Racial Profiling in the USA - Essay Example

Racial profiling is a major concern among law enforcement agencies in the United s because it is viewed as a form of racism. While data has shown that there is no real difference between the number of times that white, blacks, and Latinos are pulled over, there is a major difference in the number of times that these individuals are searched or given tickets, even when pulled over for a similar offence. The reason for this is the fact that most police officers believe that African Americans and Latinos are more likely to commit a crime than their white counterparts, which is an ideology that comes from the stereotypes that are present in our society. These stereotypes are believed by police officers, regardless of their race, which causes for them to hold this belief that minorities are more likely to be dangerous or more likely to be conducting some sort of illegal activity, even though this is not necessarily the case. Law enforcement agencies are not right about minorities committing more crimes than whites, nor are they guilty of being racist. They are simply guilty of buying into racial stereotypes that are present in society and are shared by all the races. The ideology of blacks and Latinos being more likely to commit crimes goes back to the time of slavery. This could be considered a racist form of police work because many times, people are stopped and searched based purely on their skin color, rather than looking at the behavior of the individual, but this trend is evident with African American and Latino police officers as well. Many people would argue that this occurs because history has shown that African Americans are more likely to be involved with crime, but there is data that shows this to be untrue. In New Jersey, even though more whites than blacks and Latinos are pulled over, “the available data indicate that the overwhelming majority of searches (77.2%) involved black or Hispanic persons. Specifically, of the 1,193 searches for which data are available, 21.4% involved a white person, more than half (53.1%) involved a black person, and almost one of every four (24.1%) involved a Hispanic person” (Verniero and Zoubek, 1999, P. 31). This shows that racial profiling is occurring here, as despite the fact that a higher number of whites are being pulled over, blacks and Latinos are more likely to be searched. What this data does not show, however, is that many of these police officers are African American and Hispanic, which means that there are deeper rooted issues within society than the racism of a few white police officers. One reason for racial profiling is how blacks and Latinos are looked upon by society. Despite the advancements that African-Americans had made over time, they are still having problems competing with white members of society. Minority neighborhoods are still among the poorest in the country and blacks are also more likely to work lower paying jobs. In order to escape this reality, more minorities have begun turning to drugs and alcohol. They are more likely to be stereotyped as selling drugs and pimping prostitutes, as these are two of the only ways that they can make a living without having a good job. Their schools are also generally among the lowest academically in the nation, as very few resources are put in to them by the government. This has led to increasing anger among certain members of the black community as was seen in 1965, when “a routine traffic stop in Central Los Angeles turned deadly, sparking the Watts Riots“ (Holbert and Rose, 2004, P. 34). Watts is a very poor neighborhood in South Central Los Angeles where unemployment and drug abuse are very large problems. When a young black man was arrested for drunk driving in the neighborhood, it sparked six days of rioting that left thirty-four people dead and caused $30 million worth of property damage. This riot was symbolic of a new movement in the black community that was slanted towards militancy. This has become another stereotype of African Americans, as many in American society believe that blacks are more likely to commit violent crimes because of highly publicized events such as these. It became more and more common for black citizens to murder white police officers who they believed were racist in various areas all over the nation after these riots, which is one reason why many members of society to not get upset when a minority is killed by a police officer. Society feels as though the minority was probably behaving in a violent manner and, therefore, the police officer was merely defending him or her self. Even Judge Filemon Vela, who is of Mexican descent has had problems while driving in Texas, as he was pulled over numerous times in order to "answer questions about his citizenship," (Harris, 2002, P. 9) even though there was no legit reason for him to have been pulled over. The result of these riots and murders was that white people began to leave certain cities, in order to protect themselves from the violence. It was around this time that the black power movement started. Leaders of this community urged its members to fight groups like the Ku Klux Klan armed with force, in order to eliminate them from the country. They also encouraged blacks to get back to their roots by wearing African clothing, growing their hair into afros, and insisting that whites stop referring to them as Negroes, but rather be called African-Americans. The Black Panther Party is the group that brought the most prominence to this movement, as they had a “by any means necessary” approach to achieving civil rights. This meant that they would use violence if they felt it would further their cause. This type of ideology is much different the non-violent ideology of Martin Luther King and it is something that added to the problem, and did not help it, as it helped create the stereotype of African Americans being violent people. These problems that are faced by minorities, however, are not always the result of white police officers racially profiling. In the city of Boson, for example, minority police officers are more likely to let white people off with a warning in situations where they would give a minority a ticket. In this case, “for the most common violation, speeding 10 to 15 miles per hour over a 30 m.p.h. limit, white officers ticketed 30 percent of white Bostonians and 38 percent of minorities. Minority officers were less lenient overall, issuing fewer warnings to all drivers. And the racial gap was wider, with minority officers ticketing 43 percent of whites and 54 percent of minorities at the same speeds” (Latour and Dedman, 2003). The reason for this, according to police captain Ronald Davis, is that minority groups believe that stereotypes that exist about their own races. While there is nothing to suggest that African Americans are more likely to commit a crime than other racial groups, there is a belief, through media stereotypes, that they are more likely. This has created a system of racial profiling that is based on these stereotypes, rather than on actual racism. The difference is that people are not discriminating against African Americans because they are racist, but rather because they believe that stereotypes that have been put forth by the media about these ethnic groups. This, therefore, is based on fear of these stereotypes, rather than a hatred of another race. Another possible reason for this discrepancy is the fact that often times, a minority police officer will feel as though he or she has to be harder on a minority in order to prove him or her self to the white police officers. This is because they believe that they will not be treated the same as the white police officers if they do not treat minorities worse than white officers do. Another possible reason for this is that there is a belief that whites who are stopped by African American or Latino police officers will be more likely to file a complaint, which is something that all police officers wish to avoid. Another possible reason for this trend is the fact that young African Americans and Latinos are being taught that many of these stereotypes are true as well, which leads for them to have a fear of their own African American and Latino cultures. This fear means that African Americans and Latinos will be more nervous when they are in a situation involving another African American or Latino because they believe the stereotypes that are present in the media. Hip hop culture has evolved to the point where it is “cool” to make claims of committing violent acts against police officers and disrespecting authority figures at all times. This shows that the way in which young black and Latino people are brought up is perpetuating the negative stereotypes that surround minority cultures. Minority children are being taught that is perfectly acceptable to accept these stereotypes and even to act in accordance with them, which is something that will allow for these stereotypes to not only continue, but to flourish. Since these stereotypes are associated with crime and violence, it is possible to see why police officers would be more inclined to search a African American or Latino. While it may be true that racial profiling is present in modern society, there are reasons for minorities being more likely to be searched or ticketed in a routine traffic stop. The stereotypes that are present in society are not based on racism, but are rather based on an image that many African Americans and Latinos wish to be viewed as. While this does not mean that more African Americans and Latinos are criminals, it does mean that they are more likely to be viewed as such because of the stereotypes that minority cultures seem to embrace. The fact that even African American and Latino police officers believe these stereotypes to be true shows how powerful they are and also shows that they are so deeply rooted in society that they will be very difficult to alleviate. All minorities do not represent these stereotypes, but the truth of the matter is that these stereotypes have been embraced enough by these cultures that they are, often times, the only experience that certain individuals will have had this that culture. These stereotypes are also often of a violent nature, which is something that police officers need to be aware of on a daily basis. Works Cited Harris, David A., (2002), Profiles in Injustice: Why Police Profiling Cannot Work, New York: The New Press. Holbert, Steve and Rose, Lisa, (2004), The Color of Guilt & Innocence: Racial Profiling and Police Practices in America. San Ramon, CA: Page Margue Press. Latour, Francie & Dedman, Bill, (July 20, 2003), "Minority officers are stricter on minorities", Boston Globe Online, Viewed April 10, 2008, http://www.boston.com/globe/metro/packages/tickets/072003b.shtml Verniero, Peter and Zoubek, Paul H., (April 20, 1999), "Interim Report of the State Police Review Team Regarding Allegations of Racial Profiling". The State of New Jersey. Viewed April 10, 2008. http://www.state.nj.us/lps/intm_419.pdf Read More