Racial Profiling in America
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-04-16/racial-profiling-america
George Zimmerman was charged last week with the second degree murder of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. Prosecutors claim that Zimmerman “profiled” Martin, assuming he was a criminal based on his appearance. They have not explicitly accused Zimmerman of racial prejudice, but Martin was black and many are asking the question. Such profiling would be illegal for a police officer. But rights groups say it often happens. They worry it will become even more common thanks to Arizona’s new immigration law, which is the subject of a Supreme Court hearing next week. Join Diane for an examination of profiling, and its impact.
Guests
Ronald Hampton
Washington representative, Blacks in Law Enforcement of America.
Margaret Huang
executive director, Rights Working Group.
Michael Dougherty
director, Decision, Attention and Memory Lab at the University of Maryland.
Comments
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Dispatcher: Okay, yeah that’s no problem.
Zimmerman: Should I give you my number or you got it?
Dispatcher: Yeah I got it [redacted by Mother Jones]
Zimmerman: Yeah you got it.
Dispatcher: Okay no problem, I’ll let them know to call you when you’re in the
area.
Zimmerman: Thanks.
I am a forty six year old black man. I am college educated and have lived in New Jersey, Memphis, Washington, DC, Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Chicago and in both the city and the suburbs. I have always worked and lived among both black and white people. I get nervous when driving near police> i expect to be stopped periodically. If I smile and accept the injustice? I am able to walk away. I have at times lost it and been arrested!!!!!. Each time I have been apologized to!!!!
I want equal protection from the law and under the law!!!!!!!!!!
AS long as many americans get most of their information about African American men and boys from TV and sensational News Reports we will continue to be viewed as criminals first and foremost. I know my white aquantaintences far better then they know and understand me!!!
THe profiles assigned to black men and boys in popular culture is void of nuance. THis is one of the main reasons we are filling prisons with no slowing of this trend. Newsflash!!! We do not consume or sell most of the illegal drugs in this country. Why do we fill the prisons and why are we most likely to be jailed for drug offenses? Profiling continues the lie with no solution in sight while law enforcement resources continue to NOT solve any of the most relavant issues. Poverty, Joblessness etc. Whereever there is poverty and jobessness and significant numbers of poor in the close proximity to the rich is a recipe for crime. THe truth is also that intra group crime between the profiled is more likely than any inter group crime in all cases!!! Look anywhere in the world and you will see the police serve as a barrier for inter group crime and society leaves the poor to kill each other. THe hyposcrisy is breathtaking!!!!
I want equal protection from the law and under the law.
sonnsolo, your flailing wildly and missing the point badly.
All the time: black or white and, rarely: brown. Again, and again ...
There is a shortage of media talk about the whole spectrum of skin color in the U.S. Where are the yellow, beige, tan, ochre, red, greenish and pink people mentioned? Not to mention the vast amount of olive skinned. Not fair, not fair at all.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
All the time: black or white and, rarely: brown. Again, and again ...
There is a shortage of media talk about the whole spectrum of skin color in the U.S. Where are the yellow, beige, tan, ochre, red, greenish and pink people mentioned? Not to mention the vast amount of olive skinned. Not fair, not fair at all.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Thank you!
My mom used to wear a sweatshirt that said, "I am not drunk, I just have Parkinsons." Maybe we should all have shirts that say stuff. "I am not going to rob you. I am just a black teenage male and my head is cold." or "I am not a rich white woman with no feelings. I am just really shy." "I am not a rude kid with bad parents. I have autism." The list goes on....
If anyone disagrees with this they are a liar. Period. Not that we should be made to wear suits. The issue is how we present ourselves should be a personal responsibility that we take more seriously. These "personal rights" are taken a little too far, We have an obligation to one another to present ourselves in ways that would instill confidence. Personal freedoms are chipping away at the integrity of our society. Up until 100 years ago there was a certain amount of common sense mixed with manners that people conducted themselves in a proper way. I am not talking about Tra Von. I am saying, you dress like a thug , you get treated like a thug, you dress like a sex queen thats what you get. We need to quit making excuses and LIEING to each other and ourselves. booooooo whoooo I am sick of this winey society. I have a right to want my doctor to wear a tie not a nose ring. I have rights toooooo! Freedom, bullshit, Freedom at the expence of manners, respect and morality and sacrifice bullshit. Freedom to let someone be who they are and my gift out of the deal is to watch this world become free to be medocre and diseased.
Its pathetic, There are 1000 Tra Vons in Uganda suffering worse a fate that we need to teach our young people to be grateful to even walk down the street at night on two legs knowing they will have dinner waiting when they get home. I am sooooooooo done. Dont cry over one without a thought to the 1000's you never think about, You aint that great! great? you just got a cause for a few minutes. go do something hard while no ones watching. Go do something with no thanks, and no end in sight. go beat your head against the wall for 1000 tra vons. funny that mom and dad could give a shit before it was there son. oh how we elevate ourselves. pooie
Why is there so much debate about "profiling"? It's a natural, rational expectation of a generalized group (any definable group) based on experiences. Until you know an individual personally, you have to make an expedient decision on what that person is like based on superficialities. Unfortunately, the black community in America is responsible for about half of all crimes, though they make up about 15% of the population. Black males are maybe 7% of our population. The real debate should be, what can be done to about the crime problem? If you want to curb negative stereotyping, take the argument to the street thugs in Philadelphia who target and victimize whites, to the black youths in Silver Spring who flashmob and rob convenience stores, and the black youth who shout, litter, and deliberately menace other riders on the metro. Been there, seen that. I dare Ms. Rehm to host a show on that aspect of the topic.
BettyLa needs to learn how to spell and write. Maybe the decline in education in this country is the root problem of all our ills. Yikes.
In reply to Fatherof3: Most people are sympathetic to your argument, but the fact (not just media impression) is that 15% of American society is responsible for >40% of the crime, as reported by law enforcement. In fact it is when a white is charged with violence against a minority that the media smells blood and attacks. "Man bites dog" thing. And media love to start a fight.
And whites are the most common killers of whites and blacks are the most common killers of blacks. The real issue is that poverty, joblessness and crime are are hand and glove!!!
Give me the stats on Blacks committing crimes against whites and vica versa. Interracial Crime is the Man bites dog story
Lots of nonsense here. Being black and middle aged AND wearing a suit and tie will not keep one from being profiled. Being black and teen-aged and wearing a tie will certainly not keep one from being profiled. Being black and going to a gym with an Ivy-league logo on one's shorts AND T-shirt will not keep one from being profiled. I guess the Diane Rehm show should be happy to have all these misinformed people commenting, but many of them have no idea what they are talking about.
I love your show an I have great respect for you. Please stop throwing fuel on this fire we have herd enough about this very sad case but lets leave it up to the courts I have faith in our laws. One more thing racial profiling has nothing to do with this case using these words is just more fuel on the fire.
This country is in a said state when the penalty for wearing a sweat shirt is summary execution, and people defend the executioner.
Have you ever traveled to other countries??? I have and I have been ask many times to show my papers and I have never felt "profiled" this is how the would works.
Really? If Trayvon Martin were white he would still be alive. If George Zimmerman were black, he would have been under the jail from minute one, if not underground.
Father: read it and see.
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/homicide/race.cfm
Bear in mind the population percentages behind the statistics. It goes to 2005 but you can look up more data if you want. I don't have time to do it for you.
Blacks are treated better in other countries. You lived to tell of your travels to other countries. Trayvon did not live to walk to the neighborhood store and back.
Wayheyheyheyheyt a minute!
So now we are going down the same thought avenue that if a girl wears skimpy clothes and gets gang raped, she gets what she deserves???
WOW
I'm a 48 yr old mom wearing a hoody as I type.
People are responsible for their actions!
Police officers do themselves a huge disservice when they choose to be dishonest in gathering information from average citizens.
I was quite trusting in the police force until I had officers ask questions and twist answers regarding a situation they WANTED to prosecute. I had no idea people I was supposed to trust would lie. Sad really.
Let's not give the PD any kind of status they don't deserve.
One person.. in our own country... where we can make a difference... YES. THAT is important.
When people stop judging by LOOKS some of this may stop.
well said
Thanks you made my point. :-)
Although "slightly" less true now than before, most murders are intraracial
From 1976 to 2005 --
86% of white victims were killed by whites
94% of black victims were killed by blacks
In other words tracking down/profiling of blacks who "don't belong around here" is not even good police work in fact it is ignorant.
I only wish there was a protest everytime a young black boy who is unemployed, uneducated and poor is killed by another unemployed, uneducated and poor black boy.
Those numbers you spout would be dramatically reduced
Just a simple comment.
As a parent I have taught my kids that if my daughter dresses like a hooker then that is the way some people who do not know her will percieve her. If my son dresses like a "goth" or a gangster then the same thought pattern applies. If they choose to dress in these manners then they have chosen a path that sometimes will have negative consequences. Do I think that this is right NO, but it is a fact of life. We should be teaching our children cause and effect, love and compassion and most of all forgiveness.
themom wrote:
"Just a simple comment.
As a parent I have taught my kids that if my daughter dresses like a hooker then that is the way some people who do not know her will percieve her. If my son dresses like a "goth" or a gangster then the same thought pattern applies. If they choose to dress in these manners then they have chosen a path that sometimes will have negative consequences. Do I think that this is right NO, but it is a fact of life."
A simple comment, but a great insight.
I hate to boil this down to left and right, but generally, the comments do break along these lines. Here is the dichotomy:
left: let's all live as though this were a utopian society where everyone did and thought as they should based on the golden rule
right: reality.
As Martin Luther King said, we should judge people not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I agree. But it's hard to judge the content of someone's character when you have never met them. So, extrapolating on that thought, you use the clues you have to weigh the consequences of engaging the hooded black kid in the dark alley, the turbaned airplane passenger, and the non-English speaking Hispanic driving a beater with low-riders, and those clues are visual and they are experiential. I'm not saying it's right, I'm not saying it's wrong, I'm just saying what is. Welcome to reality.
"Patsy Nomore wrote:
Oh yea I forgot,ISRAEL. Their PROFILING is not by skin color. Their security agents are highly qualified,highly trained,highly respected, AND HIGHLY PAID PROFESSIONALS. They know what to ask of who....Something the NeoCon`s would never tolerate of any worker,government or private,who would be well paid and respected"
More stupidy from a leftist loney tone.
Fatherof3 wrote:
Thanks you made my point. :-)
Although "slightly" less true now than before, most murders are intraracial
Fatherof3 wrote stated
"From 1976 to 2005 --
86% of white victims were killed by whites
94% of black victims were killed by blacks
In other words tracking down/profiling of blacks who "don't belong around here" is not even good police work in fact it is ignorant.
I only wish there was a protest everytime a young black boy who is unemployed, uneducated and poor is killed by another unemployed, uneducated and poor black boy.
Those numbers you spout would be dramatically reduced"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey Father of 3:
Jet Magizine which markets to the African Community stated a few years back that out of the 16,000 homicides in the black community that year, 93% is black on black. How do you explain that sir?
"thanks35 wrote:
Blacks are treated better in other countries. You lived to tell of your travels to other countries. Trayvon did not live to walk to the neighborhood store and back"
Are you sure about thank35, because if I remember correctly in Zaire there has been thousands of killing by one tribe with another, all black. Hutus vs that other group.
Liberia and Uganda are countries that has seen a great deal of bloodshed.
The only reason I created an account is to post this.
When blacks and whites in mostly white neighborhoods doing exactly the same thing are viewed differently - whites being given more of a pass than blacks, it calls into question the statistics that blacks engage in more criminal behavior by comparison given that they are more likely to be suspected, accused, arrested, and convicted.
Look at the "What would you do?" examples (bike theft, car vandalism).
That was of blacks and whites in a "mostly white neighborhood". I think that calls into question the reactions of blacks in a "mostly black neighborhood" or of latinos in a "mostly latino neighborhood" or in a "highly diverse neighborhood" as to whether this is indicative of racism or just skewed analysis.
Still, one would expect, all things being equal, either that the blacks would get the same pass whites do while engaging in the exact same behavior, dressed exactly the same OR that whites would get the exact same incriminations that blacks do for engaging in identical behavior while dressed identically.
They're either equally guilty or equally innocent in the eyes of the observers. That's clearly not the case.
Something accounts for that.
If it's not the color of their skin but their behavior that is determinant of suspicion then something is clearly out of whack given their responses.
Again, maybe it's not just whites, that wasn't addressed.
But, if the outcome across ethnicities is that whites are more trustworthy than blacks (or other minorities) all things being equal, than, it's not the behavior.
It's something more.
Something more insidious.