Crime-- Getting Caught vs. Being Sought Out

Crime (krīm) noun: An action or omission that constitutes an offense that may be prosecuted by the state and is punishable by law. The common reasoning younger generations have with commiting crimes varies, but one common message isn't new to younger folks either. "It's not a crime, if you don't get caught." 

Yes, if someone is not caught committing an offense to the government, he or she cannot be punished by the law. I never knew how much this definition and this assumption could have much of an impact on statistics. My judgement on this saying and definition has changed over the past couple years at NIU, mostly because I am more aware of the different racial issues I have heard of on a a more personal level. With that being said, all of these news articles and stories I have read and heard are now something that has me questioning, "What if the only reason a specific type of race is always being blamed, is because they are only checking this ONE race?"

I went to a leadership summit this past semester that spoke about the differences in ethnicities and cultures. One this that struck me was when one of my fellow classmates spoke about his time growing up in DeKalb. He spoke of how when he was sixteen, he was racially profiled for the first time after moving here from Elgin. At first he said he was unsure of why he was pulled over and in the back of his mind he knew he was being profiled. He forwarded his story about five years and spoke of a party he threw that was shut down by cops. There he asked a police officer what was itching in his mind for quite a while. 

"What would you think of a black man my age driving a Bugatti," he asked.

"A drug dealer, "the police officer responded.

"Now what would you think of a white man my age driving that same vehicle," he asked as a follow up. 

"Some spoiled rich kid," The officer had replied. When describing this police officer, he described this

The conversation my fellow classmate had shared with us shocked me for various reasons. One reason in particular really struck me. 

The fact that racial profiling is institutionalized in today's society is what really left me speechless. When I say institutionalized, I mean to say that it is engrained in our society to a point where we often don't question why it is okay for some one to act a certain way, or behave a certain way either. What got me thinking further, was the fact that this police officer knew very well what his answer would be. If these law enforces are checking up on crime, somewhere down the line, the statistics of colored people being pulled over for reasonable suspicion will most definitely cause more of an increase in crime rate for their demographic

This racial profiling was mentioned once again recently on CNN.com. 

Two high profiled couples, Cherie Johnson and Dennis White, were pulled over in South Carolina, after hosting an acting workshop in North Carolina. This couple was pulled over, and felt as if they were in harm due to how the police officer was treating them. This couple had been racially profiled before, but what really struck them was the reaction people had given them after hearing their story. They mentioned that  One thing that hurt the couple was the fact that people were not surprised with how they were treated. This couple was pulled over on account of them having suspicious illegal drug activity. The irony of this is, according to CNN, Johnson was the national cheer representative for the Just Say No to Drugs campaign in the '80s.

My classmate, Johnson, and White all are of African descent. It is without question that all three of them had been pulled over for one common thing. They are black. It didn't matter who they were, where they came from, or their social status. It didn't matter that they were even in the same state. All that mattered was they were potentially seen as criminals because of their skin color. 

The crackdown on crime has been starting to get more organized and specific. I understand that crime at all costs should be investigated and taken care of, I just question if the statistics are because our government is seeking out these specific races. Although crime rates are statistical evidence, I do question how bias these law enforcers are when handling the law. This definition of crime, offending the law and being punished is most definitely an accurate definition. The assumption that it's not a crime unless you are caught is an accurate assumption as well. These statistics can be manipulated, based on what is institutionalized by the government.