Racial Profiling

According to Amnesty International racial profiling occurs when "...race is used by law enforcement or private security officials, to any degree, as a basis for criminal suspicion in non-suspect specific investigations. Discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, nationality or on any other particular identity undermines the basic human rights and freedoms to which every person is entitled." (Amnesty International, 2010).

This official definition refers to the racial profiling that may be used by law enforcement personnel, however, law enforcement officials are not the only ones who "profile" people by their race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or sexual identity/orientation. People do it all the time. Some groups are more affected by this than others.

Is racial profiling effective in increasing safety, security, and preventing crime? No. Amnesty international has published 5 facts about racial profiling that explain why this method is not effective and can be particularly harmful.

1. When racial profiling is used it can result in the delay of solving crimes. After the Oklahoma City bombing the officials investigating the case came to the conclusion that the crime fit the racial profile of an Arab terrorist. This allowed the 2 white men who had done the bombing to flee, putting the public at risk while they were free. The racial profiling in this case caused the public to remain in danger. Another case where racial profiling endangered the public was the sniper investigation in Washington D.C. Law enforcement came up with a profile which said the assailant was a white male acting alone. The actual perpetrator, an African American man who had a child with him was able to drive past multiple road blocks despite the fact that he had the murder weapon in the car with him the entire time. (Amnesty International, 2010).

2. Racial profiling can put our safety in jeopardy. There was a case in 2003 where a white man from Maryland smuggled various dangerous items which included a box cutter and a material like plastic explosive onto a plane to make a point. His point was that because he did not fit the racial profile of a person who would bring a bomb onto a plane he was able to get onto the plane with these items without much difficulty. (Amnesty International, 2010).

3. Racial profiling has failed to work in the "War on Drugs." Border patrol officers have been more apt to stop black and Hispanic individuals who are crossing the border but statistics show that whites who are crossing the border have a higher incidence of being caught with possession of drugs. And when Customs Agents gave up racial profiling and focus on behavior and other race neutral indicators their success rate in finding people who were carrying drugs rose by 300% (Amnesty International, 2010).  

4. Racial profiling encourages people to hate those who fit a particular profile. The expanding of racial profiling that occurred after September 11, 2001 has contributed to the idea that profiling is okay and that hate crimes against certain individuals based upon what they look like are justified. Another by-product of racial profiling is that it makes individuals who belong to the groups being profiled have less desire to help with the nation's anti-terrorism efforts (Amnesty International, 2010).

5. The end of racial profiling has been promised but racial profiling is still being used. President Bush issued a directive in 2003 that banned the use of racial profiling by federal agencies but allowed for certain exceptions such as in the interest of national security. Also, this directive only applies to federal investigators and not those from the state or local level (Amnesty International, 2010).

For a moment, just imagine that you are walking down the street to a store. Before you realize what's going on a police officer stops you to question you. Next thing you know, despite the fact that you show the officer valid identification and are cooperating with all of the questioning, in a short period of time there are 5 more officers present. You are taken in and questioned more. You are searched. You are detained. And, they find nothing. They find nothing because you are a law-abiding citizen. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and looked "wrong."

Racial profiling doesn't work and it perpetuates hate. It may be awhile until the use of racial profiling ends with law enforcement but I challenge you to think about racial profiling on a much more personal level. Learn about other races, nationalities, religions, etc. Practice tolerance. Remember that you don't have to understand a person to accept them as a human being and love them for the same reason. Smile to others and you'll find that you receive smiles back. And, when you have a thought that profiles a person a certain way challenge yourself and this thought. Ask yourself, "Why am I thinking this?" and you may realize that many of these thoughts are irrational.

To see how racial profiling can affect an individual check out this video.


http://www.aclu.org/immigrants-rights-racial-justice/would-you-ask-man-his-papers

Peace,

Dawn





Amnesty International. (2010). Racial profiling. Retrieved from http://www.amnestyusa.org/us-human-rights/racial-profiling/page.do?id=1106650