Racial profiling have been done over the years by law enforcement officers although it has brought more harm than good to the community. It does not only hurt those involved in it but also harms the rest of society. When the issues of racial profiling are talked about by the members of a given community it usually elicits different reactions emanating from racial discrimination especially among and on people of color. It has led to utter animosity among the victims as they consider themselves being discriminated because of their origins and not crime.. Racial profiling can be defined as the discriminatory exercise used by the law enforcers in targeting people for suspicion of crime based on their race, religion or ethnicity. The law enforcers use a cluster of characteristics they think is associated with a given type of crime. The critical concern in this research is to answer the questions; what are people’s attitudes regarding racial profiling and view of the law enforcement officers?
The research project that I will do will explore the above questions by interviewing people from three races which include African Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans of the ages between 20 to 40 years. It will be held in Texas State in Dallas city. The research will utilize interview and source analysis as the primary methods of obtaining information on racial profiling over two months. The study will unearth the issues of racial profiling and how the victims are dealing with it.
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It is essential to research about racial profiling in contemporary society because cases of racial discrimination are on the rise despite America being in the twenty-first century. While the research is focused on the issues of racial profiling and the effects and laws that surround it little is known on what the government and other bodies are doing regarding the matter.
Literature Review
Harris (2017) explains the various aspects in which racial profiling occurs in law enforcement and the legal motivations and incentives that initiate it. Harris also describes the damage that racial profiling has done to people and society at large. The article also gives suggestions on how the issues can be combated. The report seeks to answer the research questions what harm does racial profiling bring, what is the cost of safety in the community? And what are the ways to combat it? Their findings include the need to eliminate the issue of profiling among the police because there is no evidence found that explain the importance of the act.
Weitzer and Tuch (2016) e xplore the citizens’ view on the issue of racial profiling, and they use a national survey on the citizens to obtain data. The research seeks to answers the question what are the citizen’s views on racial profiling? And what is the harm it causes among people within a community? The authors have utilized source analysis as an essential method of research. It has analyzed the national survey data on citizen’s views regarding racial profiling. The significant findings of the study indicate that race and personal experience are the factors that predict the attitude of racial profiling among blacks as used by the authors for case analysis.
Nadal et al. (2017) describe the general attitudes of the community regarding law enforcement and police bias on race the research used open-ended questionnaires to get feedback from participants. It seeks to answer the questions Do people from diverse ethnic groups (e.g., Black, Latina/o, Asian, and White) have similar or different perceptions of police? Does age influence individuals' perceptions of police? Do women and men have the same or different opinions of police? Does the interaction of gender and race influence individuals' perceptions of police? How do people react when they perceive that they are illegally stopped, questioned, and frisked by police officers? The participants who are the African Americans, Asian Americans, whites and Latinos also filled in the perceptions of police scale (POPS) to measure their attitudes towards law enforcement and police bias. The research findings indicate that blacks are more likely to view police negatively than the other people who participated.
Jones (2018) seeks to answer the question “How, in a democratic society, can widespread detentions and the subjugation of human beings happen so commonly?” The method of research is source analysis, and the findings indicate that racial inequality leads to political hostility among people of different races. It also explains that there is need to view the whites as potential spoilers to the justice system and target the African American people. Another finding is that there is a need to see mass criminalization as an urgent case that makes everyone think of criminal justice system reforms.
Pundik (2017) in his article uses a case scenario to examine the issue of racial profiling. The report utilizes the case of a black young man with a swollen pocket, the swollen pocket draws the attention of the police and the officer contemplates on whether to stop and search him because black men are known to be carrying an illegal firearm. The research seeks to answer the question “Should the police officer be instructed to take this information into account?”(Pundik, 2017) The method used in the study is a case study and source analysis. The findings indicate that racial profiling creates tension that needs to be investigated and that it puts adults in a position where they are equated to children and cannot be responsible.
Dunn (2017) in his article "Racial Profiling: A Persistent Civil Rights Challenge Even in the Twenty-First century” explores a series of cases where African Americans have been shot and killed by police on assumptions that are thought to be racial bias. The author explains that excessive and harmful force is also done based on racial profiling by the police. The research question is “what is the appropriate measure or ‘ benchmark ’ against which to compare the number of traffic citations or stops for each group?”(Dunn, 2017) The research method used is observation survey done on eight states. Findings indicate that police officers notice African Americans in traffic offenses more than other races an issue that depicts racial profiling.
In review of the articles above one notices that the most common aspect of racial profiling among people of color specifically the African Americans. The authors explain a shared concern that racial profiling not only hurt individual victims but also harms society at large. They also acknowledge that it creates hatred among people of color and the whites in a community and negative attitude towards law enforcement officers. In this regard, they suggest a restructuring of the criminal justice system is needed to curb the issues of racial profiling. The message that they convey about how people study the topic is that there is more use of surveys and interviews regarding obtaining the information followed by source analysis.
My research will contribute to this scholarly conversation by giving an analysis on the prevalence of racial profiling, describe the laws if any that are concerned with the issue of racial profiling and how they have been affected or not. Similarly, I will demystify if it is a case of white and black race issue or otherwise. I will also contribute by describing if it is an excellent way to counter terrorism within a given region or community.
Research design and methods
The goals of my research include;
-To establish the true meaning of racial profiling
- To determine its prevalence among people in America
-To ascertain it is an excellent tool to counter-terrorism activities
- To verify if it is a white and black issue or it goes beyond it.
-To know whether there are laws that counter racial profiling
The methods that I will use are interviews and content analysis. Firstly, I opt to use interviews because it provides the best way to express personal sentiments and perceptions by the participants. Also, it allows room for more questions regarding the topic to ask by both the interviewee and interviewer. It also brings out a human touch on impersonal information, the interviewee's opinion cannot be distorted and first-hand data is obtained. I will also use content analysis because it enables me to compare notes with other authors and ascertain similarities and differences.
I will be using interviews to gather data in my research, and the following questions will be used;
What is your perception of racial profiling?
Have you ever experienced it?
What harm do you think it can cause to people in a community
Do you think it helps counter-terrorism?
What is your perception of law enforcement officers?
Are they biased in their work? If yes how?
Do you think there are individual races that fall, victims of profiling, than others?
Does age influence individuals’ perceptions of police?
Do women and men have similar or different perceptions of police?
Does the interaction of gender and race influence individuals’ perceptions of police?
How do people react when they perceive that they are illegally stopped, questioned, and frisked by police officers?
The variables that I plan to look at is the attitude (dependent variable ) of people regarding race profiling and their view (Independent variable) on police as law enforcement officers.
The data that I intend to gather is qualitative .
My sample is from African America, Asian American, and Latinos who are between the ages of 20 to 40 years old. I chose the three races because they are among the majority of immigrant races in America and they will, therefore, give me a good representation of people of color. Similarly, they are among the groups who face racial profiling on several occasions. I chose the age of 20 to 40 years because they are among the young people who in most cases are convicted of criminal activities. The schedule and timeline for my research are that it will take six weeks. I will gather the data through interviews that will be carried out in the first three weeks of the study where each week will be dedicated to one race. After that, a week to organize data in preparation for analysis and then one week for analysis and interpretation.
The logistics will entail locating the sample by inviting people to participate in the interview, selecting those who will be will and then scheduling dates for the meetings. Before the time of interview permission will be sought from relevant authorities and consent forms sent to the participants in advance before the interview date.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is essential to note that racial profiling is an issue that is still in existence in the twenty-first century. It is the use of discriminatory practices by the law enforcers in targeting people for suspicion of crime based on their race, religion or ethnicity. The police cluster-specific features of a crime to be related to a given sport. For instance, it is presumed that African Americans are prone to an illegal carrying firearms and therefore every African American becomes a victim of racial profiling based on this characteristic. The research questions that seeks to be answered is; what are people’s attitudes regarding racial profiling and view of the law enforcement officers? Other scholars have handled various items; a shared concern that racial profiling not only hurt individual victims but also harms the society at large. They also acknowledge that it creates hatred among people in a community and even the negative attitude towards law enforcement officers. In this regard, they suggest a review of the criminal justice system is needed to curb the issues of racial profiling. The holes that this research seeks to fill is that what is the attitude and perception of racial profiling among people from different races and to ascertain if profiling can be used to counter terrorism. It matters because people's opinion and attitude will be known and necessary positive measures to eliminate racial profiling can be implemented.
Références
Dunn, R. A. (2016). Racial Profiling: A Persistent Civil Rights Challenge Even in the Twenty-First Century. Case Western Reserve Law Review, 66(4), 957–992. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=115914028&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Glaser, J. (2015). Suspect race: Causes and consequences of racial profiling . Oxford University Press, USA.
Harris, D. A. (2017). Racial profiling.
Jones, E. (2018). The Profitability of Racism: Discriminatory Design in the Carceral State. University of Louisville Law Review, 57(1), 61–87. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=135480578&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Legewie, J. (2016). Racial profiling and use of force in police stops: How local events trigger periods of increased discrimination. American Journal of Sociology , 122 (2), 379-424.
Nadal, K. L., Davidoff, K. C., Allicock, N., Serpe, C. R., & Erazo, T. (2017). Perceptions of Police, Racial Profiling, and Psychological Outcomes: A Mixed Methodological Study. Journal of Social Issues, 73(4), 808 – 830. https://doi-org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1111/josi.12249
Pundik, A. (2017). Against Racial Profiling. University of Toronto Law Journal, 67(2), 175 – 205. https://doi-org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.3138/UTLJ.3883
Weitzer.R &Tuch S.A Perceptions Of Racial Profiling: Race, Class And Personal Experience retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ronald_Weitzer/publication/249470213_Perceptions_of_racial_profiling_Race_class_and_personal_experience/links/59db7dc10f7e9b2f587ff207/Perceptions-of-racial-profiling-Race-class-and-personal-experience.pdf
