Racial profiling is the act of targeting an individual for suspicion of a crime based on their race, ethnicity, religion, or nationality. Imagine that you are guilty of a crime that you did not commit. Imagine being followed because your skin color is too dark. Imagine being watched closely in a retail store, while you just come and shop like everyone else. This is indeed an act of racism, but more particularly of racial profiling. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essay Racial profiling dates back to the 19th century, when many European and American scientists were trying to prove that people with certain body shapes had a positive and negative personality. traits that matched their physical characteristics. Some scientists have attempted to theorize that people of color had physical characteristics that indicated they were not intelligent or that they were more likely to commit crime than people without color. Even though they had no evidence to support these theories, law enforcement decided to embrace them and use them to make targeting people of specific ethnic groups a right. For example, Jews have been huge victims of racial profiling simply because of their size. of their noses. It was believed that they were more likely to commit crime because of their large noses. Although this horrible stereotype seems ridiculous today, few people questioned them at the time and thus racial profiling began. Racial profiling has also become a common practice among other minorities in the United States. Police began targeting African Americans and Chinese Americans because it was long believed that these two racial groups were “criminal in nature.” This discrimination continued throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, even with the civil rights movement that took place in the 1950s and 1960s. During this period, there was a fight for justice among African Americans because the Caucasians didn't want them to have the same fate. rights like them. Although it was difficult, African Americans finally got the justice they truly deserved in 1964. On July 2, 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed and basically guaranteed equal treatment for minorities . This Civil Rights Act ended segregation based on race, color, religion and sex. That being said, the Civil Rights Act falls under federal law making racial profiling illegal in the United States. According to the Points of View article on racial profiling, this violates the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution which guarantees protection against unlawful searches and seizures. Although it is considered illegal, racial profiling continues to take place in the United States today with many races, particularly with African Americans. For example, on August 5, 2014, an African American man was shot and killed by Officer Sean Williams of Beavercreek, Ohio. . The dispatcher received a call that there was a black man brandishing a gun and pointing it at people in a Wal-Mart aisle. In the surveillance video, it could clearly be seen that the man posed no threat to anyone and that the caller was clearly unsure of the situation. Although the white male relayed the information incorrectly, the dispatcher undoubtedly immediately suspected danger and sent help. Without any chance of surrender orto explain, the police officer immediately fired shots, killing the 22-year-old man. Upon examining his lifeless body, they discovered that the African American was not in possession of a real rifle, but an unwrapped BB gun that he had found on the store shelf. John Crawford III of Dayton, Ohio was the suspect who was buried behind this horrific event. John's family attempted to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the officer because they felt he was wrongly killed. Even if this is true, the officers were technically justified in their actions due to the 911 call they received. When Ronald Richie told the dispatcher, "He's charging it right now...pointing it at people," that prompted police action. When they got to where he was standing, John turned to the officer and Williams said, "That's why I pulled the trigger." What the caller didn't realize in this situation was that Crawford was on the phone during the entire process, which should have been made clear to the dispatcher. The police were not given this information, so when they asked him to lower his gun, it seemed like he was not responding to their commands when in reality he was just on the phone, unaware of what was happening. John's family called the event an example of police brutality. This tragic event opened the eyes of America, especially the African American community, and many people were demanding justice for John and his family. “We believe that if Mr. Crawford had been white, he would have had more time to respond to the officers,” Mr. Erin said. Yes, the police ordered him to drop his weapon, but he was not given enough time. “These officers came in, saw Mr. Crawford and shot him on sight. They didn’t give him the chance to live.” This quote concludes how Mr. Erin felt about the shooting itself. A lot of people felt that way, but they didn't get a chance to speak out and express their thoughts because the shooting was a probable cause. According to the Huff Post article about a doctor who was racially profiled, there was an African American at Harvard. -educated doctor who was racially profiled by employees on a Delta flight. They questioned her medical qualifications as she attempted to help another passenger on board who needed help. “Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity medicine physician-scientist, educator and policymaker at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, told Boston 25 news that she was flying from Indianapolis to Boston on Oct. 23 when a woman began convulsing and hyperventilating. . Stanford said she worked to calm the woman down while assessing her condition. A flight attendant approached and asked Stanford if she was a doctor. Stanford, in turn, produced his medical license. » This shows how African Americans today are still questioned about their intelligence. In the article, it is mentioned that Dr. Stanford showed proof of his doctorate degree and they were still skeptical about him helping the passenger in need. If his ethnicity was anything other than African-American, his credentials probably never would have been questioned in the first place, but it clearly shows that racial profiling is still on the rise today. Finally, a huge case in 2012 that many are familiar with proves how racial profiling led to the death of a 17-year-old African American boy. Trayvon Martin walked to a 7 Eleven in Sanford, Florida, to buy skittles and Arizona tea. At the time, he was wearing a dark gray hoodie with the hood.