Racial Profiling Essay, Research Paper

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Racial Profiling:

Its Time to Put an End to this Unjust Practice

It has happened to actors such as Wesley Snipes, Will Smith, Blair Underwood and LeVar Burton. It has happened to football player Marcus Allen, Olympic athletes Al Joyner and Edwin Moses, and it has happened to attorney Johnnie Cochran. Police officers stop, question and even search black drivers who have committed no crime, based on the excuse that a traffic offense has occurred. The term black Americans use for these stops are Driving while Black or DWB. Driving while black is a prime example of racial profiling. The issue of racial profiling in America is one of great importance to the future of American society, and regrettably, is not a new issue. For decades black Americans have complained about this practice. Law enforcement officials across our great nation deny that racial profiling occurs, but an over whelming majority of the black community believes that racial profiling is practiced on a daily basis. During the Civil Rights Era, racial profiling was a major issue, thousands of black Americans were unnecessarily stopped and arrested based on their skin color alone. Yet, after all of our progress

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since that torrid period of our past, we continue to fight for the stoppage of racial profiling in the year 2000. This issue screams to be addressed by the government and abolished in American society if we truly desire our country to be The Land of the Free, that we all know and love.

Racism, and stereotyping in general, are issues that date back many centuries. It would seem that skin color alone may very well make you a suspect in America, and more likely to be stopped by our law enforcement personnel. The war on drugs has given police a license to target those people who they believe fit the profile of a drug dealer or a gang member. The prevailing perception in American society today is that most drug traffickers and gang members are minorities, mostly blacks. However, a quick check into the demographics that make up these two groups of people will prove this to be very untrue. Racial profiling is based on the premise that minorities commit most drug offenses. Because of this over riding thought, police search for illegal substances primarily among black Americans, finding an uneven number actually in possession of these substances. These persons are arrested, thereby reinforcing the belief that drug

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trafficking is mostly limited to the black culture. All the while, white drivers receive far less police attention, affording the drug dealers among this group of people to go free. This adds to the perception that whites commit far fewer drug offenses than minorities. The unfortunate result is the innocent people are often persecuted based on their skin color alone. Statistics prove the use and selling of drugs are not limited to minorities in America; in fact, five times as many whites use drugs.

From the outset of the war on drugs, minorities

have been targeted. According to our own

governmental reports 80 percent of the country s

cocaine users are white, and the typical

cocaine user is a white middle class suburbanite.

But law enforcement tactics remain concentrated

in the inner city, continuing to feed the

perception that drug dealers and users are black.

This allowed the drug courier profile, which

possesses racial overtones, to take hold

(Harris 7).

Media attention to this issue has been on the rise over approximately the last five years. In the past twelve months alone, front-page stories and editorials have

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appeared not only in the major national newspapers, but many local papers as well. Talk to almost any black person in the country and you will hear personal accounts of unjustified traffic stops by the police. These numerous accounts leave one with the perception that our police forces are using race as the primary basis for making a majority of traffic stops (Green 6A). It is never pleasant being a victim of racial profiling, often it turns into a very humiliating and degrading encounter. When verbally relating the incidents that resulted from racial profiling, it is difficult to express the degree of pain, humiliation and mental anguish that one has been subjected to. Harvard lawyer, Robert L. Wilkens, and his family were traveling from a funeral in a rented Cadillac when he was stopped for speeding. The state trooper ordered Wilkens, his aunt, uncle and a cousin out of their vehicle and into the rain, for the purpose of searching the car for drugs. Wilkens recalls seeing a young white boy, about six years old, in a passing car with his face pressed against the window and he couldn t help but to think what image will forever be in this little boys head? Will it contribute to the stereotype about blacks, or maybe an unwarranted fear of black men (Green 6A)? There were no drugs to be found, We

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were completely humiliated, says Wilkens. Twenty-nine year old Rep. Harold E. Ford, Jr. (D-Tenn.) told a reporter that he was stopped by a Washington, DC police officer who demanded to see his ID. When the policeman examined the ID he could not believe that Rep. Ford was a member of Congress and that he was driving such a nice car. At which point Rep. Ford told him, If I was treated this way, I can t imagine how folks who don t have the access to the things I do as a member of Congress are treated. Kweisi Mfume, the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), was pulled over while driving the interstate at night and alone, the police initially thought he had stolen the car he was driving. It wasn t until the policeman found out who Mr. Mfume was that they let him go (Davis 42).

Statistics on racial profiling are alarming; studies in New Jersey and Maryland both demonstrate the prevalence of racial profiling. For instance, 77 percent of motorists searched on the New Jersey turnpike were black or Hispanic, although 60 percent of all persons stopped were white. Similarly, 70 percent of the drivers stopped on a stretch of Interstate 95 in Maryland from January 1995 to September 1996 were black, despite the fact that blacks made up just

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17 percent of the drivers (of all speeds) on that road. The evidence gets even more disturbing, an innocent black driver in the state of Maryland is four times more likely to be searched than an innocent white driver, despite the fact that such practices were banned in the state (Taylor). Profiling is not limited to race; other characteristics such as age and dress are also used as “warning signals” by police officers. This poses a problem, especially when the police wrongfully harass people, just what is the profiling dress code?

A baseball cap, worn at any angle, accounts for

10 percent of the stops. A bandanna,

particularly red or blue, hints gang involvement

and an XXL hooded sweatshirt accounts for 20

percent of the stops. Sagging, baggy trousers,

especially jeans, accounts for 30 percent of the

stops. Expensive high-top sneakers, unlaced,

suggest prison time and accounts for 10 percent

of the stops. White people wearing Similar

clothes are rarely stopped (Barovick 43).

The reality – if you are a youth in the inner city and dress hip-hop or walk with a little pride; the police “profile” you as a likely “gang-banger.” If you are a

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well-paid suburban professional, driving a luxury car, to the police you “fit the profile” of a major drug dealer or car thief.

Police officers are supposed to protect and serve every citizen! The practice of profiling has “helped breed a deeply corrosive mistrust of law enforcement (Shipler 384). Young minority males get the wrong message at an early age from law enforcement officials, causing a distrust of the police, and reduced willingness to cooperate with the police. If the black community does not trust the police, how are they supposed to support the community as a whole? If there is a crime committed within the community, this bred distrust makes it less likely that someone will come forward, regardless of the fact that they possesses vital information that may help solve this crime. The history of police and community interaction has been characterized not by trust, but by mutual distrust (Meeks 24).

Police officials continue to deny their personnel practice racial profiling on routine stops. Political opposition to the practice of racial profiling is mounting, President Clinton has it “morally indefensible” and has ordered federal law enforcement officials to collect

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information on the race and sex of people they stop. Vice President Al Gore has promised to ban racial profiling by federal authorities (Rogers 94).

Police officials constantly argue that stories of

racist police stops are “simply anecdotal

evidence,” and do not prove there are patterns or

approved policies regarding racial profiling. At

the same time, reactionary politicians and police

officials both oppose any attempt to document

which persons actually get stopped and why. For

example, California’s former Governor Pete Wilson

vetoed a bill requiring police in his state to

collect data on the nationality, gender and age

of everyone they stop. Similar bills have failed

to pass legislation in Texas and other states,

including the United States Congress. However,

hundreds of people have refused to quietly accept

the outrageous abuses that result from racial

profiling and continue to expose it (Jackson 5A).

There are several steps being undertaken in an effort to rid our country of racial profiling. The Traffic Stops Statistics Act, introduce by Rep. John Conyers (D- Mich.), will provide for the collection of data on each traffic

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stop to include race of the driver and whether or not a search was conducted, to include why it was conducted.

The bill has brought awareness to the country on racial profiling. The purpose behind this bill is two fold; one,

to put to rest the question as to whether or not racial profiling exist; and two, to bring awareness to the entire country that racial profiling is a problem that needs to be addressed in our legislature. As of the writing of this paper, the bill is yet to pass, but there are plans to reintroduce it during the next session of Congress for another vote.

Many states have decided to take action on their own and have started to collect data on police stops within their boundaries. The San Diego, California Police Chief decided it was in the best interest of his department to start collecting this data. He needed to know if his officers were enforcing the law based on violations or based on some sort of racial profile. Police in over 30 cities in California, as well as certain police departments in Michigan, Florida, Houston and Rhode Island, are also collecting data (Loftus 8A). This data collection will allow our police departments to take actions of their own

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in determining whether or not their officers are practicing racial profiling, and the steps needed for correction. Resulting in better police departments, communities and improved relations overall.

More and more, victims of racial profiling are filing lawsuits in an effort to challenge this practice in open court and draw attention to this country wide practice. Robert L. Wilkins won $95,000 from the Maryland State Police Department, along with an agreement from them to provide data on highway stops (Kinnon 64). These lawsuits should make police officers think twice before utilizing racial profiling as a measuring tool when determining who should and should not be stopped.

In order to bring the problem of racial profiling under control we need to pass the Traffic Stops Statistics Act requiring all law enforcement personnel to collect data on traffic stops in an effort to determine if profiling is being used as a daily practice. Police officers have to be trained and educated on race relations in an effort to more effectively communicate with the constituents that they serve. All citizens wants the criminals caught, but the methods that we employ to that end must to chooses with caution. Innocent people should not be arrested, or worse

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yet killed, because they fit the profile. Racial profiling is not just problem that is limited to black America but effects every American who believes in basic fairness. Driving while black destroys the ideal that holds us together as a nation, Equal Justice.

Sources Cited

Barovick, Harriet. DWB: Driving While Black Time

15 June 1998: 43-44.

Davis, Marcia. Racial Profiling is a Reality for

Black Drivers. Emerge 30 June 1999: 42

Green, Saul. The Law has no Place for Racial Profiling.

Michigan Chronicle 21 March 2000: 6A

Herbert, Bob. Breathing while Black New York Times

4 November 1999: A29

Jackson, Toby. Racial Profiling Wall Street Journal

18 April 2000: 5A

Kinnon, Joy Bennett. Driving While Black Ebony

September 1999: 62-64

Loftus, Elizabeth. Flying while Black: Black women are

Most likely to be stopped and searched. Sacramento

Observer 19 April 2000: 8A

Meeks, Kenneth. Driving while Black New York: Broadway,

2000

Noel, Peter. Fear and loathing on the New Jersey Turnpike

The Village Voice available from World Wide Web at

http://www.livoice.com/issues/9823/noel.html

Rogers, Elizabeth. Fear of Driving ABA Journal July 2000,

Vol. 86. P94

Shipler, David K. A Country of Strangers, Black and Whites

In America. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997

Taylor, Stuart, Jr. Racial Profiling: The Liberals are

Right. National Journal 24 April 1999, V31, N17