The Link Between Racial Profiling and Social Diversity

Being a person who tries to look at and treat all persons equally, after reading the article, I found it most disturbing that this type of abusive action happens all the time. I will discuss in this report, the association of words and actions from a social diversity perspective. I will cover four areas of social diversity, which is based on what was discussed so far in our class. These areas are discrimination, stereotyping, power, and defiance. I will highlight how the actions of the New Jersey State Police displayed classic examples of racial profiling through the use of discrimination, stereotyping and abusive power. In return, I will show examples of how these actions prompted defiance.

In the article The Sordid Tail of the New Jersey Troopers, There were several examples of abuse which was a classic example of discrimination. On page one, Judge Robert E. Francis stated that the state troopers practiced selective enforcement by stopping and searching drivers solely on the basis of skin color. This fits right into the definition of discrimination, which is the act of differential and unequal treatment of other groups.

On page two, an example of discrimination sited was in 1998 troopers shot up a van carrying four young Black and Latino men. Troopers stated that the radar showed the van speeding, but in fact, the squad car did not have radar. On page three, a report stated that the troopers systematically used racial profiling. The report also stated that over a five-year period, over seventy seven percent of the people searched were Black or Latino. Also, Troopers would also practice a technique called spotlighting where troopers would use their headlights to identify the race of the driver.

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On page four, there is an example of how troopers would write down the license plate of white drivers, and then proceed to stop Blacks and Latinos, using the license plate of the white driver. This was done to disguise the racial profiling. Using this technique, the troopers would pull over drivers of a different race. One page five, there was an interracial couple driving down the road the Black man was driving. After not pulling over when requested, the troopers proceeded to fire 27 rounds into the vehicle killing the driver and injuring the white female.

There were more examples that also demonstrated how the troopers were discriminating against Black and Latino drivers. I now have a small idea of why minorities distrust authorities. I also can see why there is so much anger on behalf of minorities because of these actions.

In the area of stereotyping, there were three distinct examples. On page one, Judge Robert E Francis, noted that the state police were trained using videos where drug dealers were portrayed overwhelmingly by Black and Latino actors. On page three, in trying to defend the actions of the troopers, Colonel Carl Williams stated that the drug problem today is cocaine or marijuana. He then concluded with the statement: It is most likely minority groups that are involved with that. On page five, the New Jersey Attorney Generals report states the same connection. The report profiled persons with racial and ethnic characteristic and suggested that they would be more likely to be in possession of drugs. Coming from an authority figure it tended to reinforce inappropriate stereotyping, thus leading the officers to believe that there is a greater chance of encountering drug traffickers by stopping minority drivers. This stereotyping through the use of training, conditioning, and reinforcement would tend to explain some of the actions of why racial profiling takes place. This does not explain all actions nor does it make it justifiable.

The article indirectly identifies areas of abusive power. On page two, the trooper informed the paramedics that one of the young men could not be uncuffed because he had not been searched yet.

The medics proceeded to take off all his clothes. Since nothing was found, the young man asked to be uncuffed. The trooper promptly told him to shut up.

On page six, it emphasizes that racial profiling has continued since the days of slavery. The police use their power and racial profiling to target Black, Latinos, and Asian immigrants as well as other minorities. This power is designed to keep Blacks confined to the ghettos by treating them like criminals. This action of racial profiling is similar in some respects to the lynching of the south. The abuse of power and intimidation is an effective way to set an example for other minorities to stay put.

Finally, though all the abuse and discrimination, defiance appears. There are three examples of defiance in the article. One page two, in 1997 after police brutalized a Haitian immigrant, massive protest broke out across the Hudson River in New York City. On the same page, after the shooting of the van, a dual protest took place. First, a black newspaper printed a front-page article of the shooting. Second, people organized a car caravan to protest the shooting. The car protest took place on a Saturday. It stopped traffic by slowing it down to a crawl. On page five, over a July 4th weekend, over 75 people walked onto the expressway and staged a sit in. Although some persons were arrested, these were considered peaceful protests.

This type of abuse is not limited to just New Jersey. There is abuse, racial profiling. discrimination and stereotyping in all aspects of our society. It is no wonder there is hatred and distrust. There is no excuse for persons of authority to single out minorities for the sole purpose of discrimination. This article is just one of thousands that expose racial profiling through discriminatory actions and stereotyping. What is more unnerving is the fact of how may more of these incidents go unreported. Reading this article and the textbook, definitely heightened my awareness to these issues and as a result, a little ashamed to be part of the same race that is doing the abusing.

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