Ethnic Profiling Research Paper

Words: 1082
Pages: 5

There is a national issue in the “…United States, where the legacy of slavery and segregation is found in lesser but, nonetheless, troubling forms of racial inequality” (Lever, 2007, p.20). American police have killed African Americans Rodney King, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and many others. It seems to be happening more and more each year. What is the real story? Are they killing for the safety of themselves or is it purely racism? The facts are that policemen are killing more African Americans than Caucasians and that more African Americans are incarcerated than Caucasians. However, based on research, it was proven that violence was eighty-five percent higher for African Americans than Caucasians (Lever, 2007, p.27). Looking back on …show more content…
In the article Racial and Ethnic Profiling, it states about racial minorities being pulled over just because of their color and they would joke about it and call it DWB, or Driving While Black/Brown. (Kleinig, 2007, p.3). Even if some police officers can truthfully say that race does not affect how they do their job, it has been done too many times by other policemen, so the public and the media has automatically profiled it for them. It is unfortunate for many officers. “This form of profiling is controversial because we generally suppose that the police are entitled to stop and search only people whose behavior supports the belief that they have committed, or are about to commit, a crime” (Lever, 2007, p.21). So we assume that a policeman is pulling someone over entirely because of the behavior, however African Americans do not think so according to Kleining’s “DWB” …show more content…
“There are no blueprints for changing our ways that are also politically feasible in the sense that we could now embark on a well-understood democratic process leading us from where we are now to a society free of racism by implementing these proposals” (Risse, 2007, p.8). However, it is not entirely hopeless. It is our choice as a society to change the racial profiling that is happening and stop hindering the police. Fear is and will be a problem, but it can feasibly be done. The United States of America should not be an unhappy, racist country. Mathias Risse, co-author of Racial and Ethic Profiling believes that there is three issues with racial profiling that are often confused. “The first concerns the use of race as an information-carrier for investigative purposes; the second concerns police abuse; and the third concerns the ‘disproportionate’ use of race in profiling” (Risse, 2007, p.4). They are concerning because of the good of the public and the situations where investigators have to make quick decisions (Risse, 2007, p.5). However, if the ‘good of the public’ is against the police force, then what good does it do for the