Topic 2
Racial profiling has had a profound effect on African Americans and minorities as seen in the Dateline episode. In the episode, reporters wanted to know if racial profiling was rampant throughout the country or if it was exaggerated. Over a 14-month investigation, a team of researchers combed through thousands of tickets across issued in several cities across the nation. They found that African Americans were ticketed more frequently than whites for non-traffic violations. Could this be from unnecessary targeting of African Americans by police? I believe so. But I also believe most officers feel they are just doing their job. All people, not just the police, make snap judgments about others based on various cues including a person’s demeanor and even their attire. Does this make it okay? No. That being said I do feel the episode did a great job of highlighting the points of views by both the police and African American community.
Interestingly, Weitzer and Tuch (2002) reviewed national data from the Gallup organization to examine racial profiling and public perception. The Gallup organization had conducted a national phone survey to gage racial profiling and public perception. They randomly contacted 2,006 participants between September 1999 and November 1999. Participants were asked questions regarding their attitudes towards racial profiling and attitudes towards the police. After analyzing the data, Weitzer and Tuch specifically focused on the phone data to the 903 white participants and 961 African American participants. Not surprisingly they found that “people who believe that they have been stopped because of their race were significantly more likely than were those who do not have this belief to express dissatisfaction with the police and to view profiling as a widespread practice” (Weitzer & Tuch, 2002, p. 449). Needless to say this data shows that racial profiling has been a continuous problem for several decades.
Weitzer, R., & Tuch, S. A. (2002). Perceptions of racial profiling: Race, class, and personal experience. Ciminology, 435-456.
Sample Solution