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Racial Profiling: “That's Just a Fact.”Racial profiling was in the news this week because Henry Louis Gates, Jr., a world-renowned Professor of African-American studies at Harvard University, was a victim. However, it is important to remember that this story is news because of the identity of the person profiled, not because of the rarity of the underlying police actions. President Obama accurately reminded us of this during his press conference last night: What I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. That's just a fact. Racial profiling—using a person’s race, color, ethnicity or national origin to determine whether to stop, search or investigate him or her for alleged criminal activity—is rampant throughout the United States, and it acutely affects African American, Asian, Latino, South Asian, and Arab communities.
The Director of the Racial Justice Program at the ACLU, Dennis Parker, posed the question on the Diane Rehm Show this morning that if Professor Gates is subject to such treatment, “what does that say for the rest of the people of color that haven’t achieved his level of success?” In fact, much of what happened to Professor Gates was an anomaly. Most victims of racial profiling by police are not released after four hours. Most victims of racial profiling do not have the charges against them dropped. Most victims of racial profiling do not receive media attention. Last month, the ACLU and the Rights Working Group released a report to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination that demonstrates just how pervasive racial profiling is in the United States. The report, The Persistence of Racial and Ethnic Profiling in the United States, explains, Despite overwhelming evidence of its existence, often supported by official data, racial profiling continues to be a prevalent and egregious form of discrimination in the United States. Both Democratic and Republican administrations have acknowledged that racial profiling is unconstitutional, socially corrupting and counter-productive, yet this unjustifiable practice remains a stain on American democracy and an affront to the promise of racial equality. The report also uncovers how government policies contribute to racial profiling. For example, the 287(g) program has allowed local law enforcement officers to enforce civil immigration laws, which has resulted “in the increased profiling of people of color suspected of being immigrants and non-citizens.” The effects of this policy have been especially harmful to Latino communities, as well as South-Asian communities that already suffer from post-9/11 hostility in the workplace and public spaces.
As a senator, President Obama supported the End Racial Profiling Act (ERPA), which was first introduced in 1997 and subsequently reintroduced without success. It is time that his administration encourages Congress to pass this important piece of legislation once and for all. ERPA would not only ban racial profiling, but it would require law enforcement agencies to establish procedures for when and how to conduct appropriate profiling of suspects and to collect gender and race data on police activity, as well as allow victims of racial profiling to take action against law enforcement officers. Currently only 13 states require police to track the race of persons stopped in their vehicles, according to Reginald Shuford, a lawyer at the ACLU who has successfully sued the Maryland State Police for disproportionately stopping motorists along interstate 95. Most important, ERPA is vital for our federal government to officially take action against racial profiling and set the standard for each state. To learn more about the Professor Gates’ incident and racial profiling in Massachusetts, read “Racial profiling is Alive and Well” in the Boston Globe by Carol Rose, Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. Learn more about the state of racial profiling in the United States by visiting www.aclu.org/cerd. Listen to a podcast with Dennis Parker discussing racial profiling in America. Find out more about the Racial Justice program’s work against racial profiling at our website.
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20 Responses to "Racial Profiling: “That's Just a Fact.”" |
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Jul 23rd, 2009 at 10:29pm
I would like to share what has happened to my son below:
First, the Fed lowers the reserve requirement. If it does that, banks can
make more loans and create more checking accounts. The second thing would be that the banks borrow from the
fed. If the Fed makes the terms of borrowing easier, banks will borrow more, and when they borrow more, they have
more reserves and they can create more loans and more checking accounts. Finally, open market operations
whenever people sell securities to the Fed, the Fed gives people cash or checks which they put in their banks and
when the banks present them for clearing with the Fed, the Fed give the bank reserves which then gives the banks
more room to create more loans and checking accounts.
Jul 23rd, 2009 at 10:33pm
oops wrong paste above. Here is what I wanted to share.
There is a possible VOP holding him in jai; for the judge to review. I wanted to find out what I can do because the DWSL actually was paid on June 8, 2009 and he was arrested on June 9, 2009 with the D6 in his hand and the $50 in his wallet that he just earned from Able Body to pay for the reinstatement. He was headed there to pay the $47.50 fee. Technically it was still suspended but his D6 suspension was satisfied. I have the D6. Some officers let you go but there was a so-called suspicion that the officers wanted to question him about.
After I had talked to the Seargeant at the Osceola County police office I found out that he was pulled over because there were burglaries in the neighborhood so he was profiled to be a suspect because of his background and because they were looking for a tall skinny black man. Sears was so scared that he let them even search my house without a warrant, and take a DNA sample all without a lawyer. The sergeant said that maybe when Sears gets to see a judge he can show them the D6 form and show that his license is straight and it will be dismissed. The original ticket that caused his ticket to be suspended was a window tint ticket. He did not even get pulled over the cop just pulled over to his parked car while he was at a gas station and gave him the ticket. Sears is a good kid and many will testify too that. He was an ADHD child and now he is an adult and it is hard for him to remember to pay his tickets and all these other fines. He is a good honest black male and he is not a menace to society. I am a single parent and I volunteer to minister in the Florida Correction facilities with our church NDCC. I am the one who has been staying in him about his responsibilities. He has been paying his fees and doing community service. I just want the judge to please consider these things and not find him in violation of the probation due to the fact that his D^ suspension was satisfied a day before he was arrested and he thought he could drive to work and get the $50 to pay the reinstatement.
Earlier that day he was so happy to call me and tell me that he paid his ticket off and hours later my daughter called saying that the police were searching my house with him in the car. He was cleared of any suspicion after that and now he is stuck in jail which all started with an officer not liking his tint on his old 1992 Lincoln rust bucket. The tint has been on there forever.
I feel that this is injustice.
Jul 23rd, 2009 at 11:15pm
The ACLU is a legal organization. That means you stick to the law. At this point no one knows what happened to Henry Gates and what didn't happen. It embarrasses the history of the ACLU for this snap judgment to be made.
I also think the ACLU needs to do a better job with this blog which is increasingly partisan and filled with nonsense.
When posts like these go up, they degrade the betters ones that deserve to be posted.
This post needs to be corrected or taken down.
And the ACLU, of all organizations, should never lead a rush to judgment.
Jul 24th, 2009 at 7:09am
You are right most people do not get all of this attention. However, I believe that most people would not have reacted as the Professor did. Most people would have given the information to the police when asked. Then I know I would be glad at least the neighbors were looking out for my house while I was away. Since there were a lot of recent burglaries in that area. I have already had my neighbors say if your away don't expect me to look out for your house.
I think to avoid any more racial profiling that no African-Americans, or Latinos should be arrested or stopped for any reason. Then we will no longer have this problem. That is one way to get an end to this. So everyone is on their own.
I do not think this problem will be erased in our lifetime. Probably in our childrens or grandchildrens. Especially if everyone brings up their children without a chip on their shoulder or disrespect for others. People need to teach their children to respect other races and I mean all races.
The police officer in question tried to save Celtics Reggie Lewis when he colapsed on a court by using mouth to mouth resuscitation. Does not sound like a racist to me.
It would be nice if everyone would try to respect one another. But I don't think that will happen soon.
Jul 24th, 2009 at 9:25am
THE PROF. GATES POLICE HOME INVASION:
EMBLEMATIC OF A POLICE STATE GESTAPO
ENABLED BY A SECRETIVE FED 'PROGRAM'
OF EXTRAJUDICIAL 'VIGILANTE INJUSTICE'
• President Obama must dismantle the nationwide GPS-activated "torture matrix" and remove from power the federal officials who continue to oversee it.
FEMA, Secret Service, FBI, the military and intel agencies are among the federal enablers of volunteer community policing, anti-terrorism and town watch organizations transmogrified by Bush-Cheney into fronts for a nationwide, civilian Gestapo-like army.
This grassroots-based extrajudicial targeting and punishment "torture matrix" uses covertly implanted GPS tracking devices to stalk, harass, vandalize and terrorize unjustly "targeted" Americans and their families.
When "targets" travel, the GPS system alerts vigilantes affiliated with local units of this American Gestapo, triggering a systematic campaign of stalking and harassment that often includes vandalism and surreptitious home entries. The cooperation of local police denies unjustly targeted Americans their Constitutional right of equal protection under the law.
Silent, injury- and illness-inducing microwave and laser radiation "directed energy weapons" are being used to torture, and to degrade the lives of targeted citizens -- what could be described as a quiet, ideologically-motivated genocide.
This weaponization of the electromagnetic spectrum is every bit as socially significant as the invention of gunpowder -- but the mainstream media has yet to report in detail on the ramifications.
Victims charge that members of this civilian Gestapo have infiltrated the health care system, calling into question the quality of the services they receive when they need hospital or emergency care.
And companion array of “programs of personal financial destruction," using the IRS as a political weapon, sabotages the finances of targeted families. Their telecommunications and U.S. mail appear to be subject to warrantless surveillance, interception and tampering, including the alteration of financial accounts and credit card and utility billing statements.
This systematic bypass of the American judicial system makes a mockery of the rule of law -- and political "dissidents," "whistle-blowers" and those considered to be social "deviates" are among its prime targets.
Civil rights advocates: Wake up and smell the police state that has co-opted POTUS and an unaware Congress into becoming enablers of vigilante injustice and domestic torture.
http://nowpublic.com/world/gestapo-usa-govt-funded-vig ilante-network-terrorizes-america
OR (if link is corrupted / disabled):
See "GESTAPO USA" at http://NowPublic.com/scrivener ("stream" or "stories" list).
IT HAPPENS TO WHITE ETHNIC MINORITIES, TOO:
http://nowpublic.com/world/anti-stalking-journo-seeks-lawy er-fight-stalking-charge
Jul 24th, 2009 at 1:07pm
I think the whole event shows an irony. It was in fact President Obama who "acted stupidly" and also, in fact, displayed racial profiling. I have no doubt,that had the Police Officer been black, that it would never would have been addressed by him. Another fact remains, local law enforcement is not a Presidential Issue, and he should spend the time he used for this, to address issues that are his responsibility.
Jul 24th, 2009 at 7:16pm
I agree that we seem to be seizing on an "answer" before we know what happened to Professor Gates. I'm not taking sides on the issue because we don't know enough. I do like Professor Gates and it would be easy for me to offer reasons why . . . But I'm not going to do that. Barack Obama made a mistake by speaking on a topic he admittedly didn't have all the facts on. I'm not going to do the same thing and I wish the ACLU had not rushed to a conclusion. I agree with a lot of the comments here but especially with Kayvette.
Jul 25th, 2009 at 12:34pm
Two things.
One:
When cops come to your door because of a call about a break-in at your house you first do everything in your power to identify yourself as the owner while repeatedly thanking them for doing their job and checking on your house. After all, they're just doing their job.
In such a situation cops will automatically be rude, demanding and seem unreasonable but it's your job (if you want to protect yourself) to be nonthreatening and entirely cooperative and help them feel comfortable with your presence. You can also ask them to thank the watchful neighbor who called for you. In other words, rightly or wrongly you kiss their ass.
For some reason I don't think Gates did this.
Cops can be assholes, too. And it's entirely possible this was just a case of two arrogant bastards facing off against each other. That happens whether you're white or black.
Two:
The first time I did powder cocaine I was already high on a pot of coffee and after snorting a lot of coke I found the high to be the same as drinking a pot of coffee. I did powder cocaine all thru the 80's and didn't know anyone personally who was 'addicted'. I then tried crack cocaine once (3 hits) with a friend who had sold all his stuff little by little, late at night, to buy rocks of crack.
Crack is definitely worse and more addictive than powder and anyone who says otherwise is full of shit. Don't listen to them.
Jul 25th, 2009 at 2:27pm
I wonder how many white criminals get away with their crimes because cops are to busy rousting minorities?
Jul 25th, 2009 at 4:57pm
WEll i guess my first message never got to you probly part of the continual scheme to keep there dirty lundary in house. other methods are bugging my home telephone services going to college where i attend school speaking bad of me plus contacting potenial empolyment and discourge them from hiring me. Arizona has its own laws different from the rest of the United States its like a bad movie thats has come to life. The court proceeding are unconstitutional at best atleast in my case. where the factal information was ignored my public pretender never showed to one court date and i was allowed to speak to the judge from the seats in the court they would not allow me to speak into the microphone like everyone before me.when i questioned it they became very angry i was also given the wrong court dates on a back of a card in hopes that i would miss the real court date thus make me FTA loseing by default. i ask myself is all this happening cause im black mybe or some bad people raised some bad kids who grew up tobe bad people that patrol our streets and oversee our court rooms. I know police write lies tell lies but judges that was knew to me. and they stand and point the finger at other people, not surprised anymore its the American way,or the white way no harm meant just calling like it is. You might think he's angry not really just wanna see justice work for me after all i'm american it's suppose to regardless of my stature or the poeple who committed the crime status. The people here in arizona are cruel to the bone,only awearness will change what takes place here. I contact the FBI on the West coast aleast no responces i heard on a documentary they use tobe part of the Klan i don't know but i do know this my story is the truth. i told the story to my classmates there was not one dry eye in the classroom my teacher even wrote at the top of the paper powerful strong, maybe so but inside of me i was crushed by the unconstitutional acts by people who were sworn in to do the right thing and never came close to doing the right thing. instead they continue there unscrupulous behavior i guess because they have nothing better to do or the infomation have could ruin many careers i think is not the latter.you might be saying what happen ? swat team police kicked my door down news in front of my house stateing man with guns and drugs holding girl friend and daughter hostage. no guns no drugs found my girl fiends made no call to the police what so ever she even gave a notarized affadavit stating this was a lie we were told don't care about the affadavit. guess what i was charged with?theft of my onw cell phone i paid 30 dollars for the phone. thats a dam shame. but it justice in Arizona or was it blackmans justice in Arizona makes you wonder. know this it was not leagal American justice. i recently 2dys ago sent a letter to the FBI informing that my home and phone was bugged also my computer Will see, you know the old boy system look out for me and i will look out for you and lets sweep the truth under the rug or kill the complaintent Well my story is in 4 out of 50 states somebody going to make sure justice is served i'am sure of that. reply i like to here from you email toodlewilliam@yahoo.com remember my computer is bugg.
Jul 27th, 2009 at 10:33am
I concur. This fascist-gestapo-surveillance system must be brought to an end if the U.S. is genuinely a democratic system
Jul 27th, 2009 at 3:17pm
#9 Now who is the racist?
#10 Do you truly believe that?
So if you get every thing you want to make the US a genuinely democratic system who do you think will be in charge? Do you want this country run by another country? What will you do then?
Just wondering?
Jul 29th, 2009 at 12:13pm
There are currently stalking groups that are operating in many (if not all) communities across this country. This is not some sort of delusion -- it's a fact.
I've seen the "facist-gestapo-surveillance system" at work and must conclude: If this could happened to a white, female, law-abiding, Christian healthcare professional with absolutely no criminal history, it could happen to anyone.
The police turn a blind-eye to these stalking groups and, as such, are complicit. Someone needs to do something before it's too late. Good Americans would never tolerate the abuses that are taking place. That this "group stalking" is permitted in America and remains unchecked -- and uninvestigated -- is shameful. In the meantime, the criminal acts continue unabated.
Where is the ACLU in all of this???
Jul 29th, 2009 at 9:05pm
Why are Asians not arrested/detained more often? Why are they people of color and yet ignored as possible/potential criminals?
It's just not fair.
Also, interesting that LULAC lists many anti-illegal immigration groups as somehow evil, no matter that any group has a variety of members with a variety of views - but they also leave out the American Hispanics against Illegal Immigration group "You Don't Speak for Me". Odd - the opinions of people of their own ethnic group are inconsequential.
It also seems that Hispanics expect Americans to embrace them whether they come legally or not, while expounding about LAW and how LAW should be respected.
Behind closed doors in living rooms across America, Hispanics are being negatively discussed for this very reason - by many races.
Jul 29th, 2009 at 9:17pm
We had a neighbor who thought she was being stalked. She knew about a Mexican man who had committed a murder in LA and she thought it was him.
She was a white.
?
Jul 29th, 2009 at 9:41pm
Vic
Maybe you should work for Medicaid for awhile - or do investigative work for the government. Maybe these Gestapo members just arrested 293 or so citizens who have committed Medicare fraud and robbed the government of hundreds of millions of dollars? Today's news.
I think there is a time in every minority person's life when they feel they are really the victim - but that they later mature and begin to appreciate all they have here in this country.
If we're such a terrible country - then why are so many coming? For punishment?
Jul 31st, 2009 at 7:10am
I guess now you can say OOPS in reference to this particulare case
Aug 1st, 2009 at 7:32am
COPY OF LETTER I RECENTLY SENT TO WALGREENS HEADQUARTERS.
GUILTY (Crime: Black Male)
I was shopping at neighborhood store about 11am, Monday, July 20, 2009. I browsed several items, including photo, to compare prices with CVS across the street before I made my purchased. The store clerk, a black woman with an African or Caribbean island accent left her post to spy on me...leaving the front desk unattended. I am used to racial profiling since I am a 65 year old black male and know from experience that many prejudiced people stereotype all black males as thieves, drug dealers, and rapists.
I left the store only to return immediately because I had forgotten to check out the floss threaders. The same clerk followed me and two other young black males in the store while ignoring white browsers. I confronted her and asked her, "Do you follow white customers like you have been following me? Yes, I am a black male, but I do not steal and I resent racial profiling. While you're watching me white customers (like Heddy Lamar and Winona Ryder) are stealing your store blind. Besides most stealing is done in-house by employees."
I am a highly paid resident of Dupont Circle and don't have to steal to survive nor am I addicted to stealing like Miss Lamar and Miss Ryder. I hope to resolve this issue with Walgreens management without having to take my case any further, because I often shop at this store and will not tolerate being followed around and treated like a thief or common criminal.
Samuel Augustus Jennings
Aug 3rd, 2009 at 3:45pm
Minorities can cry racism at a drop of a dime and racism only applies to whites. Don't you get it?
If not so, the media would have called out gates for the reverse racist comments.
Aug 24th, 2009 at 12:16pm
What happened to this it suddenly disappeared from the media, maybe it was due to the policemans voice recorder that was recording all the conversations? I would like to know or should I say hear what was said, but we all know that wont be heard.