Black Criminal Stereotypes and Racial Profiling

How would you feel if you were innocent, but just because the color of your skin you were taking into police custody? This is considered racial profiling. Racial profiling is defined as the practice by the police of thinking that people of a particular race or color will behave in a particular way, especially that they will commit crimes (Cambridge Dictionary). Racial profiling is an ongoing event in society today. There are continuous arguments about racial profiling asking is it good policing or just the negative profiling due to racial stereotypes.

A landmark case Terry v. Ohio started the beginning of a proper stop and frisk. A stop and frisk is the policing practice of stopping a person briefly in order to search them for weapons or prohibited items (Oxford Dictionary). In order to do a stop and frisk there has to be probable cause of committing a crime. Everyday racial profiling is a very dangerous. In the black community there are so many incidents to speak about, the unjust killings, driving while black, stop and frisk and many more.

According to (Weatherspoon 2004) African-American males are targeted, stopped, and searched by law enforcement officials based on race and gender. Some law enforcement officers and just people in general view minorities as criminals. Racial profiling is more common than most people think. Minorities are judged and profiled as criminal based off everyday racial stereotypes. Nowadays, this is an everyday occurrence. Statistics say African-American/Black drivers are twice as likely (4.5% vs. 2.1%) to be arrested during a traffic stop. Being judged by the color of your skin should not be a factor in any criminal offense. Statistics also say at least 70 police departments in the United States arrest Blacks/African-Americans at 10 times the rate that they would arrest people who are not black. There is a disconnect between police officers and minorities communities. This is why society loses trust in the people that are supposed to protect and serve our country. Today, people are frightened when they are pulled over or even when there's a police officers in their presences. Some people have their opinions about minorities playing the race card, but when police officers take advantage of their power and use their authority as a weapon, minorities feel threatened. When they feel a vibe of being mistreated.

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