Black? He must be a criminal. Latino? He must be part of the cartel. Muslim? He must be a terrorist. These are common perceptions of many individuals in our society regarding ethnic groups. This is racial profiling, and it has dire consequences for all of us.
The news channels are popping up with news saying that people of specific skin color, with a specific background, are often stopped by police officers even when they are doing nothing that is offensive. A large number of them are forced to stay behind bars and are a victim of police violence with no reason at all.
It is to be noted that all of these stories that become the breaking news are not only related to the police acting in this way. We see various examples of racial profiling today. You can find shopkeepers keeping a keen eye on their black customers to stop them if they shoplift from their stores.
There are various cases of Muslims being asked to go back to their homelands despite having foreign nationalities for generations and even white students treating their black classmates unjustly because they are black.
This is what is known as racial profiling in our everyday lives. It not only affects the victims, but it also creates a ripple effect that creates havoc in all the sectors of society.
1. It’s becoming normal
Over the past couple of weeks, a lady brought her dog to a park and didn’t keep it on a leash. When she was stopped by a black man on the staff of the park, she called the police and tried to portray him wrongly.
In another incident, a golf owner called the police on a black woman simply because she was playing too slowly. A black woman was harassed by people as she was simply passing through the neighborhood.
We have read various racial profiling essay in our college lectures and assignments, and we see how it is harmful to society as a whole.
There are many more such examples of racial profiling today. Racial profiling has become second nature now, and everyone sees it as something that happens and is alright to happen.
2. Dangerous Health Consequences
Perception Institute, an institute that helps organizations reduce discrimination in their staff, showed through various studies that long time stress could induce health issues, and for this reason, minorities suffer a high risk of chronic diseases.
Moreover, online research has shown that people who hold grudges against a specific cast are at a high risk of activating a part of their brain that is activated by fear and that stress is very harmful to the body.
3. Inequality and Unfairness
They also get charged more in terms of interest as compared to their white counterparts, even if they have the same credit history. We need to realize that everyone is a free citizen of the state. This needs to be taught to students in all levels of education so that we will not have cases like George Floyd anymore.
Studies show that whites have 25% more chances of getting a job sooner than their black counterparts having the same academic record.
4. Loss of Important time
Studies show that police spend a considerable amount of their time responding to false alarms, such as cases where people of specific ethnicity were found doing something absolutely normal like sitting on a bench, reading a book. Imagine all that time is actually used to save someone who is in need of it.
5. Loss of National Resources
This kind of attitude resists revolution and positive change in society. It destroys the economy of the country and its image as a united nation all over the world. The circumstances become unstable during protests, and a large number of resources and manpower are utilized in looking after these riots, which in turn weakens the national defense. Everywhere we look, we see examples of racial profiling today.
What can we do?
This biased attitude, once incorporated, is not easy to shake away. But there are ways to fight back. There are tests online to know what type of bias a person has in him. Using that information, a person can help himself removing biases from his mind.
Since these biases start at an early age, it becomes the responsibility of the parents to teach their children how to not let these inhumane thoughts affect him. The University of California has come up with the following steps to help remove these biased thoughts from society.
- Talking positively about other groups in front of them
- Helping your kids meet and be friends with groups of all races
- Talking broadly about the effects of racism
Final Verdict
According to Perception Institute, the seeds of biasness are planted in the heads of the toddlers before kindergarten.
These environmental effects can come from seeing friends showing verbal hate towards a specific color community, jokes pointed towards a specific community, and focusing on the differences instead of the similarities. Media also plays a role in shaping one’s mind.
