icle entitled, “Racial Profiling Persists Despite Laws”. He contends that the “pursuit of equality for African-Americans and other people of color and women has also been an endless source of frustration. He proceeds to say that although there have been significant gains, racial profiling is the symbol of how far we have to go. Representative Davis believes that racial profiling impacts minorities, but that every American can be affected and that it damages the trust between the community and law enforcement agencies that is already precarious from years or racism and oppression.When weighing the pros and cons of the issue of racial profiling, one must consider and individual’s civil rights and the basic principal of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. The Fourth Amendment states that the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable search and seizures, shall not be violated and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath and Affirmation, and particularly describing the places to be searched and the persons or things to be seized” (Meeks, p. 8). There is also the underlying issue of racial discrimination, or biased judgments based on the color of a person’s skin or their national origin. The bottom line is that when a traffic stop is made simply because the driver is a person of color and there is no other justifiable reason, civil rights have been violated and the individual has been the victim of discrimation. If an African-American is driving down a street in a predominantly white neighborhood in Anytown, USA, he or she can be stopped by a law enforcement office simply for the reason that he or she is not white. The officer may believe the car to be stolen or that the individual is selling drugs. Whatever the case, racial profiling of this sort is plainly and simply wrong. The apprehension and fear...
