In our evolving society, we like to believe that we are very accepting of others and how we don’t “judge a book by its cover”. Although this may not be the case for everyone, studies have been shown that people form judgments or assumptions of others based on their clothing, gender, and age whether they are aware of it or not. All of these characteristics could be used as indicators to distinguish who is a threat and who isn’t but the main variable is race due to the stereotypes that we associate with each group.
A person’s race is not only a word that is used to describe a person’s appearance or genetic make-up but it is a word that is connected to certain stereotypes. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks which were carried out by Arabs from Muslim …show more content…
A study done by a University of California professor found that “African-Americans are more than twice as likely as white drivers to be searched during vehicle stops even after controlling for non-race based variables such as the reason the vehicle stop was initiated” (Makarechi). On top of that, after being pulled over, African Americans were found in possession of 26% less contraband than white drivers (Race and the Drug War). This suggests that officers consider race as a factor when they are determining whether to search a vehicle. We depict African Americans as threatening, suspicious, and people who we should be frightened of because of the way media portrays them. We are repeatedly exposed to these stereotypes through pictures, movies, and advertisements that it starts to become ingrained into our brains that these labels are true which causes us to be skeptical, such as pulling over an African American. As a result of this racial profiling, people of color, who make up 37% of the U.S. population, are currently making up 67% of the prison population (Criminal Justice Facts). The demographic on the Sentencing Project website shows that African Americans and Latinos, regardless of their gender, are at a higher likelihood for lifetime imprisonment in the U.S. than white Americans (Criminal Justice
A person’s race is not only a word that is used to describe a person’s appearance or genetic make-up but it is a word that is connected to certain stereotypes. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks which were carried out by Arabs from Muslim …show more content…
A study done by a University of California professor found that “African-Americans are more than twice as likely as white drivers to be searched during vehicle stops even after controlling for non-race based variables such as the reason the vehicle stop was initiated” (Makarechi). On top of that, after being pulled over, African Americans were found in possession of 26% less contraband than white drivers (Race and the Drug War). This suggests that officers consider race as a factor when they are determining whether to search a vehicle. We depict African Americans as threatening, suspicious, and people who we should be frightened of because of the way media portrays them. We are repeatedly exposed to these stereotypes through pictures, movies, and advertisements that it starts to become ingrained into our brains that these labels are true which causes us to be skeptical, such as pulling over an African American. As a result of this racial profiling, people of color, who make up 37% of the U.S. population, are currently making up 67% of the prison population (Criminal Justice Facts). The demographic on the Sentencing Project website shows that African Americans and Latinos, regardless of their gender, are at a higher likelihood for lifetime imprisonment in the U.S. than white Americans (Criminal Justice