Again and again, America has witnessed the tragedies resulting from the controversial burgeoning of racial profiling. Videos and articles stream the media depicting the horrifying counts of racism and police brutality. This arousal has thus provoked an outcry among minority activists for the reevaluation and reconsideration of racial profiling in law enforcement. Wilbur R. Miller writes that disrespect and police brutality is excessively common among minorities and lower-income homes (123), and as minority populations continue rising, the need for social reform is more essential than ever before.
It is necessary that the rudiments of racial profiling is addressed prior to a proper evaluation of the practice. According to Fred C. Pampel, “Racial
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Although the 13th amendment abolished slavery within the United States in 1865, oppression among African Americans still continues far more inconspicuously today. Racial profiling is merely one of the many injustices in which African Americans face in the modern world. While found in the most extreme cases during police encounters, racial profiling is most frequently observed in the general public. Pampel blames stereotypes for falsely labeling minorities as “involved in drugs, crime, illegal immigration, or terrorism” (4). The widespread view that African Americans are threatening and untrustworthy, whether or not recognized consciously, produces a hasty environment in which corruption can …show more content…
Racial profiling elicits a multitude of social and safety issues, explains Pampel. The practice is a violation of constitutional rights, it deteriorates police/community relations, and it provokes an increase in violence. These concerns have led many states to work towards banning the practice (4). The clearest aspect of racial profiling’s violation of rights is its disregard for the concept of innocent until proven guilty. While a majority of citizens inherit this basic right, police officers and society alike look more critically to African Americans. The mission of law enforcement is more or less to protect majority citizens and scrutinize minority citizens. Pampel sums up this approach by stating that the practice of racial profiling unfairly assumes all affiliates of a race to be suspects (4). Racial profiling is also a breach of the Fourth Amendment, which protects citizens from unreasonable search and seizure. As witnessed in many of the recent cases of police brutality, African Americans receive unproportionately high counts of violation. Viral videos have delineated searches and seizures as a result of minor contraventions, such as traffic stops and possession of firearms. The result of such defilement is no short of