The Argumentative Racial Profiling

Let’s compare coloreds in the justice system vs. whites in the justice system. When it comes to the justice system punishing coloreds, the punishment itself is different from white’s punishment. I know this may sound a little cruel, but hey racism is cruel. The question remains whether these statistics come from racism in the criminal justice system or from other causes. Social scientists and politicians have argued about this question for decades. African Americans accounted for more than a third of the arrests in 2010 for violent crimes. More than 90 percent of all criminal cases never go to trial. The defendant pleads guilty, often after the prosecutor and defense attorney negotiate. The hate that is shown from police towards the black community is beyond crazy. Why do we have been targeted because of our color? Why do we have to go through so much with the police and the system that other races don’t? Why are we hated so much because of our color? There’s nothing different from us than any other races but the color of our skin.

Why you should stop saying “all lives matter,”?

It’s a common conversation these days: One person says, “Black lives matter.” Then another responds, “No, all lives matter.” It’s also a complete misunderstanding of what the phrase “black lives matter” means. The person on the receiving end interprets the phrase as “black lives matter more than any other lives.” But the point of Black Lives Matter isn't to suggest that black lives should be or are more important than all other lives. Instead, it’s simply pointing out that black people's lives are relatively undervalued in the US — and more likely to be ended by police — and the country needs to recognize that inequity to bring an end to it. Of course, all lives matter. Central to Unitarian Universalism is the affirmation of the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Sadly, our society has a long history of treating some people as less valuable than others. Study after study has confirmed that in equivalent situations, African Americans and Latinos are treated with deadly force far more often than White people, and authorities held less accountable. Unfortunately, racial bias continues to exist even when it is no longer conscious—this too is confirmed by multiple studies. A lack of accountability in the use of force combined with unconscious bias is too often a deadly combination – and one that could place police officers, as well as the public, in great danger.

To say that Black lives matter is not to say that other lives do not; indeed, it is quite the reverse—it is to recognize that all lives do matter, and to acknowledge that African Americans are often targeted unfairly (witness the number of African Americans accosted daily for no reason other than walking through a White neighborhood—including some, like young Trayvon Martin, who lost their lives) and that our society is not yet so advanced as to have become truly color blind. This means that many people of goodwill face the hard task of recognizing that these societal ills continue to exist, and that White privilege continues to exist, even though we wish it didn’t and would not have asked for it. I certainly agree that no loving God would judge anyone by skin color. Black lives did not matter when they were inhumanely transported like livestock from Africa. Black lives did not matter when they were lynched by the hundreds at the hands of the KKK. Black lives did not matter when they were attacked by dogs as they protested for equal rights. With the weekly news cycle seeming to, without fail, include the death of at least one black boy at the hands of the police, or the body of a black woman being thrown to the ground by local law enforcement, or a black child being manhandled by the services meant to protect them, my heart sinks as I cling to the desire that black lives will matter.

Let’s not leave out the Black females that are killed in the hands of police. Sandra Bland, the 28-year old Black woman from Naperville, Illinois who was arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer during a traffic stop in Waller County, Texas on July 10 and was found dead in a jail cell three days later, is the latest victim of police brutality against African American women, says Columbia Law School Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, a leading authority on how law and society are shaped by race and gender.

In honor of Bland, and to continue to call attention to violence against Black women in the U.S., the African American Policy Forum, the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies at Columbia Law School, and Andrea Ritchie, Soros Justice Fellow and expert on policing of women and LGBT people of color, have updated a report first issued in May, 2015, “Say Her Name: Resisting Police Brutality Against Black Women.” The new version includes the circumstances around Bland’s suspicious death—which is being investigated by the Texas Rangers in coordination with the FBI—and documents stories of Black women who have been killed by police, shining a spotlight on forms of police brutality often experienced disproportionately by women of color.

Breonna Taylor was a young Black woman who was an EMT — an essential worker already risking her life during a pandemic. Yet we repeatedly witness evidence that the state does not protect or respect the people, especially Black women, risking their lives to save others. Essential workers are already facing dangerous conditions, with extremely limited protection equipment, low pay, often dangerous commutes to work, and then in turn endangering their families. That Breonna was one of the latest casualties of state violence is profoundly painful.

Atatiana Jefferson, 28, had been living at the residence in Fort Worth, Texas with her eight-year-old nephew. A neighbor had called a non-emergency police number after growing concerned that her front door was open at night. Police have released body cam footage of the incident, which shows an officer shooting within seconds of seeing her. The officer was there after a request to check on her welfare.

How could we be such a target?

Police must measure their outcomes, encourage independent evaluations of their policies and tactics, and design experiments that rigorously test new ideas. I feel like sometime police really could abuse their authority. In most cases police brutality is being shown towards African Americans specially. Some of these guys go out here to the community with their fear on their sleeves, that shows and end up accidentally killing someone. If they aren’t killing, they are wrongly arresting or using excessive force that wasn’t needed. Police must notify a person of their Miranda right’s before taking them into custody or interpreting them. The same goes for minor’s, but with additional precautions and requirements for the Miranda warnings. If police fail the Miranda requirements, they will risk having a judge throw out any statements or admissions that the minor in custody might make. Racial profiling refers too discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials put targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual’s race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin. An example of racial profiling includes the use of recess to determine that drivers to stop for minor traffic violations or the race to determine, which pedestrians to search for illegal contraband. Many racial profiling victims walk away with traffic violations, but too often for other the outcome racial profiling is death.

Botham Jean

Amber Guyger killed an unarmed black man Botham Jean in the apartment on a different floor from hers. An off-duty officer in Dallas said she came home from work one-night last year and believing. She found an intruder inside her apartment, shot the man inside. Soon it became clear that the officer Amber Guyger who is white was in the wrong apartment. Botham Jean 26 years old was not an intruder but was Amber’s neighbor. Jean was a black accountant who was watching television and eating ice cream when Amber came in.

Trayvon Martin

Trayvon Martin was an unarmed African American 17 years old killed by George Zimmerman on February 26,2012. Martin had no criminal record when he was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch member. Zimmerman’s initial release and later arrest sparked a national debate over racial profiling and the role of armed neighborhood watch members in law enforcement. Later released video footage of Martin shipping for treats in 7-11 showed no criminal or aggressive behavior.

Michael Brown

Michael Brown was 18 years old when he died at the hands of former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. Michael Brown (Ferguson, Missouri), and others have caused many people to ask whether or not there exists within the police culture a “warrior mindset. “The “Black Lives Matter” movement was created to campaign against violence toward black people, organize protests in the aftermath of the deaths of black people in killings by law enforcement officers, and address the broader issues of racial profiling, police brutality, and racial inequality.

Although the following cases above involves police wrongfully killing innocent citizens, the media plays a major part in these cases as well. The media could really blow things out of proportion and make it seem like cops address wrong every time. We have people saying that cops edit videos to make it look good, delete body cameras, etc.

Note that I’ve mentioned what police do wrong let’s dive into the court specially. When you look at a white murder vs African American murder, what do you see? I personally feel as though the courts could sometimes be a little on the racist side. No, I’m not saying that based off the media, family or friends. However, based off the research I’ve done, White males that has committed the same exact crime as African American males get off with probation/parole. Meanwhile, the African American male has life and will be executed. Marcus Robinson.

Mr. Robinson was convicted of robbery and murder and sentenced to death in North Carolina in 1994. Many years after his conviction, North Carolina passed a unique piece of legislation: The Racial Justice Act. The Racial Justice Act allowed those sentenced to death to challenge the legality of their sentence if they could prove that systemic racial discrimination was the reason a death sentence was sought or imposed in their geographic area. Typically, a defendant would have to show clear evidence of racial discrimination in his or her individual case, which is a very high burden to clear, so the Racial Justice Act made it more feasible that a defendant could meet the burden of proof necessary to demonstrate discrimination. Mr. Robinson became the first condemned prisoner to file a claim under the Racial Justice Act. After a thirteen-day hearing, which included seven expert witness and 170 exhibits, the court that heard Mr. Robinson’s Racial Justice Act appeal found that “race was a significant factor at the time of Mr. Robinson’s trial under the [Racial Justice Act] statute” and that Mr. Robinson successfully met the burden of proof to demonstrate racial discrimination.

Accordingly, as mandated under the Act, the court removed Mr. Robinson from death row and resentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Almost exactly one year after this decision was handed down, however, the North Carolina General Assembly repealed the Racial Justice Act and the State asked that Mr. Robinson have his death sentence reinstated. Mr. Robinson has had to fight for the State to recognize, despite the repeal of the Racial Justice Act, that the discrimination he experienced was and remains unconstitutional and unacceptable. The courts have, however, said that Mr. Robinson can no longer make claims under the Racial Justice Act, have refused to address his constitutional claims, citing procedural barriers, and have withheld the opportunity for Mr. Robinson to address these wrongs. The amicus brief points out that “denying access to the courts delivers another blow to defendants’ Constitutional rights.” Oversight of prosecutorial actions is the sole provenance of the courts. Thus, not only has Mr. Robinson been the subject of prosecutorial neglect, but he will also have “no mechanism for reviewing and remedying” that neglect if the Court fails to step in.

As shown above, the exclusion people of color from juries has seriously undermined the credibility and reliability of the criminal justice system. Therefore, there is an urgent need to end this problem. While courts sometimes have attempted to steal the problem of discriminatory Judy selection, in the hope for change in many cases today we continue to see indifference to racial bias. This racial and ethnic divide its most apparent when it comes to police officers treating all racial and ethnic groups equally. Whites are more likely than both Hispanics and Black Americans to express positive views of police officers. White Americans may not understand how being not white in white dominant spaces may incur unwanted contact with police officers.

Police need human intelligence instead of having the “Us vs Them” mindset. Communities that believe they are regularly targeted because of their race, are more likely to not comply with officers. Why? Not because we are being disobedient, but because we are simply scared. Police expect certain things from us citizens and we expect the same thing back. Police must change their behaviors in order to cease the fact that they don’t act because of the persons color. Police needed public’s trust to function effectively, however officers and departments must prioritize earning our trust.

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