Racial Profiling in America

Thesis Statement

Racial profiling is a disputed term, embodying either a pernicious police practice or an intelligent application of police investigative skills, depending upon ideological perspective.

 

Introduction

It is most commonly understood in the former context, a shorthand for unfair police targeting of persons of minority groups for greater scrutiny and intervention, based solely upon the belief that members of their ethnic group are more inclined to engage in criminal activity. The contemporary term has a specific history anchored in drug interdiction efforts(Muffler 46), but its informal synonym, “driving while black” (or brown), predates drug interdiction, stemming from the ...