racial profiling essay thesis

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What Causes Racial Profiling?

By Sarah Galbenski

Published: July 31, 2018

Rufus Scales, 26 and black, was driving his younger brother Devin to his hair-cutting class in this genteel, leafy city when they heard the siren's whoop and saw the blue light in the rearview mirror of their black pickup. Two police officers pulled them over for minor infractions that included expired plates and failing to hang a flag from a load of scrap metal in the pickup's bed. But what happened next was nothing like a routine traffic stop. Uncertain whether to get out of the car, Rufus Scales said, he reached to restrain his brother from opening the door. A black officer stunned him with a Taser, he said, and a white officer yanked him from the driver's seat. Temporarily paralyzed by the shock, he said, he fell face down, and the officer dragged him across the asphalt. (LaFraniere and Lehren)

In America today, this is a narrative that we have to come to know all too well. A young black man, either guilty of simply "driving while black" or a minor infraction, is pulled over by the police, usually in an affluent, predominately white neighborhood. Upon being pulled over, the driver is treated by the officers in a cruel manner that is not commensurate with his crime. This prevalent narrative is an example of racial profiling, which is "a form of differential treatment based on an individual's racial or ethnic social identity" (Williams 401). Although racial profiling affects many sectors of American society, particularly education and employment, for the purposes of this paper, I will be focusing on racial profiling as it pertains to law enforcement proceedings. According to Brian N. Williams, associate professor of Public Administration and Policy at The University of Georgia, "Biased policing exists when an individual's race is used as an illegitimate factor for initiating police actions against the individual" (401). So, if police officers understand that it is biased and unlawful to initiate police action against an individual because of his or her race, what causes them to continue to racially profile individuals? I contend that while racial profiling can be caused by officers feeling pressured to produce crime-reducing statistics and by those in power valuing efficacy over constitutionality, it is primarily caused by officers' implicit biases. Furthermore, it is not simply caused in reaction to an "abundance" of black crime.

Williams reports that there are "a growing number of research studies that highlight the disproportionate number of traffic and pedestrian stops and searches of minorities" (402). A likely contributing factor to this racial inequity is the fact that high crime "impact zones" tend to be comprised of mostly minority residents, and, based on interviews with the New York Police Department, Andres Garcia reported that, "Trained as they are in high crime areas, and taught that they are there to bring down crime, officers feel pressured to produce numbers and statistics, and therefore engage in stop-and-frisk practices at a disproportionate rate in these impact zones," zones which are overwhelmingly inhabited by minorities. The pressure to produce is even higher for recent recruits, fresh out of the Police Academy, who are aiming to prove themselves as bona fide members of the force. Unfortunately for the minority residents of impact zones, these eager new recruits tend to have first assignments in their neighborhoods. Since officers, especially new ones, are expected to produce crime-reducing statistics in minority populated impact zones, they often resort to racial profiling as an effective means to achieve their quota.

Although racial profiling may be considered an "effective" means to identify stop-and-frisk targets and fight crime, it is in no way constitutional. In fact, "In August 2013, Federal District Court Judge Shira A. Scheindlin ruled that the New York Police Department practice of stop-and-frisk, in which individuals are stopped for questioning and frisked for weapons, is unconstitutional because it violates the civil rights of the blacks and Latinos who are disproportionately targets of the program" (Garcia 37). Despite the unconstitutionality of the practice of stop-and-frisk due to its promotion of racial profiling, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg argued for the efficacy of stop-and-frisk and said that its practice would continue until the end of his term because he "wouldn't want to be responsible for a lot of people dying" (Garcia 38). When people in positions of power, such as Mayor Bloomberg, value efficacy over constitutionality when it comes to practices like stop-and-frisk, more occurrences of racial profiling are caused and perpetuated.

While pressure to produce crime-reducing statistics and more value placed on the efficacy than on the constitutionality of stop-and-frisk practices certainly cause racial profiling to occur, I argue that implicit biases encourage racial profiling to run rampant. Implicit biases are defined as "the stereotypes and prejudices that reside and operate in our mind outside of our conscious awareness" ("Suspect Race"). Although we may not possess awareness nor approval of our possession of these stereotypes, they are nonetheless present in our unconscious mind. As Malcolm Gladwell states in his book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking , "We don't deliberately choose our unconscious attitudes…The giant computer that is our unconscious silently crunches all the data it can from experiences we've had, the people we've met, the lessons we've learned, the books we've read, the movies we've seen, and so on, and it forms an opinion" (39). In order to help us gain an understanding of our unconscious's opinions, social psychologists Anthony G. Greenwald, Mahzarin Banaji, and Brian Nosek created a series of Implicit Association Tests (IATs) designed to prove that "we make connections much more quickly between pairs of ideas that are already related in our minds than we do between pairs of words that are unfamiliar to us" (Gladwell 37). The most famous of the IATs, the Race IAT, asks participants to sort both positive and negative words, such as "fabulous" and "evil" and images of white faces and black faces into their respective categories. After the participants sort words and faces separately, they are asked to associate positive words with white faces and sort them into the same category. Conversely, negative words and black faces are related during this first part of the test. For the second part of the test, the categories switch; white is now associated with negative words, and black is now associated with positive words. The results of this test state that "more than 80 percent of all those who have taken the test end up having pro-white associations, meaning that it takes them measurably longer to complete answers when they are required to put good words into the "black" category than when they are required to link bad things with black people" (Gladwell 39).

In order to scientifically explain this difference in response time, scholars have found that "there's some evidence that the amygdala, a center in the brain for emotions, flashes a threat warning when it perceives people who look 'different'" (Kristof). However, despite this biological explanation, it is more likely that our biases are derived culturally. This is hypothesized because in actuality, "many African-Americans themselves have an unconscious pro-white bias" (Kristof). White people look "different" from black people, yet many black people do not experience these threat warnings when encountering an image of a white face, as evidenced by their quicker response time when associating white faces with positive words. Even though many people, including undoubtedly many African-Americans, explicitly repudiate the stereotype that associates minorities (particularly blacks) with crime, according to Jack Glaser, Berkeley social psychologist and author of Suspect Race: Causes and Consequences of Racial Profiling, this stereotype is still pervasive in our culture and media, and therefore still influences all of our unconscious biases, African-Americans' included. Applying this concept of implicit biases to policing, Glaser asserts, "When we're making decisions under uncertainty, we tend to use cognitive shortcuts. What might feel like a legitimate hunch to a police officer could actually be the influence of a racial stereotype." Furthermore, these stereotypes evoke a sense of fear in police officers, and when they are put into perceived life-threatening situations, they resort to simplistic, overzealous responses.

Yet another view that has prevailed in American society for decades is that an "abundance" of black crime justly causes racial profiling, reactionary policing, and sometimes even "necessary" forms of police brutality. However, "far from being a novel bit of truth-telling, the argument that black crime is the cause of reactionary policing is among the aged and easily refuted clichés of American racial history" (Cobb). Jelani Cobb, the Ira A. Lipman Professor of Journalism at Columbia University, finds it ironic that this view is mostly held by American conservatives because "the idea that the treatment of an individual hinges upon his or her demographic category flies in the face of the doctrine of individual rights central to modern conservatism." Yet this revered doctrine of individual rights still pertains to the white population of our country, for although "the white-on-white mayhem is profound" as white people are six times more likely to be murdered by a white person than a black person, "no one speaks of it in racial terms" (Dyson 149). In our country, white is the default race. And, as the Race IAT demonstrates, it is far easier for the majority of our population to implicitly (and racially) associate whites with good terms and blacks with evil ones. When a black person commits a crime against their brethren, it is immediately racially labeled. Conversely, when a white person commits the same crime against one of their own, they are not lumped in with the rest of their race but are instead treated as singular beings:

That's because the phrase white-on-white crime doesn't serve a larger ideological purpose. White-on-white crime does not jibe with the exclusive focus on a black-on-black narrative that conservatives and liberals too, have bought into. The success of that narrative depends on a few things. You had to construct the ghetto as a space of savagery that was unique to black folk…Then you had to say that any right-thinking folk wouldn't kill each other. (Dyson 149)

The cultural narrative strikes again, construing blacks as savages, portraying whites as upright citizens, and unconsciously influencing us all. Furthermore, do blacks really commit more crimes or are they simply arrested for them at higher rates? In the case of drug crimes, "blacks are nearly four times as likely as whites to be arrested for drug possession. This is despite the evidence that whites and blacks use drugs at roughly the same rate" In fact, "from 1995 to 2005, African Americans comprised approximately 13% of drug users but 36% of drug arrests and 46% of those convicted for drug offenses" (Nellis). The absurdity of the excuse that "horrific black crime" triggers racial profiling is quite evident. Whites use drugs at the same rate. And, "white folk consistently lead all other groups in assault, larceny, illegal weapons possession, arson, and vandalism" (Dyson 149). Once again, it has been proven that indoctrinated cultural biases influence the police's perceptions on black crime. They are not solely combatting a "radical disproportion" of black crime.

In the case of Rufus Scales, it is highly probable that before the police officers even identified his minor infractions, they unconsciously associated his blackness with crime. It is important to note that they possessed this implicit bias through no fault of their own. Since this stereotype is perpetuated by our culture, both black and white officers have no choice but to be inundated with examples of this black crime association in the media and society at large. However, their hamartia, their fatal flaw, occurred when they failed to recognize that they were under the influence of a racial stereotype and proceeded to abuse Scales out of fear. Although it is important to admit that we all fall prey to implicit biases, it is absolutely paramount to recognize when our biases cloud our vision and proactively choose to act out of rationality and respect, not out of fear. Whether or not Scales was in an impact zone or under the jurisdiction of a mayor who believed in efficacy over constitutionality, he will always be subject to officers operating by implicit biases. For this reason, it is of the utmost importance that officers are trained to understand implicit biases in hopes of reducing the number of occurrences of racial profiling. And, on a larger scale, it is crucial that we understand our own implicit biases so that we can be able to recognize the singularity of every human being instead of associating them with a stereotype.

Works Cited

Cobb, Jelani. "No Such Thing as Racial Profiling." The New Yorker, 4 Dec. 2014, https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/eric-garner-racial-profiling . Accessed 21 November 2017.

Dyson, Michael Eric. "Our Own Worst Enemy?" Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America, St. Martin's Press, 2017, 143-169.

Garcia, Andres. "Stop-and-frisk: the policing of Latinos in New York." NACLA Report on the Americas, vol. 46, no. 4, 2013, pp. 37+. Global Issues in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A355468776/GIC?u=nd_ref&xid=87fec209 . Accessed 6 November 2017.

Gladwell, Malcolm. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2005.

Glaser, Jack. "Suspect Race: Causes and Consequences of Racial Profiling." News Center: Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California Berkeley , 24 Nov. 2014, https://gspp.berkeley.edu/news/news-center/suspect-race-causes-and-consequences-of- %09racial-profiling . Accessed 6 November 2017.

Kristof, Nicholas D. "What? Me Biased?" The New York Times, 30 Oct. 2008, p. A39(L). Global Issues in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A188025544/GIC?u=nd_ref&xid=5294534d . Accessed 6 November 2017.

LaFraniere, Sharon, and Andrew W. Lehren. "The Disproportionate Risks of Driving While Black." The New York Times , 24 Oct. 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/us/racial-disparity-traffic-stops-driving-black.html . Accessed 6 November 2017.

Norris, Ashley. "The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prison." The Sentencing Project, 14 June 2016, http://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/color- of-justice-racial-and-ethnic-disparity-in-state-prisons/ . Accessed 21 November 2017.

Williams, Brian N. "Racial Profiling and Biased Policing." Encyclopedia of Race and Racism, edited by Patrick L. Mason, 2 nd ed., vol. 3, Macmillan Reference USA, 2013, pp. 401- 406. Global Issues in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX4190600368/GIC?u=nd_ref&xid=f71f76de . Accessed 6 November 2017.

• To what extent does Galbenski demonstrate fairness/evenhandedness in her argument regarding the causes of racial profiling? Are you convinced by her argument, or do you see it as a function of her own implicit bias? Point to specific evidence from the essay to support your claims.
• How does Galbenski work to establish her credibility with her reader? To what extent is she successful in doing so?
• Comment on the effectiveness of Galbenski's use of the Rufus Scales story as a framing device. What kind of response did that story invite from you as a reader?

Sarah Galbenski

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Racial Profiling

Racial profiling can be defined as considering a person’s race during a criminal investigation. This is an act practiced by some law enforcers where they target persons for disbelief of a crime built on individual’s ethnicity, race nationality or origin (Burrows, 2011). Criminal profiling as performed by corps is the confidence on a collection of features that they trust to be linked with crimes. One of the most common areas where racial profiling is practiced is on the road where police associates races with traffic crimes. For instance, in America police are known to associate the black Americans with traffic offenses on the basis of their race “driving while black”.

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This group would measure the level of success or failure in eliminating racial profiling through evaluating victimization survey and uniform crime report. The group can also conduct research from the public to determine whether racial profiling is increasing or reducing within the country. This department would hire a competent person from outside to monitor implementation of this program to make sure that public funds are utilized in the right manner.

In criminal justice, the issue of police relating the black with traffic crimes has a negative social impact. This is because a crime is any act that goes against the rules and the laws of the land, but being a member of any race does not break any law. However, this victimization has a negative impact towards natural unity (Hawley, 2010). To alleviate this problem, the group should offer advice to the police force regarding the social destruction brought by this crime. Another step would be to ensure that in every police station as well as patrol team all races are well represented. This group would measure their success through conducting research from the general public.

Burrows, M., (2011) Racial Profiling Crime

Griffiths, C., (2008) American Police Work

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Free Racial Profiling Essay Example, with Outline

Published by gudwriter on May 25, 2018 May 25, 2018

A racial profiling essay may require a student, among other things, to discuss the origin, prevalence or effects of racial profiling in a given country. If you need help with history homework or need additional help, we have experienced and qualified history experts who specialize in subjects such as art history, European history and world history. Contact us today and get professional help.

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Here is a sample essay that discusses racial profiling in the United States.

Racial Profiling Essay Outline

Introduction.

Thesis: Racial profiling is not only morally and ethically wrong but also legally condemned in the American constitution.

Paragraph 1:

According to the United States Constitution, every American citizen regardless of their race have equal protection under the law and protected against any unreasonable searches and seizures.

• Racial profiling tends to create a form of alienation of specific groups from law enforcers, inhibits community policing efforts, and leads to a lack of trust of law enforcers among the general community who they are sworn to protect and serve.
• Racial profiling goes against the sworn duty of law enforcers of protect and serve all American citizens despite their religion, what they look like, or their religion.

Paragraph 2:

The issue of racial profiling affects different communities of color.

• One of the most affected group has been African-Americans who have had to endure more than two hundred years of slavery and more than ninety years of legalized racial segregation leading to systematic profiling of blacks.
• The most recent case was the one that involved George Floyd, an African-American who died in the hands of the police while being arrested.

Paragraph 3:

Noteworthy, the violent attacks often meted out on the blacks by the police cannot be related to any situation that the group faced in the past.

• Most of the time, blacks have protested by organizing peaceful demonstrations and attacking symbols of the state.
• The George Floyd’s case attracted mass protests and demonstrations across the entire United States.

Paragraph 4:

It is morally wrong to judge an individual based on their physical characteristics.

• According to experts, judging an individual based on their physical traits is a major factor of racial profiling.
• A group of Americans prescribe to the idea that racial profiling is an effective tool in safeguarding security and punishing illegality.
• Critics argue that racial profiling does more harm than good to the affected groups and cannot be a solution towards the problems facing the US.
• For instance, on the issue of illegal immigration, although racial profiling is considered a solution by many it cannot be a systematic solution to the crisis of porous borders.
• Racial profiling leads to production of a sense of exclusion, alienation and fear among the targeted groups.

Paragraph 5:

Racial profiling violates and ignores the foundation of the American spirit and rule of law.

• In a fundamental sense, racial profiling tends to consider a group of Americans as ’not fully Americans’ and puts them under a continuous trial.
• Racial profiling intensifies and despises people of color in many aspects of life where lawful American citizens who are legally Americans are considered as half Americans or aliens in their neighborhoods.

In summary, racial profiling is legally and ethically wrong. The American Constitution stipulates that every American citizen has equal rights regardless of their race, sex, gender, and nationality. Racial profiling goes against this stipulation by painting a specific group of people as potential enemies.

Free Racial Profiling Essay Example

In the 21st century, there is a common argument that the United States is going through a post-racial era. That is, the country is going through a period where it is free from racial segregation and all other ills that come with the vice. However, the issue of racial profiling has continued to be an enormous social stigma for a select few American nationals. Defined, racial profiling is a general phrase referring to the practice of suspecting or targeting people from a particular race on the basis of observed characteristics or behavior rather than on individual behavior. In spite of the claim that the U.S. is enjoying a post-racial era, racial profiling continues to occur. Racial profiling is not only morally and ethically wrong but also legally condemned by the American constitution.

According to the United States Constitution, every American citizen regardless of their race has equal protection under the law and is protected against any unreasonable searches and seizures. Inasmuch as racial profiling is largely ineffective, it tends to create some form of alienation of specific groups by law enforcers, inhibits community policing efforts, and leads to a lack of trust of law enforcers among the general society which they are sworn to protect and serve. It is without a doubt that a government through the police force has a general duty to protect citizens while promoting fairness and justice (Zack, 2015). However, practicing racial profiling goes against this sworn duty leading to fear among citizens who are condemned due to what they look like, their origins, or the religions they subscribe to among others.

The issue of racial profiling affects different communities of color. One of the most affected groups has been African-Americans who have had to endure more than two hundred years of slavery and more than ninety years of legalized racial segregation leading to their systematic profiling. As noted by Butler (2017), not for one minute in the history of America has there been peace between African-Americans and law enforcers. In the recent past, there have been cases where the police resort to violence when arresting blacks. The most recent case was the one that involved George Floyd , an African-American who died in the hands of the police while being arrested. From the video footage of the incidence, the suspect had already complied with the police but was still chocked to death by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer (Hill et al., 2020). Not even the “I can’t breathe” pleas from the poor man could save him from death in the hands of the four white police officers.

Noteworthy, the violent attacks often meted out on the blacks by the police cannot be related to any situation that the group faced in the past, not even the Jim Crow segregation , the lynching, the restrictive covenants in housing, or the New Deal programs (Butler, 2017). Most of the time, blacks have protested by organizing peaceful demonstrations and attacking symbols of the state. Another group that has been a significant target of racial profiling are the Muslims, Arabs, and South Asians. The group has been profiled by individuals working in airlines, Federal law enforcement officers, and local police. The George Floyd’s case, as already described, attracted mass protests and demonstrations across the entire United States. People, including African-Americans, Caucasians, and people of color organized demonstrations to protest the inhumane racially-instigated act by the police officers. Some of these demonstrations even turned violent and culminated in looting sprees by demonstrators. This single act of racial profiling bordered on racism and even parked protests across the world, led by the Black Lives Matter movement. The world stood together with Americans against what intentional disregard for African-American lives.

It is morally wrong to judge an individual based on their physical characteristics. According to experts, judging an individual based on their physical traits is a significant factor of racial profiling. Nonetheless, there exists a group of American citizens who consider racial profiling as a useful tool in ensuring security and punishing illegality. On the other hand, some critics posit that racial profiling does more harm than good to the affected groups and cannot be a solution towards the problems facing the U.S. On the issue of illegal or undocumented immigration, racial profiling is considered a solution by many, but it cannot be a systematic solution to the crisis of porous borders (Chacón & Coutin, 2018). In its entirety, the issue of racial profiling towards solving the problem of terrorism and illegality overlooks an acute moral issue. By marking specific groups as targets or a source of threats, racial profiling goes a long way in putting many innocent citizens under pervasive scrutiny. In the process, there is a production of a sense of exclusion, alienation, and fear among the targeted groups.

Racial profiling further violates and ignores the foundation of the American spirit and the rule of law. In a fundamental sense, the practice tends to consider a group of Americans as ‘not fully Americans’ and puts them under a continuous trial. It is a devastating force that tends to put the affected group into a devastating psychological and physical harm. Therefore, it is morally wrong and should be condemned and unequivocally rejected by all means possible. It is crucial to pinpoint that racial profiling is not only practiced by law enforcers but also the public. That is, the public tends to paint a particular group of individuals as potential enemies or criminals based on their race, way of dressing, and culture. The practice thus despises people of color in many aspects of life as lawful citizens who are legally American are considered as half Americans or aliens in their own country.

Racial profiling is legally and ethically wrong. The American Constitution stipulates that every American citizen has equal rights regardless of their race, sex, gender, and nationality. Racial profiling goes against this stipulation by painting a specific group of people as potential enemies. The practice is also ethically and morally wrong since it characterized by judging an individual based on their looks and generalizing that opinion on every member of the group or race. The American government should thus actively engage in strategies that are aimed at combating terrorism and illegality without resorting to racial discrimination and profiling.

Butler, P. (2017, August 11). “ US justice is built to humiliate and oppress black men. And it starts with the chokehold”. The Guardian. Retrieved June 30, 2020 from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/11/chokehold-police-black-men-paul-butler-race-america

Chacón, J. M., & Coutin, S. B. (2018). Racialization through enforcement.  Race, Criminal Justice, and Migration Control: Enforcing the Boundaries of Belonging , 159.

Hill, E., Tiefenthäler, A., Triebert, C., Jordan, D., Willis, H., & Stein, R. (2020). “How George Floyd was killed in police custody”. The New York Times . Retrieved June 30, 2020 from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd- i nvestigation.html

Zack, N. (2015).  White privilege and black rights: the injustice of US police racial profiling and homicide . Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

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The Landmark Case of Terry V. Ohio and its Impact on Police Procedure

This essay is about the landmark Supreme Court case Terry v. Ohio, which established the legality of “stop and frisk” practices by police under the Fourth Amendment. The case arose from a 1963 incident in Cleveland, where police officer Martin McFadden conducted a pat-down search on John W. Terry and discovered a concealed weapon. The Supreme Court ruled that officers could stop and frisk individuals if they had reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, a standard lower than probable cause. This decision has had significant implications for law enforcement and civil liberties, leading to ongoing debates about racial profiling, police practices, and the balance between public safety and individual rights.

How it works

The lawsuit known as Terry v. Ohio, adjudicated by the United States Supreme Court in 1968, represents a watershed moment in American constitutional jurisprudence, particularly regarding police protocols and the Fourth Amendment. This seminal verdict established a precedent concerning the legality of “stop and frisk” procedures, profoundly influencing law enforcement strategies and the interpretation of civil liberties. Stemming from what appeared to be an ordinary encounter on the streets of Cleveland, Ohio, this case has had enduring repercussions and remains a focal point in legal and public discourse.

The sequence of events leading to Terry v. Ohio commenced on October 31, 1963, when Cleveland Police Detective Martin McFadden observed two individuals, John W. Terry and Richard Chilton, engaging in suspicious behavior near a downtown establishment. McFadden witnessed the men alternating their paths along a specific route, intermittently pausing to peer into a shop window before conferring with each other. Suspecting them of casing the store for a potential robbery, McFadden approached the men, identified himself as a law enforcement officer, and requested their identities. Dissatisfied with their responses, McFadden proceeded to conduct a cursory pat-down search of their outer garments, revealing a concealed weapon on Terry. Subsequently, Terry and Chilton faced charges of carrying concealed firearms.

The crux of Terry v. Ohio centered on whether McFadden’s search and seizure contravened the Fourth Amendment, which safeguards individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures. The defense contended that McFadden lacked probable cause to search Terry, rendering the search unconstitutional. Conversely, the prosecution asserted that the search was justified as a precautionary measure for the officer’s safety and constituted a reasonable action under the circumstances.

In a verdict that has become foundational to American legal doctrine, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in favor of validating the search. Chief Justice Earl Warren, writing on behalf of the majority, introduced the notion of “reasonable suspicion” as a criterion for assessing police conduct. Warren acknowledged that while the Fourth Amendment safeguards against arbitrary intrusions into privacy, it does not proscribe all searches and seizures. He underscored the necessity of striking a balance between effective law enforcement and the protection of individual liberties.

The Court determined that a police officer may halt and interrogate an individual if there is reasonable suspicion of their involvement in criminal activities. Furthermore, if the officer reasonably believes that the individual may be armed and pose a threat, a limited pat-down search for weapons is permissible. This standard of reasonable suspicion is less stringent than the probable cause standard required for a comprehensive search and arrest, acknowledging the pragmatic challenges confronted by law enforcement officers in potentially hazardous situations.

The ramifications of Terry v. Ohio have been profound and extensive. The verdict effectively sanctioned the “stop and frisk” tactic, empowering police officers to intercede and conduct brief searches based on less evidentiary support than is requisite for an arrest. This has resulted in widespread adoption of stop and frisk by law enforcement agencies nationwide, often provoking contentious debates regarding its impact on civil liberties and its disproportionate application in minority communities.

Detractors argue that stop and frisk practices can engender racial profiling and the unwarranted scrutiny of innocent individuals, particularly within African American and Latino communities. Research indicates that minorities are subject to stop and frisk at a higher rate than their white counterparts, prompting concerns about systemic bias and the erosion of trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. Advocates for reform advocate for stringent guidelines and oversight to forestall abuses of this police authority.

Supporters of stop and frisk, conversely, contend that it constitutes a valuable tool for deterring crime and safeguarding officer safety. They assert that the ability to swiftly assess and neutralize potential threats is indispensable in preserving public order and mitigating violence. Proponents highlight instances where stop and frisk has resulted in the confiscation of illicit firearms and the prevention of serious offenses, underscoring the practical advantages of the practice.

In the years following Terry v. Ohio, the Supreme Court has continued to refine and interpret the precepts established in the case. Subsequent rulings have addressed various facets of stop and frisk, encompassing the breadth of permissible searches and the criteria for reasonable suspicion. These decisions reflect an ongoing endeavor to reconcile the competing interests of public safety and individual rights, a dynamic tension inherent in Fourth Amendment jurisprudence.

Beyond the courtroom, Terry v. Ohio has influenced broader societal perspectives on law enforcement and civil liberties. The case underscores the challenges of formulating policies that uphold public safety while respecting individual freedoms. It underscores the significance of judicial oversight in forestalling abuses of authority while recognizing the practical exigencies faced by law enforcement officers on a daily basis.

The debate over stop and frisk practices remains contentious. Notable cases and publicized instances of police misconduct have galvanized calls for reform and heightened scrutiny of law enforcement tactics. Civil rights organizations and community advocates continue to press for policies that curtail racial profiling and ensure accountability. Concurrently, law enforcement agencies and their proponents advocate for proactive policing measures to combat crime and safeguard communities.

Terry v. Ohio transcends its legal precedent; it embodies a broader societal struggle to reconcile security and liberty. The principles articulated in the case have molded police-public interactions and shaped public perceptions thereof. As society evolves and confronts new challenges, the legacy of Terry v. Ohio will persist in informing discussions about the appropriate bounds of police authority and the preservation of civil liberties.

In summation, Terry v. Ohio emerges as a seminal case in American legal annals, reshaping the terrain of police practice and civil liberties. The Supreme Court’s affirmation of the constitutionality of stop and frisk practices under the rubric of reasonable suspicion has left an indelible mark on law enforcement and the safeguarding of individual rights. While the debate concerning the appropriate employment and constraints of stop and frisk persists, the tenets delineated in Terry v. Ohio endure as a central touchstone in dialogues regarding the equilibrium between security and freedom in a democratic society. The case underscores the enduring tension between the imperative of effective law enforcement and the necessity of preserving constitutional rights, a balance that remains imperative in the perpetual pursuit of justice and equality.

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Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Racial Profiling — Racial Profiling’s Impact on Community-Police Relations

Racial Profiling's Impact on Community-police Relations

• Categories: Community Racial Profiling

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Published: Mar 25, 2024

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Table of contents

Introduction:, historical background:, underlying causes:, effects on community-police relations:, legal and ethical implications:, mitigating strategies:, conclusion:.

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Jamelle Bouie

Trump’s Taste for Tyranny Finds a Target

By Jamelle Bouie

Opinion Columnist

Among the worst episodes in American history are those moments when the federal government deploys the full weight of its power against the most vulnerable people in the country: the Trail of Tears and the Fugitive Slave Act in the 19th century and Japanese internment in the middle of the 20th, to name three.

If he is granted a second term in the White House, Donald Trump hopes to add his own entry to this ignominious book of national shame.

Trump’s signature promise, during the 2016 presidential election, was that he would build a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico. His signature promise, this time around, is that he’ll use his power as president to deport as many as 20 million people from the United States.

“Following the Eisenhower model ,” he told a crowd in Iowa last September, “we will carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.”

It cannot be overstated how Trump’s deportation plan would surely rank as one of the worst crimes perpetrated by the federal government on the people of this country. Most of the millions of unauthorized and undocumented immigrants in the United States are essentially permanent residents. They raise families, own homes and businesses, pay taxes and contribute to their communities. For the most part, they are as embedded in the fabric of this nation as native-born and naturalized American citizens are.

What Trump and his aide Stephen Miller hope to do is to tear those lives apart, rip those communities to shreds and fracture the entire country in the process.

“The Trump immigration plan,” notes Radley Balko , a journalist who writes primarily on civil liberties, in his Substack newsletter, “would be the second-largest forced displacement of human beings in human history, on par with Britain’s disastrous partition of India, and second only to total forced displacement during World War II.”

What is the plan, exactly? It begins, as Miller explained in an interview with Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk last year, with creating a national deportation force consisting of agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Border Patrol and other federal agencies, as well as the National Guard and local law enforcement officials. The administration would empower this deportation force to scour the country for unauthorized and undocumented immigrants. It would move from state to state, city to city, neighborhood to neighborhood and, finally, house to house, looking for people who, according to Trump and Miller, do not belong. This deportation force would raid workplaces and stage public roundups, to create a climate of fear and intimidation.

Of course, in the heat of the moment, it isn’t actually all that easy to determine who may be an unauthorized or undocumented immigrant. But these won’t be selective apprehensions. How could they be? Instead, what we’ll see in practice is an indiscriminate roundup of anyone who might appear to be an immigrant — a mass campaign of racial and ethnic profiling.

Because it would be beyond the capacity of the federal government to immediately return detainees to their “home” countries, the Trump team also plans to build “vast holding facilities that would function as staging centers” for immigrants on land near the Texas border. Internment camps, essentially.

It is worth remembering here that in addition to its wanton cruelty, Trump’s policy of child separation was also noteworthy for the poor conditions suffered by separated families living in government facilities. Child detainees lacked adequate food , water and sanitation. There were also reports of mistreatment , as in the case of the Border Patrol agents who were accused of telling detained women to drink out of toilet bowls.

Now, imagine the conditions that might prevail for hundreds of thousands of people crammed into hastily constructed camps, the targets of a vicious campaign of demonization meant to build support for their detention and deportation. If undocumented immigrants really are, as Trump says, “ poisoning the blood of our country ,” then how do we respond? What do we do about poison? Well, we neutralize it.

There are roughly 10.5 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States, according to a recent estimate by the Pew Research Center. Trump’s number of “probably 15 million and maybe as many as 20 million” is pulled from nowhere — an assumption based on the inchoate sense that the official numbers are wrong and there must be more “illegals” to apprehend than anyone truly realizes.

To reach this goal, Miller and Trump would almost certainly have to round up citizens as well. But that is also part of the plan. On the first day of his second term, the campaign has let it be known, Trump will sign an executive order “to withhold passports, Social Security numbers and other government benefits from children of undocumented immigrants born in the United States.”

Neither Trump nor Miller appears to have made any distinction between the undocumented children of undocumented immigrants and the native-born children of undocumented immigrants, which fits their opposition to the Constitution’s guarantee of birthright citizenship through the 14th Amendment. Under the Trump deportation plan, citizenship will not save those who have the wrong background.

The Trump campaign’s promise to detain and deport millions of immigrants, along with many American citizens, is a promise to plunge the country into an authoritarian nightmare. It is also a promise of strife and pervasive civil conflict.

It wouldn’t be the first time that Americans responded to an effort of this sort with violence. With the passage of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act, which essentially deputized all authorities and private citizens in free states as slave catchers required to return all escaped slaves to their enslavers, came widespread, armed resistance to efforts to carry out the law. You did not have to be sympathetic to the plight of the enslaved to be outraged by the notion that you could be dragooned into acting as a bounty hunter for state-sanctioned human traffickers.

The political consequence of the Fugitive Slave Act, to the dismay of Southern lawmakers, was to radicalize countless Northerners against the so-called Slave Power and raise sectional tensions to a point of almost no return. The law did not cause the Civil War, but it was the provocation that set the stage for a decade of conflict that led, inexorably, to war.

Do we not think that a mass deportation program, with roving bands of armed agents, would result in similar upheaval? Do we not think that there would be violent resistance to agents storming homes, churches and businesses to seize and detain people? And do we not think that a Trump who wanted, during his first term, to shoot protesters would see this as an opportunity to do so — a hoped-for chance to invoke the Insurrection Act, mobilize the military and crush his political opponents?

We talk often, these days, of illiberalism. It is has become a bit of a buzzword. Often the focus is illiberalism in elite spaces, usually the classrooms and common areas of selective colleges. Sometimes the focus is on particular politicians. But what we are seeing here from Trump isn’t simply a distaste for liberal values; it is a taste for genuine tyranny and bona fide despotism, one that complements his endless praise for dictators and strongmen.

Rhetoric matters, and what candidates say is not simply for show. At every opportunity, Trump has placed the mass deportation of millions of people at the center of his campaign. It is a promise. And the promises a presidential candidate makes while on the trail are the promises a president tries to keep.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here's our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , WhatsApp , X and Threads .

Jamelle Bouie became a New York Times Opinion columnist in 2019. Before that he was the chief political correspondent for Slate magazine. He is based in Charlottesville, Va., and Washington. @ jbouie

Racial Profiling in the United States Research Paper

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Introduction

Levels of racial profiling in america, testing the legitimacy of racial profiling, historical evidence of racial profiling in america, works cited.

Racial profiling is any police-initiated act that is based on race, ethnicity, and country of origin rather than the behavior of the person. It also entails information that leads the police to the seizure of individuals who plan to engage in criminal activities. It is racially-biased monitoring that occurs when law enforcement agencies consider the ethnic background of a person to determine how to put the law into effect. Profiling can take different dimensions, such as police stops, questions, arrests, and/or searches. From a broader perspective, it includes a routine exercise and suspicion that eventually leads to an act of discrimination. This paper provides an insight into racial profiling in America using the conflict sociological perspective.

The police profile individuals to apprehend citizens who commit crimes such as drug trafficking and possession of illegal firearms, among others. The occurrence of racial profiling involving the police usually hinges on some assumptions. At the outset, there is a straight correspondence to habits of committing particular crimes besides being a member of a specific race (Shelby 145). The White police in the US have been accused of profiling the African-Americans. The primary reason for such behavior lies in the assumption that Blacks are more likely to commit crimes than their White counterparts.

Heated debates have ensued in an attempt to gauge the legitimacy of profiling. The proponents of the practice have put forward issues that are addressed by racial profiling. The practice deters crime as the suspected group remains in constant and regular checks by the police. Shelby reveals that the effects of such events have been seen in the reduced number of crimes that have improved the quality of life in the US (146). Again, the process of profiling is democratic since there is a weighing of the interests involved, which balance the tilts to favor particular races (Lippert‐Rasmussen 192). Racial profiling is justifiable on legitimate grounds that are needed to control crimes. Lippert‐Rasmussen further attests that it is wrong to ignore the law of probability (193). Breaking of the law is preventable through fast judgment. This objective is achieved by profiling the victims.

The opponents hold that racial profiling causes resentments, hurt, and loss of trust among groups subjected to increased police attention. This state of affairs arises from suspicions generated among the profiled groups. It further leads to a conspiracy that instigates counter-attacks against the police. In an attempt to fight inequality resulting from the practice, crime proves the best solution to revenge. In the US, the Whites have discriminated against the Blacks, giving them the tag of criminals. In fighting the criminality tag, counter-attacks were used. This turn of events cannot auger well with the security apparatus that the police seek to heighten.

Lever holds that profiling is an indisputable act of discrimination and injustice (95). Indeed, the American Civil Liberties Union reveals that profiling alienates the communities from undertaking law enforcement measures. This step hinders community-policing efforts (Ayres and Borowsky, 6). Subsequently, the law enforcers and agents in place lack the credibility and trust people to guard and serve the law. Profiling makes the community live in fear; hence, they fail to exploit their potentials to perform their roles as Americans.

In America, Black people have been subjected to profiling based on their skin tone. At the outset, they faced 240 years of slavery and 90 more of legal segregation. This scenario can still be seen today in traffic and pedestrian stops (Ayres and Borowsky 8). The rights of a profiled person are violated. The ACLU further reveals that discrimination that is based on individual aspects such as color, ethnicity, and race, among others, is a violation of human rights (9).

It has been documented that border police use racial profiling as a tool for security enforcement among immigrants. This kind of institutional alienation brings about lop-sided surveillance, misuse of status, and instigation of violence amongst the victimized citizens. For instance, Reitzel and Piquero reveal that most Whites are subjected to unjustified traffic investigations and increased racial discrimination at the Unites States airports (162).

There are also unnecessary stops and frisking, especially in traffic, to find out whether the minorities are participating in the crime. In 2011, a record of approximately 684,330 civilians who were stopped for checkups, 87 percent of comprised were the Blacks (Reitzel and Piquero 162). According to the Centre for Constitutional Rights, this data underpinned previous studies that showed that race was the primary factor for discrimination. Maximum stops happen in Black and Latino localities. Also, the stop and frisk data show that police officers use excessive force during the stops of Blacks and Latinos. Increased suspicion of a suspected group of people is also evident in US airports. In New York, profiling of people is very intense to the extent that it has become a routine (Cleary 24).

In some cases, school-going children are subjected to racial and religious profiling. Frequent interrogations and searches based on skin color have become a part of the system. Many travelers of the Muslim community or the Middle East are subjected to profiling in airports. The profiling of such nature focuses on the religious backgrounds of the people. The move is to curb terrorist threats posed by groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda in the United States. Terrorism is a serious issue in the US; hence, defending the occurrence of attacks is mandatory. In an attempt to achieve this objective, the administration of the US supports racial profiling (Cleary 23).

The government came up with anti-profiling laws but excluded the transportation security department. This situation is an indication that profiling based on race and religion will continue. The laws followed the public outcry regarding racial abuse and community interactions with the police. They were targeted to ensure fairness and equity to all.

Racial profiling has taken a legal stand in America. The current government has refused to rule out profiling at entry points and during transit. First, the practice is justified where small groups are targeted to secure millions of people and property. On the other hand, the pain and mistrust caused to the people are phenomenal. Accumulated suspicion has impaired the co-operation of the community with the police as they lack trust in the security system that profiles them. Measures to maintain security should be heightened whilst redressing the historical injustices to the victims of racial and religious profiling in America. In so doing, such people will regain trust and support the security mechanisms in place.

Ayres, Ian and Jonathan Borowsky. A Study of Racially Disparate Outcomes in the Los Angeles Police Department, 2008. Web.

Cleary, Jim. Racial Profiling Studies in Law Enforcement: Issues and Methodology , 2000. Web.

Lever, Annabelle. “Why racial profiling is hard to justify: A response to Risse and Zeckhauser.” Philosophy & Public Affairs 33.1(2005): 94-110. Print.

Lippert‐Rasmussen, Kasper. “Racial profiling versus community.” Journal of Applied Philosophy 23.2(2006): 191-205. Print.

Reitzel, John and Alex Piquero. “Does it exist? Studying citizens’ attitudes of racial profiling.” Police Quarterly 9.2(2006): 161-183. Print.

Shelby, Tommie. “Racial Realities and Corrective Justice: A Reply to Charles Mills.” Critical Philosophy of Race 1.2(2013): 145-162. Print.

• Gender Profiling as a Cultural Contradiction
• Sociological Issues: Racial Profiling
• Racial Profiling Goes Beyond Black and White or Red and Blue
• Eliminating Ethnic and Racial Stereotypes
• Race and Ethnic Groups Diversity in America
• Discrimination in the USA: Cases and Policies
• Affirmative Action Policy Pros and Cons
• Racism: Theoretical Perspectives and Research Methods
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2020, July 6). Racial Profiling in the United States. https://ivypanda.com/essays/racial-profiling-in-the-united-states/

"Racial Profiling in the United States." IvyPanda , 6 July 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/racial-profiling-in-the-united-states/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Racial Profiling in the United States'. 6 July.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Racial Profiling in the United States." July 6, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/racial-profiling-in-the-united-states/.

1. IvyPanda . "Racial Profiling in the United States." July 6, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/racial-profiling-in-the-united-states/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Racial Profiling in the United States." July 6, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/racial-profiling-in-the-united-states/.