Racial profiling controversy

Racial profiling in a general sense is the use of race to construct a profile (or list of detectable characteristics) of a criminal or a suspect. When asking for a description of an assailant or thief, police nearly always ask about skin color, along with height, weight, clothing, scars and tattoos because this helps them identify and apprehend them. Problems have arisen, however, when generalizations about race are abused to harass innocent people (see racial discrimination). In reaction to discriminatory abuse of racial profiling, some states and federal agencies have refused to consider race at all when constructing offender profiles, sometimes with absurd or tragic consequences.

The use of race in profiling came under fire when protest groups began to complain that police were making sweeps or traffic stops based mainly on race, and thus discriminating against innocent people. Such practices as stopping all blacks for questioning - when no particular crime was being investigated - came into question.

In reaction, many police forces and even the FBI began to be leery of being accused of stereotyping. The most prominent case in the tragic run-up to 9-11, when the FBI had cause to suspect a flight student. The FBI agent handling the case was told by their supervisor not to seek a warrant, even though the Arabic-looking man only wanted to learn how to steer a Boeing 747 but not do takeoffs or landings.

• The ultimate question in the profiling controversy is whether the disproportionate involvement of blacks and Hispanics with law enforcement reflects police racism or the consequences of disproportionate minority crime. Anti-profiling activists hope to make police racism an all but irrebuttable presumption whenever enforcement statistics show high rates of minority stops and arrests.

See Also

• Affirmative Action
• Arizona's 2010 Immigration Act