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Taylor Willer
Mrs. Adams/Mr. Constable
American Studies Tri 3 Pd. 3
02 May 2016

Why Do We Feel the Need to Racially Profile People?

Imagine a friend getting pulled over and getting ticketed or arrested because of the color
of their skin or their race. Sadly that is the way society works now a days. Innocent people are
getting pulled over or arrested just because of their race. A group of students and the Recyouth at
Hansborough Recreation Center put together a great video on racial profiling. In this video we
hear two students share their stories with being racially profiled. They continue on to share how
they have also racially profiled people. The girl states It is easy to call ourselves a victim, but it
is hard to kinda look at ourselves as a like perpetrator, the who doing it to other people.
Reade(Racial Profiling PSA). When racially profiling someone we take away their right to be
free weather we mean to or not. If we would stop racially profiling people there could be less
violence. Racial Profiling is wrong and should not be used; the stereotypical criminal
does not actually exist anymore.

Racially profiling someone is saying someone did something because of their race or
color. An example would be a cop pulling someone over just because they are black. The issue
of racially profiling someone first came up in the 1980s. This was when being pulled over well
black first became national headlines (Rushing). Even though racial profiling started to become a
bigger known issue then, that is not when it started. Racially profiling was an issue before that
even though it was not known as an issue. In the 1700s blacks had to show a pass that said they
were allowed to travel off the plantation (Rushing). If they were free they had to carry their

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freedom papers around. If blacks were said to be runaways they would be physically beaten
(Rushing). Even though it does not seem like a big deal back then it turned into a big deal. It
planted the seed for racially profiling people. As stated before racially profiling did not really
come to

be a problem until the 1980s. This is when the federal government heightened focus

on involving the local police on arresting undocumented immigrants. This has caused all the
racial problems we have now (Rushing). Today black people are often pulled over or suspected
of criminal activities because of their data. In 2010 the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics indicated
that black males were imprisoned 7 times more than white males. That same study said that the
rate for black females was 3 times higher (Rushing). In 2009 the rate for blacks being arrested
was higher even though white males were more likely to be have drugs on them (Rushing). In
Figure 2 it is shown that the number of blacks stopped and searched in New York from 20042012 was almost doubled any other race(Associated Press). After what happened in Paris earlier
this year they too are also starting to racially profile people. Muslims are especially alarmed
after the attacks on Paris. They are now living in fear after these attacks because of the house
raids and random traffic stops. So far, police have done 3,200 house raids and put almost 400
people under house arrest (Faiola). Racial profiling is technically illegal in Europe but after the
attacks more police are starting to use it. At Berlins Tegel Airport this month a half a dozen
passengers, all who were dark skinned, were stopped and checked for passports(Faiola). Even
Iowa plays a part in racial profiling. Students on Iowa campuses find safe places in teachers
classrooms so they do not feel as outnumber or out of place as they do in other parts of the
campus. Administrators are trying to change this but are unable to succeed without the help of
other students(Hardy and Charis-Carlson. Not only is it happening on Iowa campuses but it is
happening in communities around Iowa. Dubuque just made an agreement with the U.S. HUD

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that they would house more african americans(The staff at
Woldcnews). America is supposed to be a country of freedom,
if people feel they are no longer able to live without being
watched we are no longer a country of freedom.
My opponent will be arguing that racial profiling in
necessary in life. Racial Profiling can help police arrest and
find criminals of a certain race. If the police knew the race of a criminal they are after then it
could be easier to find that criminal
or to narrow down the suspect pool.
Even though this is true they could be
putting innocent lives or people who
are not guilty in danger. Also by
allowing people to do this we as a
society would automatically be
putting everyone in that race into the
suspect pool. Another reason they
might argue is that racially profiling
is necessary to prevent gang violence.
Last year, there was a surge in
unaccompanied minors who crossed
the border into the United States. Many of
the young people were seeking refuge from widespread gang-related violence in Guatemala,
Honduras and El Salvador. (Chandler). There is no way to

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really tell whether someone is a gang member anymore. The stereotypical gang member does not
exist anymore (Chandler). Just guessing that a person with tattoos is a gang member is wrong, a
lot of people have tattoos. Overall these things could potentially help be they are not necessary.
Racial profiling is not necessary. When racially profiling
someone people are just making an assumption about that
person without getting to know them. Most people dont get to
know the person before judging them. Plus the stereotypical
terrorist doesnt exist anymore. Terror groups take people that
could fit into any race or group and have them do the attacks
(Board "Will Profiling Make a Difference?"). As figure 4 shows

cartoon of poster that shows how we racially profile people

because they look like a terrorist. It is the age of modern
time though, terrorist have learned how to have clean
people to do their dirty work and they have started using unsuspecting western planes to help do
these attacks. These screenings would just take more time and essentially be less effective. As
silly as it sounds we would be safer just screening random people weather it is an older lady in a
wheelchair or a young child (Board "Will Profiling Make a Difference?"). Racial Profiling is also
causing more problems than it is fixing. Think of the Michael Brown issue in Ferguson. That
caused so many protest and problems. When we have racial profile it overall causes more
problems than it fixes.
Even though there may be good reasons to racially profile it is still wrong and does not
really help. As stated earlier an example of the controversy around racial profiling is Ferguson.
Ferguson was big in the news because of the shooting and the racial profiling around it. However

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that is not the only town that racial profiling is happening. There are lots of towns and cities all
over the country. People get very defensive when it comes to racial profiling, they dont like the
idea that someone could judge people based on their skin color or their beliefs. Little do they
realize they probably do it themselves. As you can see in Figure 5 whites and blacks have
different opinions on weather we racially profile or not. Blacks believe that we have not reached
racially equality and yet 34% of whites believed we
have. Both whites and blacks can agree on one
thing, we will not reach racial equality in their
lifetime. Let us change that, we can end it, stop
looking at people for their skin color and start
looking at them as humans.

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Works Cited
Board, Editorial. "More Training and Police Consolidation Would Improve Racial..." St.
Louis Post-Dispatch. 03 Jun. 2015: A.16. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.
Board, Editorial. "Will Profiling Make a Difference?" Room for Debate. The New York
Times, 4 Jan. 2010. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.
Chandler, Michael Alison. "As Schools Try to Combat Gangs, Concerns Arise About
Profiling." Washington Post. 20 Dec. 2015: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.
Faiola, Anthony. "In a Fearful Europe, Racial Profiling Becomes More Common."
Washington Post. 16 Feb. 2016: A.1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.
Hardy, Kevin, and Jeff Charis-Carlson. "Iowa's Universities Tackle Racism Complaints."
The Des Monies Register. The Des Monies Register, 28 Feb. 2016. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.
Rushing, Keith. "Dissecting the Long, Deep Roots of Racial Profiling in America." The
Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 1 May 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.
Staff, Woldcnews. "Dubuque, Iowa Officials Admit To Housing Discrimination Against
Blacks." WOLAM 1450 Dubuque Iowa Officials Admit To Housing Discrimination
AgainstBlacks Comments. Interactive One, LLC, 15 Apr. 2014. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.
Images Cited
Figure 1: ProQuest Staff. "Hate Crimes Timeline." Leading Issues Timelines. 2016: n.p.
SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.
Figure 2: Goldstein, Joseph. "Judge Rejects New York's Stop-And-Frisk Policy." New
York Times. 13 Aug. 2013: A.1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.

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Figure 3: Green, Mark. When Paris Turned out Its Lights the Rest of the World Turned
Them on. Digital image. Fox 13 Salt Lake City. Fox 13, 14 Nov. 2015. Web. 30 Apr. 2016.
Figure 4: Lynderson, Kari. Unfair Treatment and Unkind Words. Digital image. Impact.
N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2016.
Figure 5: Bobo, Lawrence D., and others. "Enduring Two-Ness." Public Perspective.
May/June 2001: 12-16. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 30 Apr. 2016.
Videos Cited
Recyouth NYC. "Racial Profiling PSA." YouTube. YouTube, 19 July 2012. Web. 29 Apr.
2016.
Works Consulted
Alvarez, Lizette. "Florida Said to Ticket More Blacks on Seatbelts." New York Times. 28
Jan. 2016: A.16. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
Board, RT Editorial. "Black NYPD Cops Expose Climate of Rampant Racial Profiling in
Force." RT International. N.p., 24 Dec. 2014. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
Dutta, Sunil. "Not Race Alone." Los Angeles Times. 22 Nov. 2010: A.17. SIRS Issues
Researcher. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
Haq, Husna. "Is Facebook Engaging in Racial Profiling for Advertisers?." Christian
Science Monitor. 22 Mar. 2016: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher.Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
Kaenel, Rob Von. "Racial Profiling - A Pragmatic Approach." Sheriff. May/Jun 2011: 50.
SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
Simmons, Ann M. "Not Equal in Any Nation." Los Angeles Times. 08 Mar. 2016: A.2.
SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.