Racial Profiling and Stereotyping in America

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Racial prejudice and profiling as well as the stereotypes that resulted from these acts have been around for a very long time. However throughout the years it has slowly started to be less of an issue, but it will probably never completely go away. Currently there are several laws in place that support equal opportunity and fair treatment for all races, religions, and sex. In today’s society blacks are seen more and more in prominent positions within society, as evident with the election of a black President in the United States. In Brent Staples essay entitled Black Men and Public Space, he discusses issues of him being racially profiled on several occasions, and because of this he had been falsely considered a threat on these occasions (Staples). With all the negativity in the media and in movies surrounding racial prejudice and profiling over the years it is only natural to assume that if someone was found to be in the same situations discussed in this essay they would probably react similarly to everyone described by Staples. For some people in Staple’s situation it is possible that they may even get angry and turn violent which would only make the stereotypes true, but for him he chose the alternative, which was to be a little more understanding of the situations by doing things that made these individuals around him feel safe and comfortable, i.e. whistling Beethoven or just giving them a little extra room when on his night walks. This essay also raises a good question, should it be ok for law enforcement or the government to use racial profiling to make arrest or to just simply stop someone because of their race? Since the attacks of September 11th, once again racial profiling and stereotyping have become a big issue within today’s society. What is racial stereotyping? It is also called ethnic stereotyping and it is basically a person’s pre-conceived beliefs

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