Racial Profiling A Festering Wound On Our Society

On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner, an unarmed black man, was killed from a chokehold by an NYPD officer who had approached him for selling single cigarettes. On December 3, 2014 the grand jury did not indict the officer, rousing the public into an outrage of such racial profiling. Racial profiling is any use of race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin as a way to decide who should be investigated by law enforcement (Grabianowski 1). It is one of many controversial ways law enforcement profiles suspects. Since the time of Martin Luther King Jr., many claim that such conflict has ended eons ago, but the problem is still a festering wound on our society. Racial profiling causes citizens to distrust their law enforcement, is based on false assumptions, and is opposed by the Constitution. Of course, racial profiling is a heavily disputed concept for a number of reasons, largely because the persons of that specified race are immediately put at a disadvantage. For example, â€Å"Membershi p in a particular ethnic or religious group is a valid marker for assuming and judging unobserved behavioral traits in another person, especially when we have no other information to go on at that moment in time† (Horowitz 2). Some people believe that it is a necessary precaution to racially profile citizens. According to Carl Horowitz, racial profiling is simply a way to ensure that threats such as terrorism are prevented. Actions such as inspecting Muslim citizens through their daily lives and