Racial profiling

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'''Racial profiling''' is a process by which individuals are targeted for special attention, often by [[law enforcement]] or similar officials, because of their perceived membership in a particular [[race|racial group]]. As such, it is a form of [[racism]]. 

==Use in law enforcement==
A classic example of racial profiling is its use in law enforcement: for example, if a suspect of a robbery is caught on security camera as being white, police investigators can rule out any non-white people as possible suspects.

This in itself isn't a bad thing; it's simply normal police work. Where it gets controversial is when investigators begin to stop and question ''anyone'' who might match the race (and, hopefully, [[gender]]) of the suspect, regardless of any other possible factors such as height, weight, build, clothing, hair color, tattoos, hats, the [[car]] they're driving, etc. Arresting someone based on this factor alone can get an investigator in hot water, and has in the past.

===Less subtly===
Another more frequent type of racial profiling in law enforcement is being selective in which laws to enforce upon whom. For example, if a patrol car is sitting on the side of the highway clocking speeders, the occupants might choose to let a few white people speed on by, but then stop every black driver they see who might be driving even slightly over the limit. This is more of a form of racism than racial profiling. Some may try to [[racialism|justify]] their actions by stating that their chances of pulling over a [[Alcohol|DUI]], a stolen car, or a car full of [[drug]]s and illegal [[firearm]]s are greater if they select their pulls based on race. This has led to some people claiming that the reason they got caught or given a [[bullshit]] ticket was that they were DWB ("driving while black") or DWM ("driving while Mexican ([[Hispanic]]<ref group=note>There is a [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0745602/ hilarious ''West Wing'' episode] about this.</ref>)").

Note that unjustified racial discrepancy in stops, even where it exists, doesn't necessarily mean the officer has an explicit or even conscious hatred or dislike of the person they are stopping or whatever ethnic group that person belongs to. It is possible for a person to be disproportionately critical of people of color while having no idea that they are doing it. You don't have to consciously dislike a racial group or think it is inferior in order to treat them differently. This [[cognitive bias|bias blind spot]] actually makes it extremely difficult to deal with individual instances of discrimination, as the discriminating person may strongly believe that they would never act in such a way.

Similarly, police in [[New York City]] are allowed to do a "stop and frisk" to damn near anyone they might come across, regardless of whether or not an investigation is going on — a practice which unsurprisingly favors whites over minorities. Indeed, the number of stop and frisks performed on black men surpasses New York City's black male population. As you can imagine, the [[ACLU]] is up in arms trying to stop this practice.

Some otherwise legitimate criticism of excessive airport security (when coming from those on the [[right-wing|right]]) has been marred by suggestions that the TSA should instead be actively profiling and subjecting those of [[Middle East]]ern appearance for [[Islamophobia|additional scrutiny]].

===Immigration in the United States===
{{see also|Undocumented immigration}}
[[Myths and facts about immigration to the United States|Never mind]] that not all [[Illegal immigration|illegal immigrants]] are brown &mdash; some states along the [[Mexico|southern border]] have attempted to [[Secure the border|enact laws]] that allow law enforcement to ask ''anyone'' for proof of identity or proof of residency in order to determine citizen status — again, regardless of whether or not an investigation is going on. Thus, many [[Latino]] citizens of states such as [[Arizona]] are subjected to unnecessary identification checks.

In 2025, [[Supreme Court]] justice [[Brett Kavanaugh]] was the only justice to sign on to a concurring opinion that justified [[racial profiling]] by [[U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement|ICE]] immigration enforcement in widespread sweeps, arguing that being a US citizen kidnapped by ICE was a minor inconvenience (''sotto voce'', for people who look white, like himself). Such kidnappings have become known as "Kavanagh stops".<ref>[https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/12/judge-roasts-supreme-court-kavanaugh-stops.html A Judge Just Drew the Line on the Supreme Court’s Terrible “Kavanaugh Stops” Decision] by Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern (Dec 07, 2025•5:45 AM) ''Slate''.</ref><ref>[https://www.404media.co/how-a-us-citizen-was-scanned-with-ices-facial-recognition-tech/ How a US Citizen Was Scanned With ICE's Facial Recognition Tech] by Joseph Cox & Ashley Cleek (Dec 13, 2025 at 3:01 AM) ''404 Media''.</ref><ref>[https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/25a169_5h25.pdf?ref=404media.co Kristi Noem, Secretary, Department of Homeland Security, et al. v. Pedro Vasquez Perdomo, et al.] (September 8, 2025) ''Supreme Court of the United States''.</ref> As of October 16, 2025, ICE had already kidnapped more than 170 US citizens.<ref>[https://www.propublica.org/article/immigration-dhs-american-citizens-arrested-detained-against-will We Found That More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.] by Nicole Foy (October 16, 2025, 12:00 pm) ''ProPublica''.</ref>

==See also==
*[[U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement]]
*[[Self-fulfilling prophecy]]
*[[Xenophobia]]
*[[Tribalism]]
*[[Other]]

==Notes==
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==References==
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[[Category:Law]]
[[Category:Racism]]

Categories: Law, Racism