Racial Profiling in 18 Examples of Racism in The Criminal Justice System, an Article by Bill Quigley

In Bill Quigley's article, "18 Examples of Racism in the Criminal Justice System," he introduces the topic of racial profiling by displaying the statistics of criminal offences by the African Americans compared to the whites. The population of the African Americans in the United States, although significantly lower than the whites, has a greater chance of going to prison than the whites population. The main reason for the contradiction is the unjust profiling of race, leading to problems in the criminal legal system. Police stops occur more often to black males than white men; additionally, a study proved that there are differences in traffic stops during the day while at night, it is inexistent. Also, drug arrests are more common among blacks, even though both races use drugs at the same rate.

In James Bennet's article, "Racial Profiling in Preschool," he elaborates on the reasons why racial profiling in corrupt. For the same misbehavior, the black students are found to have received a more severe disciplinary punishment than their white peers. Additionally, the African American children are four times as likely to get suspended than the white children, suggesting that racial discrimination starts even at such a young age. In a research, two teachers were to look over 2 boys and 2 girls of different race; the study showed that the teachers had their attention on the black boy the majority of the time. Teachers also have the tendency to feel more threatened by a misbehaving black kid compared to a white kid, resulting in a harsher punishment for black children. The racial profiling at an early age can lead to future problems of falling behind in school.

In Selwyn Duke's article, "Americans should embrace racial profiling," he clears up the misconception that racial profiling is the same thing as being racist. Racial profiling is essential in diagnosing patients; if there is a disease that a certain race is more likely to have, it can help the physician diagnose patients with more assurance. Utilizing the statistics, it is a cautious act to have airport security inspect Muslims more closely; instead of it being considered prejudice, it is essential for a secure environment. Some may believe that treating everyone the same would solve the problem; however, the resources must be considered. Racial Profiling allows us to conserve time to make the best decisions, which is the whole point of having statistics.

Prior to reading these articles, I believed that racial profiling was definitely more harmful than beneficial, considering that racial profiling can create unjustified decisions. I acknowledged that it was not considered as discrimination, but when police officers use it to their advantage, it may create some favoritism toward one race. My favorite article was Duke's article because it provided another perspective of racial profiling that most would not think of. I learned that racial profiling is extremely important in many aspects; it can help diagnose a patient's condition and ensure safety for our country. Although the chance of a Muslim attacking Americans on the plane is minor, it is still a bigger percentage than a white person attacking Americans. I enjoyed the fact that he mentioned the idea of everyone being treated equally and reflected on the accountability of resources and time; additionally, he compared racial profiling to sex profiling, in which he argued that it is unreasonable to make a requirement for men to get a checkup for breast cancer when it is only a minority case. Bennet's article also furthered my understanding on this topic as it connected racial profiling to the school environment. Discrimination based on racial profiling can be harmful to the child's future both emotionally and educationally. While having made the same mistake, African American children are most likely to suffer a greater consequence. Quigley's article was informational because it provided evidence of the racial profiling cases that were corrupt. I really enjoyed the presence of those statistics because it proved the severity of racial profiling among crimes. My knowledge on this topic has expanded to a great extent as I researched about the positive and negative impacts of racial profiling.