Racial profiling is a disproportionate law enforcement exercises targeting a given racial group for investigation (Parker par. 1). The entire process involves discriminating the people of color using private security practices in various sectors, such as government departments, police, and airline. Racial profiling occurs due to unconscious perceptions that the perpetrators hold towards the blacks.
An example of a racial profiling case in the US involves Kendrick Johnson’s family who lost their 17-year-old son through bizarre circumstances at the Lowndes High School gym. In this case, three stories came into fore.
The police, on their part, held that the junior fell unnoticed when he tried to take back a shoe out of a rolled-up mat (Crockett Jr. par. 2), and the body was found the following day. The second argument was of the first autopsy that believed that positional asphyxia had caused the death. When the authorities exhumed the body some months later, most organs were missing.
This revelation led to a second autopsy, which held that the junior suffered a fatal blow. Surprisingly, from photographic analysis, it that emerged the teenager’s face was swollen and seemed beaten, and left him barely recognizable. However, the parents believe that the death of their child was not an accident. This is the story lawyers, the media, investigators, and the nation gets from the parents. With different stories on the death of the black teenager, the parents find it difficult to accept and move on with their daily lives.
The manner in which the security system handled the demise of the African-American high school student indicates how the system devalues black lives. To the family, the loss of their child resulted in both psychological torture and sociological problems, as evident in this article. For example, a year after the death, the parents are yet to report to work, and this has negatively impacted on their earnings. Kendrick’s father, Kenneth, was a truck-driver, while the mother, Jacquelyn, was a school-van driver (Crockett Jr. par. 8).
Kendrick’s parents have been championing for the elusive truth on the death of their child and crusading for reminiscences. Clearly, the parents cannot consent into the police findings and the autopsies that key government agencies held. So rooted is racial profiling among the US citizens, as evident in the manner in which some bus drivers could shout at them to “Give it a rest” or “Go home” when they were camping out with cardboard signs next to county courthouse.
The way in which the justice system handled the circumstances behind the death of the black teenager represents a society that is less concerned with the plight of the black minority in the nation. Several instances of racial profiling dominate the American history; this has made the black community feel as second-class citizens in the country.
With numerous cases on racial profiling, many people in America believe that this act is a serious and continuous problem, even in the 21st century with a black President, Barack Obama, in charge. Dating back to the times of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Montgomery Bus Incident, the justice system still works disproportionately on the people of color.
In another case, city prosecutors and the police railroaded one Hispanic and four black kids in 1989 in a rape case (Smith par. 5). Even after analyzing the DNA results, the prosecutor insisted that the accused were guilty. With the high-level skewness in the justice system, racial profiling remains a course for concern in the American society. Eradicating racial discrimination in this line requires overhaul of the country’s legislations, as well as inculcating the expected changes in the education system.
Works Cited
Crockett Jr., Stephen. Black Parents Forced to Fight for Justice For Their Sons. The Root. N.p., 11 Jan. 2014. Web.
Parker, Dennis. Racial Profiling. American Civil Liberties Union. American Civil Liberties Union, 21 Nov. 2013. Web.
Smith, Ann. But We Have a BLACK President!. BK Nation. N.p., 19 Jan. 2014. Web.