Racial Profiling Is The Tragic Case Of George Floyd

Racial profiling has become a big issue in recent years, showing how biased our society can be. This practice involves targeting people for suspicion of crimes based on their race, ethnicity, or religion. It’s a form of discrimination that makes people lose trust in law enforcement and keeps social inequalities alive. To start off, one of the most well-known examples of racial profiling is the tragic case of George Floyd. In May 2020, Floyd, an African American man, was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest for allegedly using a counterfeit bill. The officer used excessive force, and the incident was captured on video, sparking nationwide protests and a global movement against racial injustice and police brutality.

Furthermore, another example is the case of Elijah McClain, a young black man who died after being stopped by police while walking home in Aurora, Colorado. Police responded to a call about a "suspicious person," and during the encounter, they used a chokehold on McClain, who later died in the hospital. This incident, like that of George Floyd, highlights how racial profiling can escalate to deadly force and shows the need for changes in police training and accountability.From a sociological perspective, racial profiling can be connected to concepts like prejudice, discrimination, and institutional racism. Prejudice involves having preconceived opinions about people based on their race or ethnicity, while discrimination refers to unfair treatment of these people based on those prejudices. Institutional racism happens when these discriminatory practices are part of the policies and practices of social institutions, including law enforcement agencies.Using racial profiling as an example, we can explore how societal structures keep inequality alive. Law enforcement agencies often justify profiling as a way to keep the public safe, but this reasoning is