In the present-day world, there are plenty of issues connected to various forms of discrimination. One of them is known as racial profiling and is used primarily in police investigations. Teasley et al. consider it as “an act of injustice that uses race as the foundation for shaping perceptions” (37). Such an issue is common for the representatives of ethnic minority groups such as black Americans, Hispanics, and others. Racial identity is frequently considered as a reason for suspicion, and this fact increases discrimination against these population groups. Hence, the practice of racial profiling has consequences that affect the everyday life of ethnic minorities and, consequently, their well-being.
The wrong perception of people from ethnic minorities results in the emergence of injustice towards them. The case of Trayvon Martin is a prime example of what consequences such an attitude might have for black Americans. This high school student was shot dead by a neighborhood watchman, George Zimmerman, who decided that Trayvon had some bad intentions on his mind without any reason for such a conclusion (Teasley et al. 37). However, Zimmerman was acquitted despite the fact of premeditated murder, and this case led to the increased attention of numerous scholars to the problem. This story demonstrated the way the perception of black American citizens as violent and aggressive influences the behavior of other people. Moreover, it proved the necessity to reassess moral values and create new mechanisms of controlling injustice based on racial bias.
Racial profiling also leads to the wrong perception of the police mostly by black Americans and, therefore, worsens the situation. According to the research of Nadal et al., their attitude towards police officers is more negative than one of the white or Asian population groups (808). These findings demonstrate the existence of racial issues and lead to the necessity to change the relationship between authorities and communities of color. The researchers also claim that it is vital to monitor racial bias and minimize it in training in police departments (Nadal et al. 827). The importance is defined by the increase in racial bias after the cases of crimes committed by black Americans (Legewie et al. 380). These circumstances reflect the unfair treatment of racial groups as well as the necessity to prevent unjustifiable actions of the police.
The representation of ethnic minorities in police departments leads to the change in the perception of criminals and thereby proves the existence of racial profiling. Thus, according to Hong, the increase in the number of black Americans and Hispanics in police forces results in fewer cases of unfair treatment of ethnic minority groups (558). These findings relate to the number of citizens who were stopped in the streets. Such an outcome is conditional upon the connection of this profession to law enforcement, which has an impact on disparities in society (Shjarback et al. 760). In this way, police departments managed to decrease racial bias towards ethnic minorities.
There is a number of other consequences of racial profiling regarding health, which contribute to a better understanding of this phenomenon. Therefore, it is vital to consider the disadvantageous treatment of ethnic minorities by the police and other authorities (Mogensen 453). Police officers can mistreat specific population groups and thereby harm their health. The most popular ones include injuries or death as a result of unjustified actions and escalation of confrontation by the police through microaggressions or macroaggressions (Laurencin and Walker). The existence of such injustice is also evidenced by Harris, who proved that in the case of targeting white citizens, the police managed to solve more crimes than in searching ethnic minorities (13). Therefore, racial profiling by the police and other authorities is a critical issue of present-day society.
The principal counter-argument against the possibility of consequences of racial profiling practices is the idea that the problem derives from the history of ethnic minorities and the attitude of other population groups towards them. Thus, black Americans have been experiencing harassment and various kinds of unfair treatment from police officers throughout history (Nadal et al. 809). However, it does not necessarily indicate that the problem remains acute. This argument seems to be logical, but the evidence proves quite the opposite as there are still disparities between the treatment of white citizens and black Americans, Hispanics, or Asians by the police. The fact that the world is changing does not necessarily mean that some issues disappear over time.
The neglect of such a factor as the ethnic composition of the population can result in inaccurate outcomes of studies and the conclusion that it has no impact on people’s everyday life. It contributes to the existence of racial disparities and the lack of attention towards this issue. Hence, before it was proved that the percentage of criminals among white citizens is higher than among representatives of ethnic minorities, it was erroneously concluded that the crime rate is affected more by black Americans (Harris 13). In the same way, the attitude of the police towards different population groups was analyzed without singling out ethnic minorities, which led to misinterpretation of study results. However, the inclusion of this factor in the research changes the situation entirely and reveals the existing issues.
It is also argued that the attitude of ethnic minorities can reflect the way they are treated by authorities, and their positive opinion indicates the lack of consequences. According to Ngo et al., the majority of participants in their study did not report any inconveniences from the encounters with police officers (254). Only a small number of them admitted to having negative feelings about such occasions. Most of the people perceived such interventions as normal and intended to ensure their safety. However, the emotional reaction of the study participants does not correlate with the fact of the existence of racial profiling practices among the police officers and other authorities. Therefore, racial profiling remains a critical issue for present-day society.
There are a lot of issues relating to discrimination of various population groups in modern society, and most of them are based on racial prejudice. Wrong perceptions of ethnic minority population groups result in a higher rate of crimes towards them as well as harm the health of their representatives. As a result, the problem becomes two-sided, including both negative perceptions of each other by minorities and other people. Despite the general misconception that this problem is history and has no connection to the current situation in the world, it still has an impact on people of various ethnic minority groups. One of the best methods to deal with such an issue is to increase the representation of minorities in law enforcement.
Works Cited
Harris, David A. “Racial Profiling: Past, Present, and Future?.” Criminal Justice, vol. 34, no. 10, 2020, pp. 10-22.
Hong, Sounman. “Black in Blue: Racial Profiling and Representative Bureaucracy in Policing Revisited.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, vol. 27, no. 4, 2017, pp. 547-561. Web.
Laurencin, Cato T., and Joanne M. Walker. “Racial Profiling Is a Public Health and Health Disparities Issue.” Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 2020. Web.
Legewie, Joscha. “Racial Profiling and Use of Force in Police Stops: How Local Events Trigger Periods of Increased Discrimination.” American Journal of Sociology, vol. 122, no. 2, 2016, pp. 379-424. Web.
Mogensen, Andreas. “Racial Profiling and Cumulative Injustice.” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, vol. 98, no. 2, 2019, pp. 452-477. Web.
Nadal, Kevin L., et al. “Perceptions of Police, Racial Profiling, and Psychological Outcomes: A Mixed Methodological Study.” Journal of Social Issues, vol. 73, no. 4, 2017, pp. 808-830. Web.
Ngo, Hieu Van, et al. “The Experience of Ethno-Cultural Members with Racial Profiling.” Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, vol. 27, no. 3, 2018, pp. 253-270. Web.
Shjarback, John, et al. “Minority Representation in Policing and Racial Profiling.” Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 40, no. 4, 2017, pp. 748-767. Web.
Teasley, Martell Lee, et al. “Trayvon Martin: Racial Profiling, Black Male Stigma, and Social Work Practice.” Social Work, vol. 63, no. 1, 2018, pp. 37-46. Web.