Hernandez 1
Cristina Hernandez
Professor Rust
Composition 100S
November 3, 2015
Racial Profiling
Racial profiling is still a common factor in today’s society. Many of us profile a person and assume that they are a danger to us because of how they look but not by the way they are. Racial profiling has been present for a long time and stills continues today. There have been many cases that had involved racial profiling and had created an issue that has led to fatal consequences. These consequencesoccur when a person holds unchecked biases when they are afraid and react. Although people might see racial profiling as a harmless and a natural actionbecause American culture has normalized it, but what American culture does not know is that it can be a danger to people, it has been a present and past factor, and in many casesprofiling a person can lead to fatal events by profiling.
In the article “Just Walk on By” by Brent Staples shows that racial profiling has been a factor in the American society for a very long time. Although racial profiling might be seen as harmless it can be a danger to the people. This article was written in the late 80’s but describes what Staples went through as a young black man. Although this was over 30 years ago there are still cases today that haveinvolved racial profiling. In the article “You Are Not Trayvon Martin” by William Saletan is an example of a case that involved racial profiling and tragically ended with Trayvon Martin’s life because of misjudgment and racial profiling. Martin was a young, black teenager that was killed by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, because of a misjudgment. Trayvon was profiled as a black thug walking in the rain and described as burglar by Zimmerman. William Saletan states, “The problem at the core of this case wasn’t race or guns. The problem was assumption, misperception and over reaction.” When assuming that a person might be dangerous, they enter a state of fear and state to believe that a person can be a harm to us. People often act towards what they think might happened because of the person’s race, gender, and class. Martin was simply walking in the rain in a neighborhood where burglaries have accorded and Zimmerman assumed he was there to rob. In the article Staples states that he was first profiled by a white woman on night when he was walking in back of her. “ It was clear that she thought herself the quarry of a mugger, a rapist, or worse” (Brent 1). Brent noticed her reaction towards and as the first time of many times Staples have experienced racial profiling. Since that incident Staples saw how he was profiled by that women because he was a young black man walking in back of her in the dark and girl thought the worst of him. Staples was profiled the same way Martin was because of their race rather than their behavior or actions. Throughout Staple’s life he was always being profiled in the street, his work, and anywhere he went. American culture has normalized factors that people have believed it is true and because people profile each other by how they look, not if they are really a thug or a criminal. When this unchecked basis goes on that is when the danger occurs.
As racial profiling has become a dangerous thing but is something that will be present in our American culture. In American history, black slaves were being profiled by the American people because they were of different color. As history continued they began to be called many things such as perverts and sexual abusers because of their color. Before the civil rights movement, they we segregated because of their color and were profiled by their class and were considered to be thugs and burglars. The people’s unchecked basis made them think like that because people of color were treated badly by American society because by the way they thought people of colorwere and not about how they are. Since society viewed them badly, the assumptionsthat were made in the past, have stuck to the present time. Society has printed labels on a person or race, like saying they are thugs, they are bad tempted that is why they attack, or they are thugs and that is how they are going to stay. As society begins to profile a person, it makes the person being profiled see that is how the way they are being viewed as, and they start to believe it themselves and when people see them, the look with eyes of expectation. They expect them to be a thug or a criminal because of their race. Many people grow up with that mentally because of in moments of fear we profilea person even though we try our best ‘not to judge a book by its cover’ but people grow up stick with that same mentally. For example, when a person takes the bus and they see a young black male walking in, they assume he is a thug because of his race and with the expectation that he going to do something bad. They start to feel nervous and scared and want to get out of the bus but as they think, they start looking at the person they were profiling; they don’t look dangerous at all. They profiled this young black male because of his race and gender and assumed that he was up to no good because people were shown that black people are a danger even though that is not true. Zimmerman thought the same thing of Martin and thought he was carrying a gun because Martin was seen like a thug due his race, gender and class and the way he was dressed.Brent staples was written 30 years, in the late 80’s and Trayvon Martin cases was in 2012. This proves that racial profiling has and will continue to be a current topic and that American society will continue to view them with the labels they were given by American society.
Racial profiling has been a topic since the 1900’s but what have caused deaths has been having an unchecked basis. By having unchecked basis, it has become a big factor in many cases that involved racial profiling and unfortunately they have ended with death. The article “You Are Not Trayvon Martian”, Martin has compared to Emmett Till, a young black boy who was killed by white men for “flirting” with a white woman. He was killed because of race, not because flirting with a white woman. Trayvon was killed because Zimmerman assumed Trayvon had a gun and was a burglar. Many police have killed people because of their race and assuming they did something or for simply confusing them. Staples states “[I ] began to take precautions to make[myself] less threatening”(Staples 2). Staples in fear of getting killed or stopped, he would try to make himself less threatening, even though he was not dangerous at all. Staples was a young male in New York City trying to make a living of himself but he will be approached by an authority or looked at as a danger because of his color and race. Martin was just walking down the street, coming back from the liquor, when he was approached by Zimmerman. Zimmerman thought that Trayvon was going to rob a house and thought that he had a gun in his hand when in reality he had candy. Zimmerman unchecked basis came out and he felt threatened by Martin. Martin also felt threatened by Zimmerman because in the last couple of texts that he sent it said that “he was being followed by “creepy-ass cracker” (Martin 2)”(Saletan).” Trayvon approached him and wanted to know why he was being followed. Both men were racial profiling each other and unfortunately it led to Martin’s death. But this has not been the only cases that racial profiling was used in a death a person. Michael Brown was unarmed when he was shot and killed by a white police man. His death sparked protest in Ferguson because he was killed for being a person of color and the police assumed he was armed and shot him. In an article written by the Washington post states, “black men were seven times more likely than white men to die by police gunfire while unarmed.” This shows that black men are more likely to die then white males because of their race and they are not amputation that are made towards a white male. Police even hold unchecked basis towards a persons race even though they need to look past that and judge a person by their actions and not appearance. This shows that society will also hold unchecked basis towards a race because that is the way they were taught to think and believe and unfortunately, many times it ends with death.
Although profiling a person may lead to assumptions, it can keep you alert. It can make you alert of your surroundings and put your guard up but it still does not shake the idea that you are profiling a person by their race or gender. You need to learn when is the right moment to profile a person but not be their race or gender but by their actions instead. Is good to protect you self when you feel threatened but you need to learn to control the limit and decide when to stop. Staples was being profiling in his own work by a security guard. Racial profiling needs to stop because it is becoming a problem in our society and at times of fear many things can happened and it can be the biggest regret in life.
Racial profiling will always be in American society and is something that needs to be stopped. When we fear a person of color, our biases take control of our minds and it leads us to profile a person and people assume they are going to attack, when reality they are aren’t going to do anything. Racial profiling has become a problem in our society and unfortunately it leads to tragic consequences. Racial profiling needs to stop because although nothing might not happen well profiling person, it can lead to a path with no return and that does not have to happen in order it to stop
Work Cited
Saletan, William. "You Are Not Trayvon Martin." Weblog post.Slate. The Slate Group, 15 July 2015.Web.< on_martin_verdict_racism_hate_crimes_prosecution_and_other_overreactions.html>.
Staples, Brent. "“Just Walk on By”."My Teachers Pages. N.p., n.d. Web. < n%20by%20text.pdf>.
Story SandhyaSomashekhar, Wesley Lowery, Keith L. Alexander, Kimberly Kindy, Julie Tate. "The 24 Unarmed Black Men Who Have Died in 2015."Washington Post. The Washington Post, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.