Essay on Racial Profiling

Free Racial Profiling papers

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Rahsaan DeLain Senior Paper

Mrs. Carlo

The issue of racial profiling in America is one of great

importance to the future of American society. This issue fairly new,

in terms of being recognized is old in its ways. Racism and

stereotyping are issues that date back to many years ago. Racial

profiling in America is on that needs to be addressed by the

government and society if we ever want America to truly be, “The

Land of The Free.”

One of the main examples of racial profiling is called DWB

(Driving While Black). This is a term starting to show itself a lot

in cases of racial profiling. This name is meant to be a shot at he

already known DWI (Driving While Intoxicated). In today’s

society the perception is that most drug traffickers are minorities.

This is very untrue. Racial profiling is based on the premise that

most drug offenses are committed by minorities. Because police

look for drugs primarily among African Americans and Latinos,

they find a uneven number of them actually in possession of

contraband. Therefore these people are arrested, reinforcing the

idea that drug trafficking is primarily an Latino or African

American thing. At the same time white drivers receive far less

police attention, many of the drug dealers and users among them

get away. This just feeds to the perception that whites commit

fewer drug offenses than minorities. This often results in the

persecution of innocent people based on skin color. This also

causes a huge distrust and minorities are less willing to

cooperate.

Driving While Black is not an issue that just arose its just now

gaining a name. The practice of racial profiling by our nations

police is the consequence of the rising concern about the war on

drugs. Drug use and drug selling are not limited to minorities in

the US , in fact five times as many whites use drugs. This war on

drugs since it began targeted minorities. According to the

governments own reports 80 percent of the country’s cocaine

users are white and the “typical cocaine user is a white middle

class suburbanite.”(Harris 7) But law enforcement tactics are

concentrated in the inner city. This continues to feed the

perception that most drug dealers and users are black. This

prompted the “drug courier profile,”(Harris 7) with racial

overtones to take hold.

Media coverage of this issue has begun to increase in the last

couple of years or so. In the past year , front page stories and

editorials have appeared in every major national newspaper and

many local papers. Even though media fascination with a

problem doesn’t make it real or lack of media coverage doesn’t

make a problem nonexistent. But because of the many stories

and statistical reports, the lawsuits and even recent action by the

government, make a good argument that , “driving while black,”

is not just an occasional problem. Some of these stories are

absolutely ridiculous there are so many cases its crazy.

Racial profiling believe it or not is a big problem among the

news media itself. When the media covers a story about drugs

they often show the black drug dealer , abuser , criminal or the

undeserving affirmative action recipient. When we look at the

ways the national media has covered or failed to cover recent

stories or studies we get a better understanding of the practice or

racial profiling in the media. In a recent poll taken by the child

advocay group Children Now the children included said

that,”the news media tends to portray African American and

Latino people more negatively than white and Asian people.

Most of the major news media did not cover this story and the

ones that did said,” that the children were influenced by

television news.” (qtd in media blackface 4)

On of the major and most well known cases of racial profiling

is the case of Amadou Diallo. Four white officers members of

the anti street crime unit fired 41 shots at Diallo hitting him 19

times. The officers contended that they they fired in self defense.

On Feb 4, 199, after Diallo,22, reached for an object they though

was a gun while he was standing in the vestibule of his

apartment. The object turned out to be his wallet. All four

officers were charged with second degree murder as suspended

from there jobs. The officers said that Diallo darted into the

entrance of his building and took a combat stance. He pulled out

what they perceived as a weapon and opened fire on him. The

officers contended that Diallo’s death was a tragic case of self

defense. Charges against them said that...