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Valerie Martinez
English 115
Professor Derohannessian
23 November 2014
Racial Profiling in America
Racial profiling has been a serious and longstanding predicament in our nation for the
past few years. It occurs everyday where minorities are suspected of having committed an
offense based on their skin color. They are stopped and either interrogated or randomly searched
as a precaution to assure safety among the communities. This is illegal and is taken advantage
of by law enforcements just because it is encouraged by the federal government to enforce such
protection for the people. But, what about our rights and doesnt Land of the Free mean
anything today? It only alienates us from the law enforcement causing us to disengage ourselves
from wanting help where they are sworn to protect and serve. We confide in them as a means of
trust but it is difficult to do so when there are so many cases of injustice going on today.
13 years ago, hijacked planes crashed into the World-Trade Center in New York City.
The impact of 9/11 caused more than 3,000 people to be killed, almost 10,000 more injured and
left many families to suffer for years from being exposed to such a disaster. The attackers were
from Saudi Arabia and were ordered by Osama bin Ladens al-Qaeda terrorist organization.
Since 9/11, people have been very cautious about Muslims and other Middle-eastern groups. We
find ourselves labeling such groups as terrorists. There are American-muslims who stay in our
country who only wish to live their lives as peacefully as they expect to. They are living here for
the opportunities us Americans are granted. They dont all have that intention to bomb our
homes like everyone expects of them. It is extremely unfair to label everyone based on the

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actions of their people. No one likes to be judged especially if there are millions of good people
who have no intentions to do any harm.
ERPA, which stands for The End of Racial Profiling Act, was put into consideration on
June 6, 2001. It was said that this legislation would make it illegal to stop any individual who
was deemed suspicious based on their race or ethnicity. This legislation was brought up by the
former president, Bush and was later brought up to congress by President Obama. It continues to
be re-introduced, although this act is still being brought up to congress and isnt completely
settled yet, this just goes to show how serious a predicament it is about racial profiling. This was
only brought up seriously because of 9/11 and is still being put on the table as of now. Imagine
how many people of different ethnicities are racially attacked everyday. Society classifies any
kind of individuals into stereotypical groups which further complicates how people view and
criticize each other.
Recently, racial profiling has gotten out of hand. There have been too many cases on the
killings of young black youth by police officers which has caught plenty of attention around the
world. These victims, for example Trayvon Martin, Micheal Brown, and Tamir Rice, as well as
many other black youth,were wrongfully shot down with no evidence of being armed because
they looked suspicious and the perpetrators were fearful for their lives so they had to shoot as a
means of self-defense. In Trayvon Martins case, George Zimmerman was on duty that night as a
neighborhood watchmen. He had dialed 911 to report a so called suspicious person walking
around at night. He was instructed not to take any action of the situation alone but he took it
upon himself to handle the situation against orders. It led to the murder of Trayvon Martin as an
attempt of self-defence, or so Zimmerman says. This could have been avoided if he had
followed through with the directions the Police had given him. Trayvon was simply walking

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home wearing his hoodie and carrying snacks. This could have been handled differently where
he would tell the boy to put his hands up, ask him a few questions, and wait for authorities to
show up. He judged him based on his appearance and assumed he was up to no good which led
him in front of a jury for murdering a 17 year old.
It makes me extremely sad to hear about cases like this, especially where the perpetrator
is apprehended for the crime. To top it off, this isnt the first case where the perpetrator was
apprehended. If you can recall, James E. Holmes was the suspect arrested for a mass shooting in
a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado on July 20, 2012. This man killed around 12 people and was
later deemed not guilty. According to New York Times, The judge in the case, William B.
Sylvester, had laid the groundwork for Mr. Holmes to plead not guilty by reason of insanity,
describing the mental examinations and court-ordered interviews that would flow from such a
plea. They were asking him to say he was insane and it was a mental issue for killing those
people. His own lawyers didnt even want to plead to that but was pushed to do so. This man was
not shot down immediately and yet in a case like Trayvon Martins, where he did no harm, was
indeed shot once. The newest case is about Michael Brown who was shot 6 times by a Ferguson
Police Officer, Darren Wilson. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) they
are currently fighting for racial justice. Things must be done to prevent injustice crimes like these
ones.
Although a big part of racial profiling is toward a large portion of Blacks, Muslims, and
Latinos, it does affect widely diverse communities as well. There are instances where white
people are said to all be stuck up, rich folk, where as black people are said to be ghetto and
uneducated. Latinos are categorized with drug cartels and Middle Easterners are said to be
terrorists. Now we know this isnt true about all people and should not be wrongfully claimed

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based on their peoples past. It is unjust. Although, minorities around the world have their own
racial remarks against one another, no race is better nor should it be treated any less than
someones own race.
Racial profiling can affect minorities ethnicities. The Ontario Human Rights Commission
quotes The American Psychological Association saying, The American Psychological
Association notes that research psychologists have studied the psychological effects of racial
profiling and found that victim effects of racial profiling include post-traumatic stress disorder
and other forms of stress-related disorders, perceptions of race-related threats and failure to use
available community resources. As you can see, racial profiling can cause people to mentally
break down and actually obtain a disorder from such accusations. Jon Stewart, a political satirist
for his show The Daily Show, commented on the Ferguson situation and says, If racism is
something youre sick of hearing about, imagine how exhausting it must be living it everyday.
Hes right and he really did leave some Fox News hosts quiet with that statement. Imagine what
a Middle-Easterner or African American person goes through when theyre walking through the
mall or store. The amount of whispers and long, weary glances they receive daily. Its enough to
make them feel uncomfortable and feel resentment towards themselves and others. Some are able
to ignore it, but not everyone is strong enough to do so nor should they have to.
Being racially profiled by society is unacceptable and completely wrong. No one should
have to endure accusations that can lead to feelings being hurt or even death. I support whoever
stands up to fight against people who accuse someone of being harmful or up to no good based
on their appearance or religion. There are ways for law enforcements to avoid killing anymore
innocent colored youth and that starts with handling the situation calmly, without any racial
profiling.

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Works Citied
"9/11 Attacks." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
Healy, Jack. "Not Guilty Plea is Entered in Colorado Mass Shooting: National Desk." New York
Times, (2013): A.14.
"ACLU Comment on Ferguson Grand Jury Decision." American Civil Liberties Union. N.p., n.d.
Web. 26 Nov. 2014.
"James Holmes (Batman Shootings, Aurora, Colo.)." - The New York Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 25
Nov. 2014.
"Trayvon Martin Shooting Fast Facts." CNN. Cable News Network, 22 Feb. 2014. Web. 23 Nov.
2014.
"End Racial Profiling Act (ERPA)." Rights Working Group. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.
"The End Racial Profiling Act of 2010." The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human
Rights. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.
"Jon Stewart Demolishes Fox News On Its Ferguson Coverage." BuzzFeed. N.p., n.d.
Web. 26 Nov. 2014.