Racial Profiling | Teen Ink

Racial Profiling

May 26, 2015
By Jarmany.Louis BRONZE, Marlborough, Massachusetts
Jarmany.Louis BRONZE, Marlborough, Massachusetts
3 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
Don't Be Looked As Who You Were, Be Looked On As Who You Will Be
~Jarmany Louis


Is Racial Profiling killing the black, hispanic, non-white population of America, I believe so due to the fact that people of color make up about 30% percent of the United States’ population, 60% percent of that 30% percent  are imprisoned. Racial profiling was believed to originate around the 1700’s during the times of slavery.Also according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, one in three black men can expect to go to prison in their lifetime. This is leaves a awful expectation for black children and this leaves many to make racist remarks and stereotyping, and it hurts the black and colored community. 

Some people argue that talking about supporting racial discrimination and prejudice is just words and that free speech should allow such views to be aired without restriction. This in my point of view is wrong people take the law and bend it so it fits them wouldn’t being racist be a form of bullying but lets not get on that topic, In the United states racism is a well known issue. From racial profiling to other issues such as affirmative action, police brutality against the non-white population and the history of slavery and the rising resentment against immigrants.Police officers rely on descriptions of subjects to identify suspects, such as their race or ethnicity, in combination with other factors. When officers use the color of a person’s skin without using other identifying factors, they are guilty of racial profiling. After the attack of 9/11, Arabs and Muslims became the main targets of racial profiling. They have reported being kicked off planes and questioned at airports just because of their ethnicity or religion.

In 2012, 51% of Americans expressed anti-black sentiments in a poll; a 3% increase from 2008. That was three years ago i wasn’t able to provide a poll that recently took place but i believe that the percentage would have increased as well, a lot of people feel that blacks are non hardworking, lazy, and unintelligent people. But that is not true i feel like people believe this because the racism was passed down through generations and that isn't very good, I feel that this is also due to the history of slavery people had described Blacks as the things i had mentioned before but not many know what the black feel about this, and people treat racism is going extinct but the truth is it will continue for a very long time unless we do something now to stop it.


December 16, 2010, West High School officials in Salt Lake City, Utah invited the Metro Gang Task Force into the school to conduct a gang sweep. Students identified, searched and interrogated by the police were mostly Latino/a or, in the case of Kaleb Winston, African-American. He was targeted by his school and by the Task Force as a potential gang member, searched and accused of being a tagger. As an artist, Kaleb had a notebook full of drawings in a backpack manufactured to look like it had been spray-painted. But because tagging is loosely defined, if at all, the police decided Kaleb was a "gang tagger" despite his denials. Kaleb was  forced to hold up a sign with the words "My name is Kaleb Winston and I am a gang tagger." This pushes people to believe police are racist and only target blacks, this is what causes riots, like in the case of Freddie Gray, police were believed to be racist, due to the fact that the were overly brutal.

 

Although Racial Profiling can be considered morally wrong and highly offensive, some people believe that racial profiling can be justified morally in certain circumstances. According  article by J. Angelo Corlett is a professor of philosophy at San Diego State University. “color profiling as the use of the report(s) of a suspect's skin color in order to otherwise lawfully identify and apprehend the suspect of a criminal investigation. This definition of "color profiling" does not specify whether or not law enforcement officers know whether a crime has been committed while the profiling is happening”. (2015).

 

Racial profiling, or consideration of race by police and law enforcement is wrong, in general being racist is wrong, to hate someone for the color of their skin, the way they talk, or just the way the act. That is why i say alone were nothing but together we could stop anything, the world need people to treat one another like family because if not we will never overcome anything.


The author's comments:

My Skin Color Inspireded me 


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