries past.
1514: The Ultimatum of King Charles
Public domain. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
The Requerimiento of King Charles I mandated that all natives of the Americas must either submit to Spanish authority and convert to Roman Catholicism or face persecution. It was the only one of many colonial Spanish criminal justice mandates, established ostensibly to promote law and order in the New World, that used a racial profiling policy against American Indians.
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1642: The Trials of John Elkin
Public domain. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
In 1642, a Maryland man named John Elkin confessed to the murder of an American Indian leader named Yowocomco. He was acquitted in three consecutive trials by fellow colonists, who refused to punish a white man for killing an American Indian. The governor, frustrated with the bizarre verdict, ordered a fourth trial, at which point Elkin was finally found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
1669: When Murder Was Legal
Public domain. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
As part of its 1669 slavery law revisions, the Commonwealth
While little has been done to root out the problem, it is at least acknowledged as a problem today--a considerable improvement over the explicit policy-level endorsements of racial profiling that characterized law enforcement treatment of people of color in centuries past.
1514: The Ultimatum of King Charles
Public domain. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
The Requerimiento of King Charles I mandated that all natives of the Americas must either submit to Spanish authority and convert to Roman Catholicism or face persecution. It was the only one of many colonial Spanish criminal justice mandates, established ostensibly to promote law and order in the New World, that used a racial profiling policy against American Indians.
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New - Polar Loop polarloop.com Increase Your Activity With The New Polar Loop. Discover More.
See's Candy Fundraising www.Sees.com/Fundraising Quick, Easy & Profitable. Get Started Online Today!
Enroll in December networkhealth.com Avoid health insurance rate hikes by enrolling in 2013.
1642: The Trials of John Elkin
Public domain. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
In 1642, a Maryland man named John Elkin confessed to the murder of an American Indian leader named Yowocomco. He was acquitted in three consecutive trials by fellow colonists, who refused to punish a white man for killing an American Indian. The governor, frustrated with the bizarre verdict, ordered a fourth trial, at which point Elkin was finally found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
1669: When Murder Was Legal
Public domain. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
As part of its 1669 slavery law revisions, the Commonwealth