Stereotype and Racial Profiling
Article Rebuttal: Are we dealing with Stereotype & Racial Profiling in America?
LaQuita Washington
BCom 275
April 11, 2012
Ms. Richmond
Are we dealing with Stereotype & Racial Profiling in America?
In America we deal with a lot of diversity. Stereotyping is one of the biggest problems we deal with particularly in law enforcement. There have been different situations where as police officers accused of going after individuals and accusing them on crime based a person background. Stereotyping goes beyond race and gender (Changing Minds). Racism is a word that can be defined in many different ways. Racism represent madness, angry, brings up lots of issues with people. Racism comes from different cultural values, ethnic backgrounds, and physical appearances. The United States of America brought people from all over the world, which is the land of opportunity and freedom but people see no different from the crime that takes place in todays world. Stereotype and racism are one of the most significant issues that people have been facing and it is still occurring around us.
In Sanford, Florida, on February 26, 2012 an African American male, Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by neighborhood watch George Zimmerman, 28 year old Hispanic male. Martin was walking home from the neighborhood Seven-Eleven corner store that night wearing a hooded sweat shirt. To Zimmerman the hooded sweat shirt labeled Martin to be a suspicious black male (CBS News). After, police were called to the crime scene Martin appeared to be harmless and unarmed. Based on the 911 released tapes that revealed, Zimmerman has a history of flagging suspicious black youth males. While, recounts of Martin’s friend recalls there phone conversation minutes before the shooting telling her “that he was creped out by a strange man who keeps following him”(TheWeek). Although Zimmerman was jail the night of the murder of Trayvon martin he was later released with no charges filed against him. The
LaQuita Washington
BCom 275
April 11, 2012
Ms. Richmond
Are we dealing with Stereotype & Racial Profiling in America?
In America we deal with a lot of diversity. Stereotyping is one of the biggest problems we deal with particularly in law enforcement. There have been different situations where as police officers accused of going after individuals and accusing them on crime based a person background. Stereotyping goes beyond race and gender (Changing Minds). Racism is a word that can be defined in many different ways. Racism represent madness, angry, brings up lots of issues with people. Racism comes from different cultural values, ethnic backgrounds, and physical appearances. The United States of America brought people from all over the world, which is the land of opportunity and freedom but people see no different from the crime that takes place in todays world. Stereotype and racism are one of the most significant issues that people have been facing and it is still occurring around us.
In Sanford, Florida, on February 26, 2012 an African American male, Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by neighborhood watch George Zimmerman, 28 year old Hispanic male. Martin was walking home from the neighborhood Seven-Eleven corner store that night wearing a hooded sweat shirt. To Zimmerman the hooded sweat shirt labeled Martin to be a suspicious black male (CBS News). After, police were called to the crime scene Martin appeared to be harmless and unarmed. Based on the 911 released tapes that revealed, Zimmerman has a history of flagging suspicious black youth males. While, recounts of Martin’s friend recalls there phone conversation minutes before the shooting telling her “that he was creped out by a strange man who keeps following him”(TheWeek). Although Zimmerman was jail the night of the murder of Trayvon martin he was later released with no charges filed against him. The
References: CBS News: Trayvon Martin Shooting Timeline of Events http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57412417-504083/trayvon-martin-shooting- a-timeline-of-events/ Changing Minds of Stereotype http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/stereotypes.htm The Week: Trayvon Martin Case http://theweek.com/article/index/226211/the-trayvon-martin-case-a-timeline