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Mileena Raglin Professor Loudermilk ENG 1201 12 April 2019 Online Casebook In my essay I attempted to answer the questions “How did this all begin”, “How can it be stopped”, and “why law enforcement feel they need to shoot”. I wanted to do research on this topic of racial profiling because I do come from an African American background and I believe these incidents happen too often and they all seem to be the same story just with different people involved. Teasley, Martell Lee, et al. “Trayvon Martin: Racial Profiling, Black Male Stigma, and Social Work Practice.” ​Social Work​, vol. 63, no. 1, Jan. 2018, pp. 37–46. ​EBSCOhost​, doi:10.1093/SW/SWX049. Written January of 2018, The killing of Trayvon Martin as an unarmed black youth is one of the most recent high profile cases in which questions of social justice are central to the analysis. If you don’t know, August of 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin and subsequent acquittal of George Zimmerman sent shock waves through America, once again elevating race and racism as major topics for mass media debates in communities. Trayvon was a 17 year old african american high school student at the time of his shooting. While walking down the street after purchasing a bag of skittles and an arizona tea in Sanford FL, pursued by an armed neighborhood watchman (George Zimmerman) who followed Trayvon because he noticed he was “up to no good”. Going against police orders Zimmerman had ended up fatally wounding

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Trayvon and was charged with first degree murder. His actions led to not only state, but local and national protests and had became a tipping point in our national dialogue on the racial profiling of black men. In this article it reads on the social problems of racial profiling. Many people have their own definition of racial profiling. Numerous studies have confirmed the practice of racial profiling by law enforcement. Sesardić, Neven1, [email protected]. “Is Racial Profiling a Legitimate Strategy in the Fight against Violent Crime?” ​Philosophia​, vol. 46, no. 4, Dec. 2018, pp. 981–999. ​EBSCOhost​, doi:10.1007/s11406-018-9945-1. In section III that I found it mentions racial profiling, police abuse, and disproportionate screening. There are two common subjects combined with profiling as we define it: police abuse and disproportionate screening of minorities. The “disproportionate” investigation of minorities also tends to be mixed in with profiling. Two ideas of proportionality are relevant, in regards to the goals of the investigation, and as fairness. In the first, a group will be investigated, if it’s members are screened more (or less) than is useful for the investigation. In the second investigation will be disproportionate if fairness, per say, in the distribution of burdens is violated. Sometimes it is argued that there is a moral difference between using race as one of many criteria for profiling and using it as the only criteria. https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/12/15/racial-profiling-has-dest royed-public-trust-in-police-cops-are-exploiting-our-weak-laws-against-it/?utm_term=.b95bc762 9a83 Written by Ranjana Natarajan a clinical professor of civil rights at the University of Texas of Law. The #Blacklivesmatter movement has sparked nationwide protests and has raised

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awareness world wide about the unequal treatment of african american people by police in the U.S. from listening to the voices from this movement and learning from not only the tragic death of Eric Garner and the series of other deaths of unarmed black men. It’s clear that two issues need to be addressed: racial profiling and police use of excessive force. Both issues run afoul of the United States constitution, but yet remain to be common practices in law enforcement, much too often with tragic results. Racial profiling as well as profiling based on religion, ethnicity, and national origin. There continues to be a plague to our nation with no regards to the constitutional guarantee of equal treatment under the law. In a 2011 report the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights found evidence of the widespread racial profiling, showing that African Americans and Hispanics are disproportionately likely to be stopped and searched by police, even though they’re less likely to be found possessing contraband or committing a criminal act. Profiling undermines public safety and strains police community trust. When law enforcement target residents based on race, religion or national origin rather than behavior, crime-fighting is less effective and community distrust of police grows. https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/11/us/everyday-racial-profiling-consequences-trnd/index.h tml Multiple headlines come up of African Americans going about their business doing common day to day activities like shopping, moving in, or even walking in their neighborhood, only to have the cops called on them. It happens a lot more than people think; In just this past month or so, a golf course owner called the police on black women because they were playing too slow. A mother called the police because two native american students made her “nervous”. A white Yale student called the police because a black student was napping in a dorm building.

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For people of color everyday racial profiling is just one indignity piled atop another, many see it as dehumanizing. Racial profiling is not just something that “may” happen once a day or so, but multiple times a day, everyday. Minority groups that endure everyday discrimination often suffer from health problems, its harder for people of color to get a job no matter their history/ background, and are often charged more along with Latino and Asian customers with higher car interest rates than whites even if they have similar credit histories. https://www.aclu.org/issues/racial-justice/race-and-criminal-justice/racial-profiling Racial profiling is a long standing and deeply troubling national problem despite claims that the U.S. had entered a post-racial era. It occurs everyday, law enforcement and private security target people of color for humiliating and often frightening detentions, interrogations, and searches without evidence of criminal activity based on race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin. It alienates communities from law enforcement, hinders community policing efforts, and causes law enforcement to lose credibility and trust among the people they are sworn to protect and serve. https://www.saybrook.edu/unbound/think-of-calvin/ On March 17, 2013, Calvin Davis and Carlet Harris were put to the test when police followed their at the time 15 year old son Montae riding his grandmothers adult tricycle around the neighborhood in Washington D.C.. One officer openly complained that the conferentation happened from lack of respect from the community. Growing up in their town as a minority the interactions with the police were never positive, even when eight times out of ten you’ve done nothing wrong, Calvin mentioned, He then proceeded to say how during the incident there had been about maybe 20 to 30 police officers. During the arrest Calvin had asked to speak to the

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commanding officer who hadn’t said anything to him. Calvin had been charged with assault on a police officer, a guy who works at children's hospital. Video was taken during the incident that showed no assault, but his lawyer of the case wanted him to take a plea deal that was given and do community service even with the video. The way the law is written in regards to assault on an officer it could be used. The lawyer told him “It’s going to be your work against a police officer's word.”.