Racial Profiling

After a discussion I had today about racial profiling, I feel compelled to post this excerpt from an article by the ACLU titled "Racial Profiling: Old and New".

Is racial profiling real? Most Americans think so. A July 2001 Gallup poll
reported that 55 percent of whites and 83 percent of blacks believe racial
profiling is widespread. And the reports of thousands of racial and ethnic group
members across the country add credibility to the perception that racial
profiling is real. These are stories from all walks of life, not just
hardworking everyday people, but celebrities, professional athletes, and members
of the military. Also, reports of racial profiling come from respected members
of communities of color such as police commanders, prosecutors, judges, state
legislators, lawyers, dentists and even representatives in Congress, who have
been victims.

Racial profiling is a new term for an old practice known by other
names: institutional racism and discrimination and owes its existence to
prejudice that has existed in this country since slavery.

Tens of thousands of innocent drivers, pedestrians, and shoppers across
the country are victims of racial profiling. And these discriminatory police
stops and searches have reached epidemic proportions in recent years - fueled by
the "War on Drugs" and the "War on Terror" that have given police a pretext to
target people they think fit a "drug courier," "gang member," or "terrorist"
profile. In fact, racial profiling is the first step in a long road that leads
to the heavily disproportionate incarceration of people of color, especially
young men, for drug-related crimes, and of Arabs, Muslims and South Asians for
suspicion of terrorism. This despite the fact that people of color are no more
likely than whites to use or sell drugs, and Arabs Muslims and South Asians are
no more likely than whites to be terrorists.

We must end the practice of racial profiling.