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Racial Profiling in the United States There is no doubt that life can be very difficult for individuals of color. It is even more difficult to come to the realization that not only are they an individual of color, but also that authority may not see them as equally apart of society. Or, that police officers could throw them in the bounds of jail without any probable cause. A major reason as to why their life is not particularly easy includes racial profiling. Racial profiling includes associating suspicious behavior or the act of committing a crime with an individual’s race or ethnicity. Racial profiling originated from hasty generalizations about low income communities and communities of color. It has come to many American citizens’ attention …show more content…
Racial profiling highly affects crime in the United States as African Americans are treated more harshly are unjustly as they stop, searched, and arrested by members of the police force.
The police force oftentimes associates crimes with communities of color and low income neighborhoods. An article written by Donna Coker, “Addressing the Real World of Racial Injustice in the Criminal Justice System” states, “The federal agents are focusing on violent street gangs engaged in large-scale drug trafficking and these gangs are predominantly African American in membership” (830). This statement makes it evident to readers that police officers primarily focus on neighborhoods with African American residents, due to the belief that African Americans are more likely to commit crime. The assumptions of African Americans and crime come as a result of past stops, searches and arrests mostly …show more content…
Members of the police force are constantly looking for individuals of color in order to keep in jail in means of preventing crime. The article, “Addressing the Real World of Racial Injustice in the Criminal Justice System” mentions, “Police officers are more likely to stop African Americans for traffic stops, and once stopped, they are more likely to search the vehicles of African Americans” (835). This illustrates to readers exactly how often they search African Americans and the method they use in which they stop them. LaFraniere also explains the length to which police officers will go in order to arrest African Americans. LaFraniere clarifies, “They used their discretion to black drivers or their cars more than twice as often as white motorists – even though they found drugs and weapons significantly more than when the driver was white” (2). Therefore, police officers are strictly using color as an excuse to stop a man of color driving. Police officers fail to have evidence of the misuse of alcohol and drugs. This is made more evident as they search African American’s car and find nothing. Although most police officers can come together and establish this conclusion, police officers continue to stop search, and mistreat people of

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