Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Racial Profiling
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[University]
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RACIAL PROFILING
Can racial profiling be ethical? Racial Profiling is prejudging an individual on the basis of color
of their skin. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (2015), racial profiling can be
defined as biased and unfair practices adopted by law officers of targeting a person on the basis of
the person’s color, religion, race or origin. Many cases have been registered in which law
enforcement officials targeted individuals for suspicions of crime, without having any strong
police officers stopping Black or Spanish drivers for no reason at all, or for minor traffic law
neglect, or having a suspicion that a black individual might be carrying drugs or weapons without
adequate proof. White colored individuals are given special relaxation as their minor traffic law
violations are commonly ignored in such cases. After the well-known 9/11 attack on WTC towers,
a dramatic increase in racial profiling was seen, of Muslim Individuals. Even, individuals from the
Middle East were also subjected to racial profiling; especially, at airports when ‘random selection’
Racial profiling has another important aspect, discriminatory omissions. ACLU defines
discriminatory omission as when a law enforcement officer deliberately chooses to overlook law
offences on the basis of color or race of the offender (American-Civil-Liberties-Union, 2015). This
aspect of racial profiling was heavily dominant during the civil rights era when certain secret
societies such as the Ku Klux Klan would not be punished for extreme offences such as killing
Black people for no reasons. Even the law enforcement chiefs had knowledge of what the KKK
did, but they refrained from taking any action against them since the KKK were white and the
In many cases, the Law Enforcement justified these violations of human rights by accusing
the individuals of being criminals, by producing a criminal profile based on a witness statement,
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or by simply saying that they were caught in act of committing serious crimes (Lever, 2011). Some
individuals even believe that racial profiling can prove to be an effective way to minimize crimes
(Harris, 2003). Although multiple arguments can be raised to support this belief on the basis of
various instances, and multiple arguments can be raised against such belief; however, it is ethically
The Markulla Center for Applied Ethics defines the fair and ethical approach as all the
individuals, irrespective of their races or religions, should be treated in the same manner, unless
they are found involved in a particular situation (Velasquez, Andre, Shanks, S.J., & Meyer, Justice
and Fairness, 2014). When it comes to racial profiling, the individuals are subjected to profiling
on the basis of their races and country of origins, which becomes unfair and unjust; since it does
not seem fair to target only one or some races and leaving out the rest. Such scenarios can suggest
that a certain race is superior to other races, while some races might seem inferior to others.
Further, the superior races are privileged to do whatever they want, without worrying about getting
accused of crimes that they did not commit. Such privileges are not available to profiled races.
Harris, Professor at Pittsburg, sees racial profiling as a cause of violation of a fair and just
environment, especially for Latinos; since they are affected more than the white people, even if
Corlett says that races which are commonly profiled are not found to be connected with
serious crimes (Corlett, 2011). In many cases, no strong evidence exists to support the racial
profiling of these people. When crime statistics are observed, it can be seen that Whites are most
frequently involved in crimes. But even with that, it remains true that the race or color of an
individual cannot determine how likely a person is to commit a crime. A study conducted in 2015
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showed that only 1 percent of Muslims in America were found to have any connection with
terrorism, and the rate was decreasing since the 9/11 attacks (KURZMAN, 2015).
The loss to stakeholders is far greater than the overall good done to community, in racial
profiling. Harris (2003) studied data from few years and found that the rates at which officials
minimize the carrying of illegal things, undermines the long-established belief in effectiveness of
racial profiling (Harris, 2003). Officers are generally distracted by it, since they cannot analyze the
situation, rendering them to rely on methods which have been found unproductive. The second
stakeholder is the targeted individual here. Due to racial profiling, an air of mistrust and disbelief
exists between the officials and profiled groups. However, for the successful establishment of
peace in an area / community, it is always necessary that the law enforcement agencies are trusted
by all individuals (including the profiled groups). Breaking this trust is not worth, even if the
profiling might yield an effective result for some cases, since the mistrust comes along with a
number of other side-effects which include a sense of insecurity among the targeted groups, an
uproar in crime and so on. The crime in the region can increase because the targeted group thinks
that the law enforcement is against them, and they might want to correct things by taking the law
in their own hands. When the costs win over benefits to the community, it can be said that racial
profiling is unethical on the basis of the common good approach. It has been seen that racial
profiling is more harmful to communities than advantageous. There can be, however, an argument
raised against it which might say that ethical guidelines have been set up for profiling. These
guidelines help in narrowing down the suspects for a particular crime by getting descriptions of
the criminal. Factors which might help the law enforcement in narrowing down the suspect include
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However, this argument is based on the assumption that racial profiling is not ethically
wrong. Annabelle Lever says that racial profiling is ethically unjust, even if there is a possibility
Analyzing the issue, it can be said that racial profiling is ethically wrong, seen from fairness and
justice approach or the common good approach. Even, when it comes to employing rights approach
to ethics, it can be seen that racial profiling cannot be justified. Racial profiling clearly is in
therefore it can be said here that it directly disregards rights approach (Velasquez, Andre, Shanks,
Racial profiling is a discriminatory practice which does not get general acceptance because
it uses race / religion to judge whether a person can potentially commit a crime or not. Even ethical
guidelines have been set up for profiling, still, this exercise is clearly in violation of the rights of
individuals. Further, it can be seen as a weapon to increase prejudices and sense of inequality
among citizens, especially minorities. Still, it has not been proven that race can be used as a marker
profiling based on their race or religion. This unfair practice has been seen to violate multiple
approaches of ethics. Can racial profiling be ethical? No, no one can be judged based on their skin
color since it is a clear violation of predetermined ethics and no benefit for the community can be
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References
doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10892-010-9093-8
Harris, D. A. (2003). Profiles in Injustice: Why Racial Profiling Cannot Work. New York: The
https://sites.duke.edu/tcths/files/2013/06/Kurzman_Terrorism_Cases_Involving_Muslim-
Americans_2014.pdf
Kurzman, C., Schanzer, D., & Moosa, E. (2011). Muslim American Terrorism Since 9/11: Why
1913.2011.01388.x
Lever, A. (2011). Treating People as Equals: Ethical Objections to Racial Profiling and the
010-9094-7
Velasquez, M., Andre, C., Shanks, T., S.J., & Meyer, M. J. (2014, August 1). Justice and Fairness.
https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-making/justice-and-fairness/
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Velasquez, M., Andre, C., Shanks, T., S.J., & Meyer, M. J. (2014, August 8). Rights. Retrieved
https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-making/rights/
Velasquez, M., Andre, C., Shanks, T., S.J., & Meyer, M. J. (2014, August 2). The Common Good.
https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-making/the-common-good/
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