Racial Profiling In Luis Valdez's Zoot Suit

Racial tensions in Los Angeles came into the public eye when a gang of sailors beat up a group of Mexican-Americans wearing “zoot suits” in June of 1943. This led to the mass incarceration of these individuals known as “pachucos”. This initial incident was followed by days of violence in which servicemen roamed the Los Angeles area and physically assaulted any Mexican American they found in zoot suit apparel. The following two nights, the attacks progressed and though a few sailors were arrested while others were warned not to proceed in further assaults, word of the rioting spread and more military personnel from other areas of the city joined in as well. These events were preceded by increased racial tension between Mexican-Americans and Anglo Saxons.

In recent years racial profile has been the buzz word. So what is racial profiling? Racial profiling is using the race of an individual or ethnicity by law enforcement as factor in the decision whether to engage in the enforcement of the law. The allegations are cops are targeting minorities, seemingly people of Africa decent more than any other race. I have been accused of racism many times in the past with little to no provocation. It usually comes at the beginning of a traffic stop when I walk to the car. I hear the person say “you only stopped me because I’m black”. I have explained to numerous people I didn’t know who or what color they were until I walked up to the car. Contrary to the belief cops know who’s in the car before we pull it over, we don’t. The social outcry that the police, the front-line representatives of government are targeting the minorities is false. There’s no credible evidence that racial profiling exists today, yet the crusade to abolish it threatens a decade’s worth of crime-fighting success.

Fruitvale station is movie that tackles the stereotypes of racism, police- brutality and poverty all in the matter of 85 minutes. Based on a true story, the movie follows its protagonist Oscar Grant III in his final hours leading up to his death. Grant was brutally shot by police officers in Hayward California on New Year’s Day 2009. Fruitvale station depict his everyday life and centers around him and his family and the effects situations such as poverty, racism and police brutality can have on certain demographics. It also shows that sometimes all three are intertwined.

Racial discrimination is becoming a major problem in today 's society. Our nation is facing problems based on the discrimination on race, ethnicity, religion or national origin. Racial profiling is a clear violation of the civil rights of the United States. The use of racial profiling has caused major issues and has had a huge impact among our nation. This has influenced a lot of hate and killing towards different type of race, religion, etc. groups. Law enforcement has become ineffective due to racial profiling. Statistics have shown some situations of racial profiling.

In the past, there have been certain issues that actually made the problem of racial profiling as bad as it is today.Like 9/11. Since 9/11 was a terrorist act people have been very skeptical about people of color or people that look different. It might not have started after that but it certainly increased.The issue happens everywhere you go. It 's not like you can hide from it . Especially in the United States of America where its suppose to be the “land of the free” where there are different types of people and everyone is supposed to be treated equally but that 's not the case most of the time people get to judge or other people assume things just because there are people that don 't look like them or come from the same place that they come from.Especially if you 're a minority. Which may include blacks, Latinos, immigrants etc… it doesn 't stop there but those are just a couple as an example. In the article “racial profiling” by Mathias

New York Police Officers feel no commitment in having to treat any black or Hispanic with respect because of their race. The generic debate made by Bob Herbert in his work, Jim Crow Policing, is that stops are a representation of cops being racist and harassers as well. More precisely Herbert feuds that racial profiling has become a tool of harassment. Herbert states, “Rather than a legitimate crime-fighting tool, these stops are a despicable racially oriented tool of harassment”(NY Times Herbert). In the passage, Herbert is specifying that blacks and Hispanics were commonly stopped and frisked for their race. Not to mention that the NY Police would not always do a report on all the stops they made. Herbert stated, “These encounters with

In the introduction, Michelle Alexander (2010) introduces herself and expresses her passion about the topic of how the criminal justice system accomplishes racial hierarchy here in the United States.

In the United States of America today, racial profiling is when an individual is accused of committing a crime because of their race. There has been a lot of conversation about this topic whether racial profiling is okay or it’s considered as being racist and law enforcement can not stop and search someone because of their race. Racial profiling is a bad idea because people are being judged and might feel harassed because of their race. In an essay “Everything Isn’t Racial Profiling” written by Linda Chavez explains how Arab people are being discriminated at airports simply because they are Arab. Chavez says, “In the intervening ninety minutes, Shater’s lawyers allege that he was mistreated and denied the right to fly because he was an Arab American...” Shater was in the Secret Service and was accused of being a terrorist because he was Arab, this is racial profiling and this should be stopped because it just creates a whole issue.

Here’s my interpretation of Ligua’s current situation, She is the head of her households, a student who needs to work hard to pay for her tuition and feed her kids. She lives in an environment of small-minded people; her neighbors are her social barriers. Social barrier refers to those factors that are external to her and impede her focus on improving her life or become successful. Her neighbors are caught up in their own thinking that they cannot see the value of exploring other ways of life. Clearly, the community where she lives has adapted a prejudice lifestyle, the people she associates with are afraid of change. The culture she’s at evolves with Ethnocentrism - It means not realizing the challenge when it influences

Fruitvale Station is based on a true story that occurred in Oakland, California in 2009. Oscar Grant III was unarmed and lying face down on a subway platform. He was shot by a white Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Officer. This movie is about what we can imagine when we cast our gaze across the longstanding divides in this segregated American society. Oscar Grant was a real 22 - year old man. The first thing we see in “Fruitvale” is the fatal moment that led to Oscar’s death. Camera phone footage of the Bay Area Rapid Transit cops beating Oscar and his friends on a subway platform that ends with a gunshot.

Racism and racial discrimination has been a major issue in the U.S. since the colonial periods, where people have been treated differently only based upon their race. Although the civil rights movement opposed racial discrimination, the act of stereotyping individuals still continues till this day. Racial profiling by law enforcement is commonly defined as a practice that targets people for suspicion of crime based on their race, religion or national origin. A recent case, involving a young black man named Michael Brown is an example of how a police officer may act differently when facing an African American. “Ferguson Grand Jury Evidence Reveals Mistakes, Holes In Investigation” is an article written by Jason Cherkis’s and published on November

profiling is used by law enforcement as a means of reducing crime, there will be a disproportionate number of that ethnic group charged and punished for crimes. That

It is evident that racial profiling exists in society, but it is how we address it now that will shape the future of our community and country. If we work to eliminate stereotypes, people will not be judged solely based on assumptions people make about them, whether it spans from citizens to police officers. We now must stand together in the fight to keep equality for all by attempting to halt institutional ethnic and racial profiling, before more tragic events

Racial Profiling is a serious issue that has risen in the past few years. This is when discrimination is made against certain ethnic races. Contrary to popular belief, this can happen anytime and anywhere. It is important for us to realize that racial profiling is disrespectful to the people who are targeted and it is a crime. People should not be targeted just because of their race or color. In our societies, Racism has only gotten worse because of the lack of education that is globally happening. The theme of interdependence is shown clearly because if one person supports a stereotype then it influences others, because the main group depends on individuals to participate on continuing

In this society, many judgements are made about people from different backgrounds. This causes many problems between people of other races. Racism can be shown in multiple ways such as by using overt and covert racism. In the two stories “The Stolen Party” by Liliana Hecker and “So What Are You, Anyway?” by Lawrence Hill, there are many examples of racist stereotypes. These stereotypes have many different effects on the people judged accordingly. Maintaining stereotypes is insensitive and divisive; it shows how oblivious society is to people of ‘other’ backgrounds and it is hurtful to those who are judge according to them.