Running head: RACIAL PROFILING 1

Racial Profiling

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Institution Affiliation

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Introduction

Racial profiling is a huge problem that has existed in the history of the United States.

Although there is rampant evidence that racial profiling is ineffective and compromise the safety,

a significant number of the law enforcement security officer continue to use in unprecedented

ways. Racial profiling is a blunt-raced tactic that ended up apprehending many offenders

depending on what the law enforcement officers require the victim to prove is an indisputable

American citizen. Statistics show that the cases of racial profiling have increased as it affects

over 32 million people, which means that 1 in every nine people in the US has been racially

profiled (Amnesty International, 2004). People living in the country are subjected to high risks of

being oppressed in this manner depending on religions, racial and ethnic affiliation. Most of the

members of these classes are usually targeted by law officers through unlawful searches and

stops.

Racial profiling is a troubling national issue in the US despite the continued claim that

the country has entered a post-racial era where people are discriminated against on their physical

appearance (American Civil Liberty Union, 2020). This problem is experienced every day in the

towns and cities across the United States, and the security officers continue to humiliate and

frighten the people of color who are the primary targets with unnecessary interrogations and

detentions. Racial profiling is an illegal practice that violates the constitution of the United

States. The constitution is supposed to ensure that US citizens are subjected to equal protection

before the law. US constitution shields and gives freedom to the citizens from unreasonable

seizures and searches. Racial profiling is a practice that should be avoided as it the manner in

which it is practiced is illegal, and the police officers lose their trust and credibility from the
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people they have the mandate to serve and protect but end up subjecting them to emotional

distress.

Background of Racial Profiling

Racial profiling in the United States is not a collection of offenses but involves a

systematic phenomenon that cuts across the entire American society. It is dated back to the time

of slavery until the 1950s when some instances of racial profiling ceased to exist as a law

(Welch, 2007). The preservation of ideals of racial profiling in US law is epitomized by various

significant periods in the history of the United States.

The officials of the Philadelphia court gave the security officers the legal right to stop,

search, or even detain a Negro who was seen moving around without permission. This happened

in 1963, and both the enslaved and freed slaves faced the same treatment. In the eighteenth

century, some slave patrols were enacted to stop the slaves regardless of the location, to ensure

that they were legally in the state. The Black Codes were developed during the mid-nineteenth

century in the south to control the former and freed slaves. The set of laws, rules, and statutes

was also executed with the aim of regaining control of the former slaves as well as a downgrade

and lower the social status of the African Americans (Risse & Zeckhauser, 2004). Racial

profiling also continues to be practiced in the modern world, particularly in the aftermath of the

9/11 terrorist attack, and disproportionate stops are carried out to discriminate the minorities.

What is wrong with Racial Profiling?

From a security perspective, the police officers are supposed to heighten the security

details in the country as nobody knows how the next terrorist, smuggler, or serial killers look
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like. However, this security background check should be conducted with a lot of sensitivity and

care, not harm a particular group of people, particularly the minority communities. Uncontrolled

racial profiling is considered as an infringement of human rights as it affects the Americans

virtually in every domain of their routine life and the incident has a long-lasting impact that

extends beyond the police encounter (Amnesty International, 2004). Whenever the profiling is

perpetrated, it usually leaves the victim with depression, frustration, helplessness, anger, and

humiliation.

Besides, racial profiling supports residential segregation that creates mistrust and fears

that provokes reluctance to report cases of crimes as well as interfere with the level of

cooperation between the civilians and the police officers (American Civil Liberty Union, 2020).

People living in the US continue to pay the price of insensitive security agencies and leadership

as the judgments made based on gender, faith, origin, hair texture, and skin color determines the

person who will be questioned, monitored, or searched.

The war on terror seems to be rooted in the wrong approaches as most of the racial

profiling actions shifts the attention of the security agencies away from the lawbreakers and

engages in raced-based acts that are unacceptable as they welfare of the country, leadership, and

citizens at risk. The states and the federal government of the US have failed to come up with

comprehensive laws that need to be enforced to address the issues of racial profiling (Meehan &

Ponder, 2002). Also, the Supreme Court seems to have given law enforcement the leeway to

continue engaging in different forms of racial profiling.

Bias among Individual Security Officers

Individual bias among police officers is associated with unconscious cognitive bias and

conscious prejudice. The conscious type of bias is believed as the source of racist behavior

among the affected people. Some of the security officers behave the same way as the real estate

agents and employers; hence can be termed as conventional bigots. The prejudice against Black

Americans is declining in the US as most of the law enforcement officers hinder this form of

racism and punish officers who are found executing it (Meehan & Ponder, 2002). It is the media

that spread stereotypes and prejudices portraying African Americans and other minority groups

as threatening and dangerous. Therefore, it is the same information that encourages the police

forces to use unconscious bias to concentrate more on the minorities when conducting traffic

checkups. Racial profiling occurs more among the local officers who engage in a routine of the

business district and neighborhoods; hence they encounter more challenges when determining

who to stop and search.

Ending Racial Profiling in the US

Racial profiling continues to be a considerable problem to achieve equal treatment of

people in the US. Therefore, the country needs to come up with comprehensive statutes and

procedures that can guide the police all the time on how they conduct the traffic tops and

seizures (Tomaskovic-Devey & Warren, 2009). Having such federal ant-racial profiling law will

assist in upholding the promise that the US made to its citizens and the international community

that people within the American territories will not be mistreated on the basis of their nationality,

race, ethnicity, or religious beliefs.

The states should also create stringent laws banning racial profiling as it violates the

human rights of the people in the United States. The Supreme Court should also come up with a
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ruling to protect the citizens from such abuse as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment and

Fourth Amendment (Risse & Zeckhauser, 2004). The instituted laws should not only prohibit

outlaw discrimination but should provide appropriate mechanisms to follow up and ensure that

the security agencies are engaging in legal practices and comprise efficient methods to deal with

the officers that violate the statute.

Also, racial profiling can be overcome by introducing the ERPA (End Racial Profiling

Act) that prohibits racial at every level of the government and develop a systematic monitoring

process for enforcing the embraced mechanisms for the security agencies. The act should be able

to define all forms of profiling based on ethnicity, religion, nationality, and race. These strict

measures should be implemented by imposing financial penalties on the states that violate the

guidelines (Welch, 2007). Also, some elaborate procedures should be established to discipline

police officers who do not comply with terms of the act.

The other way racial profiling can be abolished in the US is by creating a proactive

agency that can address the complaints of the victims. The oversight authority will be in a

position to deal with the reported cases and prosecute the facts so that the involved specific

security agencies can cease from taking part in racial profiling. The provokers should then be

prosecuted in the courts of law to administer justice.

Conclusion

Racial profiling is wrong as it violates the equal rights as provided by the US

constitution. The law enforcement officers should treat all the citizens with dignity and ensure

that no one I discriminated against due to their religious affiliation or skin color. The federal and

state government are encouraged to work collaboratively in coming up with measures and
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proactive policies that can prevent racial profiling. Racial profiling issues affect the victims

negatively as some develop emotional and psychological challenges such as depression,

frustrations, humiliation, and fear. The police officers should ensure that they refrain from

stopping and searching members of the minority communities on the streets.

References

American Civil Liberty Union. (2020). Racial Profiling Definition. ACLU 100 Years. Retrieved

from https://www.aclu.org/other/racial-profiling-definition

Amnesty International. (2004). Threat and Humiliation: Racial Profiling, Domestic Security, and

Human Rights in the United States. Amnesty International US Publications. Retrieved

from https://www.amnestyusa.org/pdfs/rp_report.pdf

Meehan, A. J. &Ponder, M. C. (2002). Race and place: The ecology of racial profiling African

American motorists. Justice Quarterly, 19(3), 399-430.

Risse, M., & Zeckhauser, R. (2004). Racial Profiling. Philosophy & Public Affairs, 32(2), 131-

170.

Tomaskovic-Devey, D. & Warren, P. (2009). Explaining and Eliminating Racial Profiling.

Contexts, 8(2), 34-39.

Welch, K. (2007). Black Criminal Stereotypes and Racial Profiling. Journal of Contemporary

Criminal Justice, 23(3), 276–288.