I think what is most interesting about the controversy with racial profiling is that the controversy and debate seems to extend across the professional sphere and the private sphere vehemently. Unlike some other topics that we’ve addressed in the CQ reader such as pollution, racial profiling is somewhat of an everyday background issue. It’s not actually a debate in the black community. Black people know, or think they know (to remain unbiased), that for the most part the institution of law enforcement in general is biased against the black man or woman.

 

Unfortunately, this topic has pretty much pitted police officers against the average everyday citizen, with an assumption that many people of color take that cops are automatically predisposed against them as opposed to white people. This shouldn’t be so offensive to cops, since women pretty much do the same thing walking down the street and seeing a man that people of color do when they see a cop- go on high alert just in case.

 

However, police officers seem to get really bent out of shape about it. Many feel like their reputation is being smeared. However, the fact remains that there have been too many Eric Garner or Michael Brown incidents where police officers act on their training to shoot first and ask questions later or to react as though they are in danger when they think other people might be- and insist that they are on the defense when they very well may be perceived by onlookers as the attackers.

 

Both Presidents Clinton and W. Bush pledged to work to combat the issue of racial profiling in law enforcement, yet Obama remained pretty silent on the topic- at least in terms of public speaking. It has been galling for those in the black community- and I speak from experience through my friends and family- to see the first black president stay silent on indisputably black issues like dealing with the police. Especially since Ferguson happened under his term. Unfortunately, he did not have the same kind of leeway that white men had as presidents- he could not afford to make his presidency a “race thing” when he had run on a platform appealing to all Americans, highly advertising his white side and upbringing. It’s a stick situation for sure, and I personally believed work needs to be done on the ground level.

 

Do body cameras need to be installed necessarily on every policeman? That’s a budgetary concern, and I believe that in a day and age of smartphones there are witnesses who will bring the unlawful to task via the internet and social media. As for preventative measures, I agree that police forces must work within themselves to retrain officers and maintain a friendly relationship with the community members that they work near and alongside in many cases. Racial profiling is a whole can of worms, but its existence cannot be denied- although I’m sure someone will surely, since I’m only the second to post.