How sickening is it to be pulled over and not only verbally, but physically harassed because of the color of ones skin or because they meet a certain description, what kind of world is this? In this society many people across the country on a regular basis, find themselves being harassed because of their appearance. I realize how much I am against Racial Profiling and if me looking at my surroundings wasn’t good enough to help me see this reality, then this police officer presently pointing his gun at me surely brings me to my senses."I SWEAR TO GOD I’LL <*CENSORED*> SHOOT, GET OUT OF THE CAR!"At this very moment three of my friends and I have just been apprehended by two police cars. We’re all 18 years of age, but most importantly all four of us are black males. One police car has just pulled in front of us, one parks behind us, and two men, with guns drawn, yell out profanity and orders, while two other men remain in the car parked behind us. Slavery was this country’s original sin infecting the Constitution at its conception. It took more than 75 years after the Constitution was adopted and a bloody civil war before civil rights amendments were added to the Bill of Rights. And it would take another hundred years after that before laws were passed outlawing racial discrimination in employment, housing, public education and accommodations, and voting. Despite enormous progress, however, the promise of fair and equal treatment for people of color remains frustratingly elusive–http://www.aclu.org/Out of the four police officers, one is black, the other three are white men. I don’t find out that any of the officers are black until after they’ve finished their attack, in the mean time the kind officer with the gun escorts me out of my vehicle. In true terms, he grabs me by my shirt, pulls me out, and forces me to spread my legs and put my hands on the hood of the police car. As he does this a prior article I had read in my local newspaper defining racial profiling presents itself in my head:What is racial profiling? The most common example of police racial profiling is "DWB", otherwise known as "driving while black". This refers to the practice of police targeting African Americans for traffic stops because they believe that African Americans are more likely to be engaged in criminal activity.–http://www.ethnicmajority.com/racial_profiling.htm Now as this adult white male is lifting me of my identification, cursing in my ear while rubbing his hands against me, I think about what "criminal activity" my friends and I have been engaged in. Due to the many other times we’ve been pulled over and searched by police officers, driving the speed limit has become a standard as to not draw any negative or unwanted attention to us. We weren’t driving reckless to give the officers any idea that we could have been intoxicated or high. While racial profiling is illegal, a 1996 Supreme Court decision allows police to stop motorists and search their vehicles if they believe trafficking illegal drugs or weapons is taking place. More traffic stops leads to more arrests, which further skews the racial profiling statistics against African Americans.— http://www.ethnicmajority.com/racial_profiling.htmRacial profiling is illegal. Smoking weed is illegal. "J" walking is illegal. Crack cocaine, possession of an unregistered gun, even talking on the cell phone while driving are all illegal. Though all of these well-known "crimes" are all technically illegal, the truth of the matter is just because something is "illegal" does not mean it doesn’t exist. In our system we allow the police to pull over whomever they deem a threat. While giving the police this much power is arguable, aren’t we, the ones who are pulled over countless times a month, also the same citizens they have sworn to protect and serve?It has become routine to see a car behind us, bright light flashed in our eyes, and our bodies put on the side of the vehicle "assuming the position". As the police begin to rap up this "party" they have just had at our expense, to "assure" us that we have done no wrong, they recite the words I’ve grown so accustom to: "We’re sorry for the trouble guys, we just had a report of a stolen vehicle that matched this description, you know how it is <smile>"Yes, I know exactly "how it is" I ponder as he smiles into space, and only space smiles back. Questions always arise: "If he had a report that the vehicle was stolen how come he didn’t ask us for our license and registration before pulling us out of the vehicle?"
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Profiling scandal: A racial reality check
March 18, 2005
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