Racial profiling is the act of targeting an individual on suspicion of a crime based on the individual's race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin. Imagine being wrongfully committed for a crime you did not commit. Imagine being followed around because your skin color is too dark. Imagine being watched closely in a retail store, when you go in to shop like everyone else. This is indeed an act of racism, but more specifically racial profiling. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Racial profiling dates back to the nineteenth century, when many European and American scientists tried to prove that people with certain body shapes have positive and negative personality traits that corresponded to their physical characteristics. There were some scientists who tried to theorize that black people had physical characteristics that meant they were not intelligent or more likely to commit crime than non-black people. Although they had no evidence to support these theories, law enforcement decided to adopt them and use them to target people of specific ethnic groups. For example, Jews were major victims of racial profiling simply because of the size of their noses. They were believed to be more likely to commit crime due to their large noses. While this terrible stereotype would seem ridiculous today, not many people questioned it back then and that's how racial profiling began. Racial profiling has also become a common practice among other minorities in the United States. Police officers began targeting African Americans and Chinese Americans because these two racial groups were long believed to be “criminals by nature.” This discrimination continued throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, even with the civil rights movement that took place in the 1950s and 1960s. During this time, there was a fight for justice among African Americans because Caucasians did not want them to have the same rights as them. Although it was tough, African Americans finally got the justice they truly deserved in 1964. On July 2, 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, essentially guaranteeing equal treatment of minorities. This Civil Rights Act ended segregation against race, color, religion, and sex. That said, the Civil Rights Act is part of a federal law that makes racial profiling illegal in the United States. According to the Points of View article on racial profiling, this violates the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution which guarantees protection against illegal searches and seizures. Although it is considered illegal, racial profiling continues to occur in the United States today across numerous races especially among African Americans. For example, on August 5, 2014, an African American male was shot and killed by Officer Sean Williams of Beavercreek, Ohio. . The dispatcher received a call that there was a black male waving a rifle and pointing it at people in an aisle at Wal-Mart. The surveillance video clearly showed that the man posed no threat to anyone and the caller was obviously unsure of the situation. Even though the Caucasian male misreported the situation, no doubt the operator immediately suspected danger and sent help. Without a chance to surrender or explain, the police officer instantly shot and killed the 22-year-old male. Whilethey examined his lifeless body, they discovered that the African American was not in possession of a real rifle, but of an unpackaged BB rifle that he had found on the store shelf. John Crawford III of Dayton, Ohio was the buried suspect behind this horrific event. John's family attempted to file a civil rights lawsuit for wrongful death against the police officer because they believed he was killed unjustly. While this is true, the police officers were technically justified in their actions because of the emergency services call they had received. When Ronald Richie told the dispatcher "He's charging it right now... Pointing it at people," it prompted police to take action. When they reached where he was standing, John turned to the policeman and Williams stated, "That's why I pulled the trigger." it was clarified to the switchboard operator. The police did not receive this information, so when they asked him to put the gun down it appeared that he was not responding to their commands when in reality he was simply on the phone unaware of what was happening. John's family has labeled this event an example of police brutality. This tragic event opened the eyes of America, especially the African American community, and many people wanted justice for John and his family. “We believe that if Mr. Crawford had been white, he would have had more time to respond to police officers,” Mr. Erin said. Yes, the police officers ordered him to put the gun down, but he wasn't given enough time.' These officers entered, saw Mr. Crawford and shot him on sight. They didn't give him the chance to live.' This quote concludes how Mr. Erin felt about the shooting incident itself. Many people felt this way, but they were not given the chance to speak out and express their thoughts because the cause of the shooting was probable. According to the Huff Post article about a doctor being racially profiled, there was an African-American Harvard-educated doctor who was racially profiled by employees on a Delta flight. They were questioning his medical credentials as he tried to assist another passenger on board who needed help. “Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, who works as a physician-scientist, educator and policymaker in obesity medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, told Boston 25 News she was flying from Indianapolis to Boston on Oct. 23 when a woman started having seizures and hyperventilating. . Stanford said he worked to calm the woman while he assessed her condition. A flight attendant approached and asked Stanford if he was a doctor. Stanford, in turn, produced his medical license. “This shows how African Americans today are still questioned about their intelligence. In the article it is mentioned that Dr. Stanford showed proof of her doctoral license and they were still skeptical that she could provide help to the passenger in need. If his ethnicity was anything other than African-American, his credentials would likely never have been questioned, but this clearly demonstrates that racial profiling is still on the rise today. Finally, a huge 2012 case that many are familiar with demonstrates how racial profiling led to the death of a 17-year-old African American boy. Trayvon Martin went to 7 Eleven in Sanford, Florida to get some skittles and Arizona tea. He was currently wearing a dark gray hoodie with the hood up, just like any normal person. Returning from the store, a man named George Zimmerman noticed him.