Benitez1

LeslieBenitez
Prof.Malvin
Engl114B
30April2015
OneWorld,DifferentColours
Racismanddiscriminationhasbeenabigissueinmanycommunities.Weseeracismall
overtoday,inmanycasesalthoughitmaynotseemlikeit,whenpeoplearebeingtreatedbad
becauseoftheircolororwhentheyareraciallyprofiledbythewaythelookoract.Racial
profilinghasbeenabigissue,almosteverybodyonceintheirlifehasracialprofiledaperson.
Racialprofilingcanbeseenanywhereinschools,withpoliceinmediaandallovertheworld.
Thisshouldchangebecauseiteffectsonhowpeopleviewothersandarequicktojudgebasedon
theirraceandhowsocietycategorizesthem.
Racialprofilingisaseriousproblemthatcancausealotofdamage,notphysicallybut
sentimentally.Therearepeoplewhoarejudgedbytheircolorortheirrace.Someareseenas
somethingtheyarenot,sincesocietyalreadycategorizesallpeoplefromthesameracetobethe
same.Forexamplewhensomebodyseesablackmale,theyfeelthreatenedorscaredsincethey
areseenasbadpeople.Whereasifapersonsawsomebodywhitetheywouldntworrysincethey
arenotseenasbadinfluenceinsociety.Racialprofilingsomeonecancauseapersontofeel
judged.Itissadtoseepeoplewhojudgeothersbytheirraceanddontgivethemtheopportunity
tometthemtheyarejustquicktojudge.Itseemsnormalnowsinceithasbecomeverycommon
toraciallyprofilesomeone.InthebookAlwaysRunningbyLuisJRodriguezitsaysIfyou

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camefromtheHills,youwerelabeledfromthestart(84).Howdoessomebodygetlabeledby
wheretheycamefrom.Thatiswhathappensinmanycases,allovertheworldeveninschools
howitmentionsinthebook,studentsarebeingplacedinclasseswheretheybelongandnot
giventheopportunitytobeinhighereducationclasses.Alsoweseethishappeninthebook
TwilightbyAnnaDeavereSmith,inoneofthestoriesitmentionsSoIgrewupwithallthis
richstuffathome,andthenatschoolfirstgrade,theystartedtellingmeIwasinferiorbecauseI
wasMexican(2).Thislowerstheopportunityforkidstolearnnewthingssincetheygetpushed
tothesideorarejudgedsinceschoolsseesthatcertainraceasafailure.Allpeoplechildren
shouldhavethesameopportunitytogetthesameleveleducationaseverybody.Racialprofiling
hasreallyaffectedeverythingeveninschoolsasseenhere.
Racialprofilingalsoleadstopolicebrutalityandarrests.Iftherewasahispanicanda
whiteguywheretherewasacrimecommittedpolicewouldbequicktothinkthatthehispanic
diditsincetheyareraciallyprofiledasstealerscomparedtoawhiteperson.Althoughthereare
studiesthatshowthatwhitecommitalmostthesamepercentagesofcrimesasotherraces,people
stilldon'tjudgethembythesimplereasonthattheyarewhite.Therehasalsobeencaseswhere
policeraciallyprofileapersonandstopthem.InmychicanoclassIhaveseenvideoswhere
hispanicsarestoppedforsimplereasonsandendupbeinginjailforsomethingthatifanother
racedidtheywouldjustendupwithaticket.Alsomanyblacksarestoppedforthesamereason,
becausetheyareraciallyprofiled.Inthearticle
PoliceBrutality:ExcessiveForceandRacial
ProfilingitmentionsThetermdrivingwhileblackisaformofracialprofilingwherelaw
enforcementofficersaremorelikelytostopanAfricanAmericanundersuspicionofpossible

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criminalactivity.Arizonasstrictimmigrationlawhasallowedlawenforcementofficersto
detain,harassandarrestanyHispanicunderthesuspicionthattheymaybeanillegalimmigrant.
Thesecasesarenotfewandfarbetween,withHispanicsandAfricanAmericansfacingahigher
chanceofbeingstoppedandfrisked,thantheirWhitecounterparts.Thisdemonstrateshow
hispanicsareblacksaretargetedjustbecauseoftheirraceandareraciallyprofiledwhenpolice
stopthemassumingtheyareacertainrace.Justthefactthattheystopapersonbecauseoftheir
racemakesothersangryandcausesthemtoactviolentlytowardspolicewhichcausepoliceto
actviolentlyaswell.
EvenMuslimsarealsoraciallyprofiledandseenasterrorist,whichissad
becausepeoplejudgearacebysomethingthatonepersonfromthatracedid.Policehave
stoppedandsearchedMuslimsbecausetheyareseenasathreat,whichcanbedisturbingfor
manyofthembecausetheyarebeingseenascriminalswhentheyhaven'tdoneanything.

Thisisalsoseenthroughmedia,manypeoplewhencruisingthroughLosAngelesthey
seebillboardsthatareracist.WhenIwasinEastLosAngeles,Icameupwithabillboardthat
hadablackcoupleanditsaidDoyoutrusther?andhadanumberforfreeHIVtesting.The
samedayIdrovebyanotherpartofEastL.A.andithadthesamebillboardbuttheyjustchanged
thewordstoDoyoutrusthim?buthadthesameAfricanAmericancouple.Ithoughtthatwas
reallyracistsincethemediaviewsAfricanAmericansasbad,theycouldhavesimplyjustputthe
numberforHIVtestingandnocouplesinceitisnotjustAfricanAmericansthatgetHIVbut
everyrace.Thatishowmediamakesusviewandincorporateracialprofilinginourlives.When

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weseethenewsorgointhesocialmediaweseehowpeopletalkaboutracesbadandthatmakes
otherslookatthoseraceshowmediaportraysthem.InmanycasesitisusuallyAfrican
AmericansandLatinos.Inthearticle
HowMediaHaveShapedOurPerceptionofRaceand
CrimeitsaysAnotherstudyfoundthatwhitesrepresented43%ofhomicidevictimsinthelocal
news,butonly13%ofhomicidevictimsincrimereports.Andwhileonly10%ofvictimsin
crimereportswerewhiteswhohadbeenvictimizedbyblacks,thesecrimesmadeup42%of
televisedcases.Thesedisparitiesexistnationwideandaregreatestwhenthevictim'sraceis
takenintoconsideration.Thisshowshowsometimesmedia,onlyshowswhatbenefitsthem,
andmakeotherraceslookinnocentandothersbad.Wecanseethatnewsalsoshowswhenwhite
areattackedbutwhenitistheotherwayaroundtheydon'tmentionitandthatiswhatcauses
peopletoriot,becausetheywanttobeheardandbetreatedthesame.

Althoughpeoplemayarguethatracialprofilingisagoodthing,somepeoplesayitis
necessarysincesometimespolicedoendupcatchingpeoplewhoarecommittingcrimes.For
example,inairports,ArabsandMuslimsarestoppedandcheckedsincetheyareviewedas
terroristafterthe9/11incident.Therehasbeencaseswherearabswerecaughtwithexplosivesin
theirshoesandthatiswhatincreasespolicetobemorestrict.Butitisalsounfairtoaperson
whoisinnocentbecausetheyendupbeingtheoneswhosuffertheconsequences.Itistruethat
somehispanicsareinthiscountryillegally,blacksareknownforcommittingcrimesandother

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violentacts,andthatmuslimsareknownforterrorismbutthatdoesn'tmeantheyhavetobe
punishedwhentheyarestoppedjustbecausethepolicedon'twanttoadmittheystoppedthem
becauseoftheirrace.Policeusuallyneedareasontostopapersonandtheyfindthesmallest
thingsjusttostopsomeonewhotheyracialprofile.Inthearticle
InterimReportExaminesRacial
ProfilingIssueInConnecticutitmentioned

Eventhoughblacksmakeuponly7.9percentofthe
statepopulation,theyaccountedformorethan14percentoftrafficstops.Hispanics,whichare
now9.7percentofthisstatespopulation,madeup11.8percentofalltrafficstops.Thereis
evidencethatshowscertainpeopleracehavebeenstopped,whethertheywereinnocentornot.
Racialprofilingcanbeseenasgoodtomanybutthosepeopleprobablydon'tsufferthe
consequencesthatothersdo.Onemustbeinothersshoestounderstandtheirissue,butsociety
hasshapedotherstojudgejustbytheircover.

Overallracialprofilinghasbecomesocommon,thatpeopleareusedtodoingitthinking
itisnormal,althoughtherearesomepeoplewhoargueracialprofilingisgoodandnecessary.I
wouldadmitIhaveracialprofiledaperson,andmanypeopledoitwithoutnoticingwhichis
whatmanyothersmightdoaswell.Itisatoughissuethatishardtochangesinceweareusedto
italreadybutitispossible.ThisaffectsmanycommunitiesinLosAngelesandallovertheworld
becausetheyareputinsituationsthattheyarebeingtreatedlessthanothers.Thisiswhatalso
causepeopletoturnviolentandcauseotherproblems.Ifpeoplewerealltreatedthesamehowit
issupposetobeIthinktherewouldn'tbemuchproblems,asweseeinmediaandinsociety.

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Raceissomethingthatshouldn'tmatterbecauseitdoesn'tdefinewhoapersonis,itisjusta
culturethattheyarepartofbutthatdoesn'tmeantheyhavethesamecharacteristicsandbehavior
ofallpeopleinthatrace.

EvaluationLetter
30April2015
DearProf.Malvin,
Writingthisessaywasabitdifficultinwheretotakeastandsincewehadtochoseatopicand
therearemanyissuesthatarepresentinthebookTwilightbyAnnaDeavereSmithandAlways
RunningbyLuisJRodriguez.AtfirstIwasconfused,IwantedtowriteaboutGangInfluence
andImpactandatthesametimeIwantedtowriteaboutpolicetacticsbutIendedwritingabout
RacialProfilingandhowitaffectsus.WhilewritingthisessayIfounditabitconfusingsince
racialprofilingisabroadtopic,butInarroweditdowntoracialprofilinginmanyplaceslike
school,withpoliceandinmedia.Afterthatitwaseasiertotalkaboutracialprofiling,itwas
interestingbecauseIlearnednewthingsabouthowracialprofilingaffectsothers.Ipersonally
haveracialprofiledapersonandIneverknewhowcommonitseemssincesocietyhasracial
profiledseemassomethingthatisnormal.Ithinkmystrengthswereinexplaininghowracial
profiledisviewedinsocietyandhowpeoplejudgeothersbytheirrace.Myweaknesswasin
makingtheparagraphslongenoughtomakemyessaythepagelengthrequiredbutIdidfinish,
althoughIstruggledabit.IamnotsurewhatgradeIwoulddeservebutIwouldsayaBbecause
IfeelIexpressedandtalkedaboutthetopicbutIfeltabitrepetitive.OverallIamhopingfor
feedbackandhopeyouenjoyreadingthisessay.
Sincerely,
LeslieBenitez


WorksCited
"InterimReportExaminesRacialProfilingIssueInConnecticut."Courant.com.N.p.,n.d.
Web.01May2015.
"PoliceBrutality:ExcessiveForceandRacialProfiling."GuardianLibertyVoice.N.p.,
n.d.Web.01May2015.
Prince,Richard."HowMediaHaveShapedOurPerceptionofRaceandCrime."N.p.,
n.d.Web.01May2015.
Rodriguez,LuisJ."Chapter4."AlwaysRunning:LaVidaLoca,GangDaysinL.A.
Willimantic,CT:Curbstone,1993.84.Print.
Smith,AnnaDeavere."MyEnemy."TwilightLosAngeles,1992ontheRoad:ASearch
forAmericanCharacter.NewYork:Anchor,1994.2.Print.

HereisapictureItookofthebillboardIfoundinEastL.A.mentionedintheessay.