Racial Profiling
Diversity is an inevitable attribute among the human race. With it, diversity conflict comes about. This is brought about by the different points of view, culture, skin tone, language, and so forth among these individuals. As such, there has been an issue with how the apparatus of the state (police officers), enforce the law with regard to the difference in their racial origin. Thus, when police officers decide to be stereotypical when viewing characteristics such as ethnicity, race, national origin, or religion as an indicator of criminal behavior, it can be referred to as racial profiling. This practice is usually used by law enforcers to target specific crimes or individuals that are suspected of committing such crimes.
The issue of racial profiling usually comes about due to the unethical and immoral ideals and beliefs in action. It violates the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution (White, 2019). For instance, the Fourth Amendment indicates that an American citizen has the right to be secure in their persons against unreasonable searches without probable cause. The Fourteenth Amendment indicates that every citizen is guaranteed equal protection of the law. However, by practicing racial profiling, various individuals are not treated to equal justice and searches as their white counterparts. Thus, it will be imperative to look at some of the things that bring about racial profiling, its impacts on society, and how society can put a stop to it.
Causes of Racial Profiling
Various factors lead to the increase of racial profiling in the U.S. For instance, one major factor that leads to this is the fact that most law enforcers are usually placed under a lot of pressure to produce numbers and statistics while carrying out their operations. Due to this, while policing, the law enforcers engage more in stop-and-frisk practices in disproportionate rates in various areas. The impact zones that are riddled with criminal acts have a predominant part of the population made up of minorities (Harton & Broussard, 2015). As such, to the eyes of the police officers, every individual in these areas is usually suspected even if they are involved in a minor infraction or “driving while black.” The pressure is usually among police officer but it is much higher among recent recruits that are fresh out of the police academy (Hosein, 2018). These recruits will always aim to prove themselves as bona fide members of the police force.
When such recruits are deployed at the impact zones, it is usually unfortunate for the residents because most of them will be harassed and their constitutional rights violated. Thus, because they are put under a lot of pressure to produce crime reducing statistics, they will most of the time indulge in crafty ways of handling minorities thus racially profiling them in the process to attain their goal (Harton & Broussard, 2015). Even though this method can be seen as some to be the most “effective” way to identify stop-and-frisk targets and fight crime, it is unconstitutional. The act of stopping and frisking individuals is a program that disproportionately targets African Americans and Latinos as compared to their white counterparts (Hosein, 2018). Such a program facilitates the perpetuation of racial profiling because it only values efficacy over constitutionality thus enabling the violation of the rights of a few selected citizens in the U.S.
Another cause of racial profiling to run rampant is implicit bias. This can be defined as the prejudices and stereotypes that reside and operates in the minds of individuals outside of their conscious awareness. Even though most individuals may not be aware nor approve the possession of such stereotypes and prejudices, they are still present in our unconscious mind. As stated in the book, “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking” by Malcolm Gladwell, people do not deliberately choose their unconscious attitudes… However, the giant computer that exists within us that is the unconscious state crunches every piece of data silently from experiences that one has had, individuals we have interacted with, the films we have watched, among other factors and it comes up with a given opinion. Thus, when an individual is asked to relate a positive or a negative attribute to either a white or a black individual, most individuals will find it hard to relate positive attributes to black individuals than they would with whites.
Many hypotheses have been arrived at to try and explain why people relate African Americans to negative attributes. For instance, to explain this scientifically, scholars believe that the amygdala a portion of the brain that is concerned with emotions usually flashes a threat warning when it has perceived individuals that look “different.” Though this is the case, most biases concerning people can be attributed to the type of culture an individual is exposed to (Harton & Broussard, 2015). Therefore, with this type of bias, it has perverse a lot of institutions including police departments and the media. Due to this, a lot of actions that are done with individuals in these institutions are controlled unconsciously leading racial profiling among the minority groups. Thus, implicit bias can be said to be a cognitive short cut that a lot of police officers take when they are uncertain about a given situation that a minority individual is involved in (Hosein, 2018).
Lastly, another cause of racial profiling in the U.S. is the “abundance” of African American crimes. Since it is believed that most African Americans are always involved in criminal activities, they are racially profiled by police even when they are innocent (Hosein, 2018). This is a belief that has been held strongly by most American conservatives who believe that an individual is treated as per his/her demographic category. This is not correct because statistics show that white-on-white mayhem in the U.S. is profound. For instance, research shows that a white individual is six times more likely to be murdered by a fellow white person than an African American. Even though this is the reality, still when an African American murder an African American, the media and the police institutions are usually quick to label the crime on a racial basis (Hosein, 2018). On the other hand, when a white individual commits the same crime on a white individual, it is single out and treated on a singular basis. This is due to the belief that African Americans are prone to committing crimes than whites which is not true. This is a true indication of racial profiling that we see on a regular basis.
Impacts of Racial Profiling on the Society
The wrath of racial profiling may seem to be an inconvenience to a person that has never been exposed to this menace or to someone who doesn’t know someone that has been exposed to it. This issue is much more than an annoyance or hassle to a person and may cause detrimental effects to society. The impacts that it brings to society are usually real and direct. Individuals exposed to this pay the price through emotional, psychological, mental, financial, and physical ordeals. We can thus look at the various impacts of this problem in society.
Racial profiling compromises the future of society (Jack, 2015). It is through children that parents and the society at large are able to fulfill various dreams they have in mind. Racial profiling has a long-lasting effect on children as they grow up. When racial profiling occurs through an institution such as the police department, children may not want to pursue a career such as being a police officer. This is because of what they have been exposed to by the system and they would not want to be associated with something that they may deem negative (Jack, 2015). Furthermore, as racial profiling takes its toll on the youth, it makes them be dysfunctional adults. For instance, when a youth is subjected to racial profiling, they become consumed with stress because of fear, they become stoic, youths become very cold and do not show their emotions easily especially fear and so forth (Jack, 2015). This will thus be translated into their entire social life as they grow into adults. Thus, because of this, they become terrible when it comes to negotiating jobs, negotiating loans, or any other thing that may be of importance in their lives. In short, society will be filled with individuals that are dysfunctional. As such, crime rates may increase because an individual may see committing a crime to be much easier than communicating to get a job.
Secondly, racial profiling creates mistrust of the institutions that are put in place in society (Jack, 2015). This is a scenario that develops in both adults and children in the society regarding key institutions like the police departments. When individuals develop a sense that they cannot trust the criminal justice system or the law enforcement institutions, it will be much difficult for the two to work together to ensure that every individual fulfills his/her mandate. Through racial profiling, public confidence is eroded in various institutions creating tensions and mistrusts. This is usually brought about by the fact that people may feel betrayed by the institutions that have vowed to protect them yet they are violating their constitutional rights in the process of protecting them (Jack, 2015). Other factors that bring about mistrust is when a person has been subjected to racial profiling, witnessed it, or because of the widespread perception that racial profiling exists in a given society.
Lastly, it leads to alienation and a diminished sense of citizenship (Jack, 2015). Racial profiling makes the individuals exposed to it to feel left out by society and made to feel like strangers in their societies. When an individual is racially profiled, they are made to feel less worthy or less equal to other members in the same society. This is because the experience of racial profiling is dehumanizing, humiliating, and very painful physically, emotionally, psychologically, and mentally (Jack, 2015). One thing about racial profiling is that even if an individual is successful, or outdo themselves in society, they will still be subjected to racial profiling because they are assumed to be an undesirable element of society making the to be even more distressed (Jack, 2015). With such a view, individuals feel like they are not part of a given society regardless of what they contribute or achieve in that society and this is very sad because people will constantly live in fear and anger towards their societies.
Stopping Racial Profiling
To successfully put an end to racial profiling, it is imperative that various societies employ various methods that will help. For instance, the institutions within a community should utilize a community engagement approach (Preventing and Countering Racial Profiling, n.d.). A community that constructively engages with law enforcers helps in coming up with policies that are non-discriminatory towards a given race. Through this approach, the communication between the community and law enforcers is relatively improved, awareness is raised among the agents of law enforcement on what the needs and the expectations of the racial, ethnic and religious members are (Preventing and Countering Racial Profiling, n.d.). This will in-turn help in reducing the rate of racial profiling thus re-establishing trust between the communities and the various institutions.
Secondly, data collection and analysis on the practices that are used by law enforcers like traffic stops, identity checks, and border searches to help reduce the rate of racial profiling (Preventing and Countering Racial Profiling, n.d.). While collecting this data, it is important to separate it completely from intelligence data. To ensure this, it is important that a comprehensive and predetermined legal framework is put in place. Moreover, while collecting the data, it should be in accordance with international human rights and fundamental freedoms (Preventing and Countering Racial Profiling, n.d.). Doing this will help in protecting the identities of people the data is collected from and also help in ensuring that racial profiling is reduced after the data is analyzed and conclusions drawn from the information.
Another method to help in reducing racial profiling is ensuring internal accountability (Preventing and Countering Racial Profiling, n.d.). To enable law enforcers to avoid indulging in racial profiling practices, it is important that the managers and supervisors implement various ways that will ensure accountability. This will facilitate the decision-making process among these individuals before indulging in any racial profiling acts (Preventing and Countering Racial Profiling, n.d.). They will know that they will be held responsible for deviating from any policies that are meant to reduce or prevent racial profiling in society. To effectively utilize this approach, managers and supervisors can conduct policy audits on their law enforcement agents by reviewing the policies that exist, practices, and operations that may facilitate to the patterns of racial profiling (Preventing and Countering Racial Profiling, n.d.). Due to increase supervision from seniors, law enforcement agents will be compelled to acts in accordance with every policy put in place.
Conclusion
Racial profiling is a serious issue that has been in existence for many decades. It is surprising to still witness and experience it in the new world. Racial profiling can be said to be a counterproductive way of policing because it creates more problems than coming up with solutions. Form the discussion, we have seen that it is brought about by various factors which are not limited to the ones discussed. Additionally, we have also seen the impacts that it has on a community as a whole and also the ways the community can prevent it from happening. Put a stop to this will reduce the diversity conflict that many society are witnessing and enable the society to prosper as a united entity.