Roles Of Managers And Individuals Essays Example

Racial profiling is one of those terms that we hear, and we automatically think about a time that has passed. There are reflexive visions of black men being slammed around by groups of angry white police officers. It is quite the cliché, but that is one of those memories that repeatedly come to mind. We feel like that type of behavior happened in a period when race was a far more polarizing issue. Contrarily, racial profiling is still very much alive and well. Minorities and people of all sorts are profiled on a daily basis. Even in the news, when a person matching a certain kind of description is victimized, the reports automatically paint them in a negative light. If racial profiling is backed up by the media, then there is no reason for law enforcement to stop the practice.
First and foremost, racial profiling is based solely on assumptions. A person can assume that a young black male, dressed in baggy jeans and a baggy shirt, is automatically a criminal. Judging people by what they wear is something that is often done without a second thought. People rarely train themselves to look past the material things that define others. Baggy clothes seem to habitually denote criminal behavior or intentions. That is not always the case. What if the young man is impoverished and wearing the clothes of an older sibling? The manner of dress is aligned with a certain stereotype that has been perpetuated through music, television, and other modes of entertainment. Law enforcement officers tend to allow those assumptions to drive their judgements.
Those same images from the media also influence the view of the public. So, once the public feels threatened by that type of person, then profiling against them is supported. These completely innocent people can become the subjects of a witch-hunt, based off of their physical appearance. Of course people can adjust the way they dress, but a person should not have to do that. One thing that can’t be changed is the color of someone’s skin, and that’s unfortunately a major criterion for racial profiling. As ridiculous and unfair as it may be, skin color still carries more weight than we know. A complexion alone is not enough to label someone as a criminal, but it seems to be enough to cast a moderate amount of reasonable doubt.
In regards to self-fulfilling prophesies, they tend to come true based on what you are expecting to manifest. If you believe that an individual wearing a turban on their head is a terrorist, then you are going to treat them that way. If someone is being unfairly profiled, then they may start to act belligerent. And once that happens, it justifies and validates those biased assumptions. Once that action is reinforced, then the officer is more likely to carry on that exact same practice with the next person.
All in all, racial profiling is not an accurate way to enforce the law. Racial profiling allows people to look a certain way, talk in a particular manner, and get away with countless crimes. On the flip side, innocent people can be unfairly targeted. The correlation between skin color and law enforcement encounters should not be directly related. Citizens should not automatically feel convicted in the court of public opinion, due to the color of their skin. But until officers are properly held accountable for when they racially profile people, then those actions will surely continue to happen.