Have you ever been a victim of racial profiling? If not, you are very fortunate. Racial profiling has existed and occurred every day of my life without failure.
Racial profiling is a deeply entrenched issue that has plagued societies for decades, particularly affecting the lives of Black and Latino individuals, as well as other people of colour. This practice involves targeting individuals based on their perceived race or ethnicity, rather than evidence of criminal behaviour. The consequences of racial profiling are far-reaching, leading to systemic injustices, psychological trauma, and a pervading sense of insecurity among Black communities. In this blog, we will delve into the various dimensions of racial profiling and shed light on its profound impact on the lives of Black, Latino, and other people of colour. Racial profiling is the law enforcement practice of using race, ethnicity, national origin, or religious appearance as one factor among others when police decide which people are suspicious enough to warrant police stops, questioning, frisks, searches, and other unnecessary practices to harass people of colour.
Upon many occasions, innocent people have been murdered or choked to death for breathing while Black. For example, a police department might use race to determine who to stop for minor traffic offenses or jaywalking. Racial profiling is at play when immigration enforcement officials target Asian, Middle Eastern, or Muslim immigrants for detention without any evidence that these individuals have committed crimes. Black individuals often find themselves subjected to heightened scrutiny, unwarranted suspicion, and unfair treatment solely because of their race. These encounters can happen anywhere – while driving, shopping, applying for housing, needing medical attention, applying for college, seeking employment, or even just walking down the street.
Perhaps one of the most horrific manifestations of racial profiling occurs within law enforcement. The tragic deaths of Black individuals like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Dante Wright, Tatiana Jefferson, Philando Castile, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Ahmaud Arbery, Michael Brown, and many others have highlighted the alarming disparity in how encounters with the police can escalate to violence when racial biases come into play. The disproportionate targeting of Black communities for drug-related offenses and the alarming racial disparities in arrest rates have contributed to a cycle of distrust between these communities and the criminal justice system.
The constant fear of being targeted because of one's skin colour takes a significant toll on the mental health of Black individuals. The stress and anxiety associated with navigating a world that often perceives them as threats lead to emotional trauma. The cumulative impact of microaggressions, discriminatory practices, and the awareness of systemic racism can result in a profound sense of helplessness, anger, and depression. Several years ago, I facilitated a workshop with the San Francisco Bay Area Black communities on ways to protect themselves from being murdered. It was an eye-opening experience. Consistently, lies and misinformation was released about Blacks and other people of colour. My final report shared that most police departments and White individuals swallowed the poison cocktail of fear when they see a Black person, especially a dark skinned man. In workshops, White people shared what they were taught from a very young age. Many grew up believing not to trust anyone of colour, especially Black people. They believe that "those people" will:
Rape our wives.
Rape our daughters and sons.
Break into our homes to steal their property.
Rob us at gun point on the streets.
Steal our automobiles, bicycles, mail, or other packages.
Steal items from local grocery stores, pharmacies, or shops.
In 2018, my partner created a sweatshirt to help protect me from being murdered by police for walking in my neighbourhood, shopping for food, or driving my little red Miata to the service station to get petrol. In very bold letters the hoodie read, "Don't Shoot". To my surprise, mothers in various San Francisco communities of colour would stop me on the streets asking for advice on how to teach their young boys and girls to protect themselves from being killed for having Black or Brown skin. I was overwhelmed on how people grabbed me and wouldn't let go until we had a conversation about racism and racial profiling. They were all so grateful.
The beginning of 2023 marked 26 years since the introduction of the first piece of proposed legislation on racial profiling: the Traffic Stops Statistics Act of 1997, H.R. 118. Passed unanimously by the United States House of Representatives in March 1998. This bill constituted the first attempt by any legislative body to come to grips with what had become known as “racial profiling”: the police practice of stopping black and brown drivers in disproportionate numbers for traffic infractions, in attempts to investigate other crimes for which the police had no evidence. In 2001, the George W. Bush administration promised to end the practice of racial profiling. Life lessons and experiences reveal that racial profiling never ended; in fact, it became more intense, and took on new targets. The overall tactic remained the same, using racial and/or ethnic appearance as an indicator of suspicion, followed by negative engagements with the police. Racial profiling is part of life for every Black person or person of colour trying to survive in America and other places in the world. Unfortunately, the courts don’t consider a traffic stop to be racial profiling if police have probable cause to make the stop. It's also not considered racial profiling if the person fits a complete description of a crime suspect, such as “Hispanic male, 5 feet 9 inches tall, wearing blue jeans and a red T-shirt and high-top red Nike sneakers.” As an 8-year-old walking to school one morning with friends, I was stopped, searched, and placed in a Houston, Texas police car because I resembled a Black man in his 30s that had robbed a 7/11 store. The handcuffs didn't fit because my hands were too small. I was placed in the backseat like a prisoner, and I kept asking questions that made them eventually put me out of the car far away from my school. I kept asking what is a 7/11 store? Lessons from my parents taught me to not be afraid and to always be honest and to ask lots of questions.
Racial profiling by local police departments all over America has never made anyone safer because it misses its intended targets, blinds law enforcement, and serves as salt in the wounds that keep police departments and communities of colour at odds and apart from each other. Historically, racial profiling by police began a very long time ago, before I was even born. For Black Americans, it has always been a fact of life. No one is surprised that racial profiling or bias started in Florida. In the 1980s, a Florida state trooper named Bob Vogel, engaged in drug interdiction along the state's highways, began to put together a list of factors for stopping people that were considered suspicious of drugs. All the lists were incomplete and selective. The list only included instances in which the police had stopped drivers and found drugs, not ones in which the efforts were unsuccessful. The tactic made Vogel a celebrity with the Drug Enforcement Administration. As a result, the federal government became a leader in creating Operation Pipeline. The program began in 1986, using millions of dollars in federal funding to train police in the fine points of profiling. The DEA denies that it made racial or ethnic appearance a factor in any of its training, but the evidence says otherwise. Once Operation Pipeline made it into the training and tactics of police forces around the country, police targeting of black drivers became systematic and common.
Police departments have been taught to use racial profiling against other groups too. For example, after 9-11, most people of Arab decent were harassed in America as terrorists. While working in Washington, DC, no one would enter a taxi or Uber auto if the driver had dark skin because of the lies spread by the media and elected officials that these people were dangerous. Discrimination was also used against many religions that were not known or understood by Americans. Racial profiling erodes trust between Black communities and institutions, further perpetuating a cycle of alienation and marginalization. This distrust prevented cooperation between law enforcement and communities, hindering effective crime prevention strategies and undermining community safety.
While working in the DC government, I was able observe how police would sell drugs only to communities of colour, mostly Black men. Once the sale was made, they would contact their fellow officers to follow up with searches and arrest them for buying drugs with the intent to use or sell it. There was never a mention that the seller was a police officer setting the trap. Once cannabis became legal in Washington, DC and other states, crimes decreased. Eventually police officers had to think of other reasons to stop people with darker skin hanging out in their communities.
Racial profiling also refers to instances when law officers refuse to act to prevent crimes solely based on race, such as when police fail to respond to reports of violence against Black families in a white neighbourhood or prevent the lynching of African Americans. Lynching, although on the down low, still exists in America. When calls come through requesting help in Black or Latino communities, police will often take 3 hours or longer to respond, if at all. I was always taught the police departments were to protect all people, not just some of the people. Once again, I was taught lies.
Racial profiling is a fact of life. More than half of the Black men in the United States told a Pew Research Center survey that police have stopped them unfairly. About 31% of African American women say police have unfairly stopped them too. The darker a person’s skin, the more often they experience profiling. In 2021 Pew Research Center study revealed that 16% of Hispanic adults who have darker skin reported they had “been unfairly stopped by police” in the 12 months prior to March 2021, as opposed to 8% of those with lighter skin.
Is there an impact of racial profiling on communities? Racial profiling negatively impacts the community in several ways. First, it confirms community feelings of racism and the fear of those who are different. It denies the community the full gifts of all its citizens because victims of profiling feel disempowered. It also strongly affects the classmates, neighbours, friends, and families of the victim. Racial profiling destroys public confidence in law enforcement agencies and other institutions. In an Ontario Human Rights Commission survey, minorities described feeling suspicious, distrustful, angry, antagonistic, hostile, and afraid of law enforcement officers. Growing up while Black, there was always a need to be protected from being murdered or charged for a fake crime by the police. Many people experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because of racial profiling. The effects can be devastating to children and young people. Individuals who have immigrated to the United States from dictatorships or authoritarian governments also find racial profiling to be difficult because of flashbacks to experiences in their previous environment.
Where do we go from here? Addressing racial profiling requires comprehensive efforts at both individual and systemic levels. Law enforcement agencies need to implement bias training, enact transparent policies, and be held accountable for their actions. Wider society must engage in open dialogues about race, challenge their own biases, and actively work to dismantle systemic racism. Additionally, policy makers should focus on legislative reforms that address racial disparities in criminal justice, employment, housing, education, and healthcare.
Racial profiling remains a distressing reality that significantly impacts the lives of Black individuals. Its insidious presence perpetuates injustice, inequality, and division with societies and communities. I do believe that if anyone knowingly commits a crime, they should be punished but not murdered in the streets by the scared, trigger-happy police and security guards. Recognising the harm, it inflicts and taking proactive steps to combat it is essential for creating a world where everyone, regardless of their race, can live with dignity, security, and the promise of equal treatment under the law. Will it ever happen? Probably not in my lifetime. Time has taught me to look out for myself and for those that are close to me. My mother would be proud that I survived this long living in a world of hatred.
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