Alice Niako
English 15.6

Racial Profiling refers to the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targets of targeted individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual’s race, ethnicity, and religion or nation origin. I am against racial profiling, it is typical practiced by police upon reliance on a group of characteristics deemed to be associated with crime. In 2000, 20 state legislatures considered legislation which would require compiling records on police stops according to the journal article Racial Profiling by Baltimore: Prejudice Institute. Some proposals include fining police officers who engage in profiling and withholding state funds from offending police departments.
According to the article Trayvon Martin case highlighted as radical profiling by Senate panel, “4.3 million street stops done by the New York Police Department from 2002 to 2011 disproportionately targeted black and Latino residents and that just 12 percent of total stops resulted in an arrest or summons.” This demonstrates the concept of racial profiling being abused, in these stops along with the Trayvon case “stereotypes played a role,” said Anthony Romero. Countless accounts have been made by activists regarding to this sensitive and controversial topic of racial profiling. “There is a real tension between black boys and the police. Not perceived but real. If you walk into any inner city school in the African American community and ask students, Have any of you ever been racially profiled everyone will raise their hands” said U.S Rep. Frederica Wilson.
This is a serious issue that is evidently taking place in numerous African American and Hispanic communities. In an article by The Washington Post entitled Black Boys denied the right to be young by Eugene Robinson states the constant outlook of society upon young African American boys. “Our society considers young black men to be dangerous, interchangeable, expendable and guilty until proven innocent.” Furthermore addressing the Trayvon Martin shooting which it was quite evident that racial profiling played a role in the actions that Zimmerman took. “They were told that he profiled Martin --- young, black, hooded sweatshirt—as a criminal” The reckless approach that resulted in such a tragic encounter even after advice from a 911 dispatcher to end pursuit cannot go unnoticed. “If anyone wonders why African Americans feel so passionately about this case, it’s because we know our 17 year old sons are boys not men. It’s because we know their adolescent bravura is just that ----an imitation of manhood, not the real thing.” Black boys are constantly denied the opportunity to be young and make mistakes.
In certain circumstances profiling can be understandable as noted in the article Racism vs. Reality by Richard Cohen. “It does no one any good to merely cite the number of stop and frisks involving black males without citing the murder statistics as well”. Police however cannot abuse their authority and using race as the only determining factor but ignoring race is not an opinion. ‘In New York City, blacks make up a quarter of the population, yet they represent 78 percent of all shooting suspect almost all of them young men.” Racially profiling is acceptable under certain circumstances when a variety of factors are used to deem someone suspicious.
The topic of racial profiling was heavily discussed during the Trayvon Martin case some strongly claiming that George Zimmerman used wrongful judgment resulting in the death of the 17 year old Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman was made a “neighborhood watch”, his job titled did not call for him to engage some he believes is suspicious but to pass information and avoid confrontations. This was a perfect example of how racial profiling was followed by a series of mistakes and misperceptions. Zimmerman was not a law enforcement agent. He was a civilian operating other legal standards that applied to the police. However others claim this was the exact reason why Zimmerman was not guilty, “hence, although Zimmerman was possibly negligent, irresponsible and exercised poor judgment, it was not illegal for him to follow Martin, carry gun when doing so or even ignore the opinion the opinion of the civilian 911 dispatcher when advised, regarding his following Martin, “OK we don’t need you to do that”.
Racial profiling forces individuals who have engaged in no wrongdoing to endure the burdens of law enforcement in order to prove their innocence. For each criminal, terrorist, or undocumented immigrant apprehended through racial profiling, many more law-abiding minorities are treated through profiling as if they are criminals. Exposure to racial profiling has behavioral as well as emotional consequences. Many minorities who are entirely innocent of any wrongdoing choose to drive in certain automobiles or to dress in certain clothes, to avoid drawing the attention of police who might otherwise profile and stop them. They may also choose to live in areas where they will not stand out as much, thereby reinforcing patterns of residential segregation. This is not the effect we are trying to promote within throughout our communities.

Bibliography 1. Racial profiling. (2001). (). Baltimore: Prejudice Institute. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/ 2. Trayvon Martin shooting wasn’t a case of racial profiling. (2012). Mark NeJame 3. Trayvon Martin cause highlighted as racial profiling by senate panel (2012) Mark K. Matthews 4. Black boys denied the right to be young (July 15) Eugene Robinson 5. Mr.Zimmerman goes free, but Tragedy remains (July 14) Editorial Board