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Moriah Tago
Mrs. Stegner
ERWC
29 October 2015
Racial Profiling is Unnecessary
Racial profiling has been around for ages, but social networking has brought this
contentious topic to the publics attention. It has even caused cataclysms in cities and
neighborhoods. Police forces are supposed to protect their cities; in certain areas, societies of a
race other than white, are scared for their lives to step outside their home. There is no doubt that
people get treated differently just because other the color of their skin and that should not be
condoned. Racial profiling is not necessary because it unfairly targets minority groups and
affects many innocent lives.
One reason racial profiling should be abolished is because it unfairly targets minority
groups. Racial profiling data compiled by the Missouri attorney general found that black drivers
were the target of 86 percent of traffic stops in the city last year, and 93 percent of traffic stops
that ended in an arrest. By contrast, blacks make up 63 percent of the local population over 16.
(Badger, Emily). Black people are wrongfully aimed at and get penalized for most likely doing a
petty traffic violation. The police are impartial towards the African-American community so all
they look for is a black driver. White people do the same crimes and in some cases they do more;
5 times as many Whites are using drugs as African Americans, yet African Americans are sent
to prison for drug offenses at 10 times the rate of Whites.(NAACP). Its completely immoral to
target one race more than the other for the same crime. White people get away with more crime

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than blacks just by the color of their skin. It is absolutely unjustifiable to purposely target one
race than another just because of the way they look.
Another reason we need to eradicate racial profiling is because it affects many innocent
lives. D. Watkins, an innocent bystander during the Baltimore riot over Freddie Gray, talks about
his personal experience with racial profiling, Then, when I was 14, a cop clothes-lined a kid
named Rick off a moped. Rick hopped up, yelling, What did I do? and was instantly clubbed
down by the cop and his partner. Ricks face was badly bruised for weeks. (Watkins, D.). Rick
was beaten shamelessly before he even knew what he did wrong. Obviously it was for no other
reason than because he was black. Racial profiling ends not only arrests and violence, but also
death; The Trayvon Martin case is a perfect example. Martin was only walking to a convenience
store when a man, George Zimmerman, called to complain about a black male walking around,
Zimmerman and Martin got into a wrestling match on the ground. One of the pair could be
heard screaming for help. Then a single shot rang out, and Martin lay dead.(Weinstein, Adam.).
Martin was killed for looking suspicious and for the color of his skin. There was no reason
whatsoever for Trayvon Martin to be killed. Leading to arrests, riots, and deaths, Racial profiling
does more harm than good.
Racial profiling is a form of discrimination that should eliminated as a practice by law
enforcement. It targets people of different ethnicities and blameless people are distressed by it
everyday. It is ineffective and there is no reason one race should be treated differently from
another.

Works Cited
Badger, Emily. The Long, Halting, Unfinished Fight to End Racial Profiling(...). The

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Washington Post. The Washington Post, 4 December 2014. Web. 16 October 2015.
Criminal Justice Fact Sheet. NAACP. NAACP, 2009. Web. 16 October 2015.
Watkins, D. In Baltimore, Were All Freddie Gray. New York Times. New York Times, 28
April 2015. Web. 16 October 2015.
Weinstein, Adam. The Trayvon Martin Killing, Explained. Mother Jones. Mother Jones, 18
March 2012.Web. 16 October 2015.