Black Men and Racial Profiling - Essay Example

Black Men and Racial Profiling Introduction That black men are ed to both physical and emotional humiliation is a tragic fact in the United States. According to a testimony given by Master Sergeant Rossano Gerald who is an African-American from the US Army, he faced utter humiliation in the hands of policemen in front of his twelve year old son, Gregory. When he was crossing the border from Arkansas, he was stopped by a highway state trooper although he was driving carefully. However, he was let go after given a warning that he was following another car too closely. A little later he was stopped by Trooper Perry on false charges of changing lanes. Perry demanded to search his car, and when the sergeant refused then Perry summoned a police dog to do sniffing around the outside of the car. Although the dog did not indicate any reason to suspect, Perry demanded to search the inside of his car. Perry again falsely accused Gerald of having a secret compartment in the car although it was only a footrest. He was then handcuffed, and his son along with the dog was put into a car for interrogation. After two hours when no evidence was found that he was carrying drugs, Gerald was released but not before his son experienced trauma for remaining in a car with a continuously barking dog. Due to this incident, Gerald’s car was damaged for which he had to spend $1,000. This incident is a blatant proof of how the blacks in America are treated, most of the times such extreme insults are inflicted for no apparent reason (Kops, 2006, pp.7-8). Defining racial profiling The above incident leads to the definition of racial profiling. The general belief that is incited by myriad news of events in the media where stories are told and retold is that minority groups are specifically subjected to misconduct by the policemen. Sergeant Gerald’s experience earned the interest of the Senate Committee in regard to their investigation of increasing racial discrimination in America. Racial profiling is defined as “a method that police and other law enforcement agencies use to catch someone who has committed a crime or is about to commit one” (Kops, 2006, p.9). The entire concept along with the term itself is controversial. According to common belief, racial profiling takes place when police apprehends someone for questioning without any concrete evidence. Such arrests are done mainly because of racial identity. However, this is a narrow description as it has a broader meaning. Racial profiling includes all such arrests or detainments that are done based on several factors one of which is race. Police can make arrests for several other reasons like the kind of dress the person is wearing, his or her age, the type of neighbourhood or even the time of the day. If this broader definition is considered, then racial profiling is an extremely common and regular activity of the police. According to an American lawyer, Randall Kennedy, “racial profiling occurs whenever police routinely use race as a negative signal that, along with an accumulation of other signals, causes an officer to react with suspicion” (Kops, 2006, pp.9-10). History in brief The history of racial profiling includes investigation of the roots which gave rise to racial profiling in America. The research dates back to 1992-1994 when James Ruiz who was a faculty of the Criminal Justice Department at the University of Southwest Louisiana. In order to prepare for his lectures he surfed through various newspaper articles during which he noticed certain patterns of arrests occurring through months which were not normal. Firstly, most of the arrests were made for benign causes like changing lanes or following a car too closely. Secondly, most of the arrests took place in the eastbound side of I-10. Thirdly, significantly very few arrests were made from Louisiana as majority of arrests were made from every other state. Fourthly, a large percentage of those who were arrested were Hispanic. The final observation was that most arrests were made by Criminal Patrol Unit. Ruiz was with the New Orleans Police Department and hence had the authority to regulate traffic in I-10. He has never experienced motorists violating rules like changing lanes or following others. Most traffic violations that happened were either reckless driving or driving in drunken state. Since traffic violation is one major reason that subjected cars to search by police, therefore the above observations attracted the attention of Ruiz. The excessive number of arrests made in I-10 forced him to believe that either people on that side were more prone to violate traffic rules or else they were subjected to racial discrimination. The police stationed at I-10 were mainly from Louisiana State and they used several tactics. They positioned themselves in the manner so that oncoming vehicles would slow down and can be easily visible so that they can identify vehicles from states other than Louisiana. They would then stop those vehicles that were driven by black people and would summon dogs to sniff the exterior of the car. If in no way police could find any reason to further harass the black drivers, then they would simply revert to waiting for their next victim (Ruiz et al., 2010, pp.405-407). Experiences of African Americans This section includes the data of a research study conducted on racial profiling. In depth interviews and focus group studies were conducted on 15 African-American men and women and their experiences will be shared here. Three major areas of experience i.e. shopping, employment, law enforcement and the Blacks in Topeka have been selected to give a broader picture of racial profiling in America. The participants shared their experiences of shopping. It is a common phenomenon whenever they walk into a store, they are carefully watched. Some of them make sure not to carry big purses so as to avoid being followed around. The store folks pretend to be over-friendly which actually is a disturbance as they cannot shop in peace. Some of the participants explained how they avoid going to some stores where they are specifically mistreated. Sometimes they experience blatant discretion, for instance, one of the participants said how after buying pretzels she asked for separate bags but was refused and was threatened to be thrown out by security. At the same time the White customers were getting separate bags for their pretzels. It is clear that the White customers remain unaware of their privileged status in stores while Blacks are always followed or harassed since they are viewed with suspicion. Then there is discrimination present even in employment screening process as well as once employed. Majority of African-Americans occupy jobs with lower salaries and diminutive positions than the Whites. In order to keep away the Blacks, various methods of screening are applied like skills and language testing. Some common excuses for denying job opportunities to the Blacks are laziness and inability to connect with customers. One participant shared his experience how he applied for a job to polish and wash cars, but was always denied although someone was needed for the job. Most of the times during his search for job his application was taken but was not eventually offered any job. Another participant stated how he was removed from his position after his company was taken over by another company from another state even though he was perfectly competent for the position and had years of experience. For law enforcement agencies, Black men are most of the times subjects of undue harassment. While driving a car, if one is dark skinned then that is reason enough for police to sustain, detain or search their cars. This stereotypical perception of police is termed as “white policing syndrome” which includes the regular manner by which police view and treat the Blacks in local communities. One participant’s keys were once locked inside the car and he tried to retrieve it with a coat hanger. Instantly two squad cars arrived and asked him whether he owned the car. The police continued to harass him instead of helping him to retrieve the keys. Finally, a Black female office drove up to help him. This research has clearly depicted the extent of discrimination that Black people experience in America. In Topeka, Blacks face even more discrimination. The Whites stare at them as if they have never seen Black people. Since discrimination is not easy to prove in Topeka so law is not designed to deal with it (Birzer & Smith-Mahd., 2006, pp.26-32). Conclusion The major reason behind such rampant racial profiling by police is that high percentage of African-Americans is inclined towards criminal activities. Several reasons have been attributed for this like poverty and unemployment, both of which are common problems among the African-Americans. Since the duty of police and other law enforcement agencies does not include tackling of social problems, hence they are only concerned with ensuring that people do not break the law. Majority of them believe that racial profiling is a fruitful way of reducing crime in the country. During 2000 Presidential election it was declared by both parties that racial profiling needs to be curbed; a thought that had been shared by majority of Americans. The scenario however changed after September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks conducted by nineteen Muslim Arab men which killed almost three thousand people. Since then the law enforcement officials have been looking for terrorists by searching all commuters in airports and subways. Although, every US city along with Transportation Security Administration oppose racial profiling, many Americans support its implementation (Kops, 2006, pp.10-12). References Birzer, M., & Smith-Mahd, J. (2006). Does Race Matter? The Phenomenology of Discrimination Experienced among African Americans. Journal of African American Studies, 10(2), 22-37 The academic journal written by Michael L. Birzer and Jackquice Smith-Mahdi is a qualitative phenomenological study that deals with discrimination faced by African Americans, as perceived by them. Focus groups and in-depth interviews are being used here. It portrays the struggle of everyday life of the black people against racial profiling and also paints a picture of their emotional conditions related to it. Deborah Kops, D. (2006). Racial Profiling. New York: Marshall Cavendish The book written by Deborah Kops mainly concentrates on the controversy surrounding racial profiling in America. It also includes a look at the criminal profiles and the initiatives taken by the U.S. government right from World War II to this age where every nation is trying to protect their people from terrorist attacks. It has been written with the help of many scholarly opinions and statistics. Ruiz, J., Julseth, J.W. & Winters, K.H. (2010). Profiling, Cajun style: the FBI investigation? International Journal of Police Science and Management, 12(3), 401-425 The academic journal selected here is written by James Ruiz (an associate professor in the School of Public Affairs at Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg, for criminal justice), Jason W. Julseth (Masters in criminal justice from The Pennsylvania State University- Harrisburg; also serving south Central Pennsylvania as a full time police officer, a member of the Cumberland County Special Response Team) and Kathleen H. Winters (Ph.D. candidate at The Ohio State University in the Department of Political Science). This article reviews a reactive investigation carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into accusations of profiling. Read More