Whether we
accept it or not, racial profiling within law enforcement is very prominent
these days and has been for many decades; this injustice is an issue that must
be dealt with head on and must not be overlooked and/or disregarded any longer,
as has been the case within media and politics in previous years. Racial
profiling within police procedures can be best defined through the American
Civil Liberties Union definition as “the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials
of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual's race,
ethnicity, religion or national origin”. This of course is more
prominent in metropolitan areas all over the U.S. where officials feel the need
to resort to racial profiling as a more “effective” means of warranting safety.
Perhaps one reason why this issue is not addressed on a more national scale is
because of the fallacious notion that this is merely an issue affecting
inner-city minorities typically consisting of the lower middle class. But upon
reading an interesting article on the Huffington Post website, published two
months ago, about how Obama determinedly led the fight against racial profiling
(back on his Illinois State Senator days), I felt the need to investigate
recent instances of racial profiling and discrimination not including common
civilians, but instead involving individuals within the institutions that
either administrate or enforce such behaviors.
The article on Obama’s previous proposed bill to tackle racial profiling effectively provides the president’s current stance and experiences on the matter, stating in his own words "I can recite the usual litany of petty slights that during my 45 years have been directed my way: security guards tailing me as I shop in department stores, white couples who toss me their car keys as I stand outside a restaurant waiting for the valet, police cars pulling me over for no apparent reason. . . Race and ethnicity is not an indicator of criminal activity". President Obama is not the only legislative official who has expressed concern and provided his accounts on having first handedly experienced racial profiling. State Representative Danny Davis says he was a victim of racial profiling stating in the Daily Herald Newspaper that he is now accusing two Chicago police officers of racial profiling after they pulled him over for ‘swerving’ through driving lanes (claims which he asserts are false).
It is naive at best, to believe that racial discrimination is non-existing in the United States today, an unfortunately it is commonly manifested through law enforcement officials. This is made evident in a recent article by The Associated Press that informs its audience that in Chicago an African American veteran Chicago police officer alleges that two fellow officers at the Elgin Police Department have used racial slurs and made jokes about the Ku Klux Klan, this statement according to a federal lawsuit that he filed last week. These types of cases prompt the question, If legislative officials and law enforcement officials cannot themselves avoid being victims of racial profiling and discrimination, what hope do we as common civilians have? As an American citizen of minority descent who has had these unfortunate experiences in the past, I can only assume that there is not a bright outlook on this issue.
Further readings and sources:
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