According to the Ontario Human Rights Commission, racial profiling is defined

as any action carried out for reasons of safety, public protection or security that

depends on stereotypes based on race, ethnicity, religion, color, ancestry or place of

origin, or a combination of these factors, rather than on reasonable suspicion to

single out an individual for different treatment or greater scrutiny (Meng, Giwa&

Anucha, 2015). Considering all 4 of the articles information, research and

conclusions it is evident that aside from what the Human Rights Commission

describes Racial Profiling as, ultimately it is the lawful common practice of

stereotyping and personal judgment of people based on their ethnic, class and

religious characteristics to prevent presumed danger and ensure safety of other by

people with authoritative roles in society. Racial profiling occurs in different levels,

forms, places and to different minority groups around the World.

The main authoritative organization that participates in the practice of Racial

Profiling is the Police force. This has been commonly demonstrated around Toronto

and the Greater Toronto Area. Police officers patrol and implement searches based

on their individual knowledge of the area, crime hot spots, territory and also their

personal concept of sense of belonging. The police officers concept of belonging

causes them to differentiate between who looks out of place and who belongs.

Some police studies show that black youth are more likely to be stopped and

searched in the areas where they seem as if they do not belong which are

commonly White-dominated neighborhoods. This is because of the relationship

between crime and place-based disadvantage that occurs often in racial minority

neighborhoods. Disadvantaged neighborhoods are also areas where stop-and

searches of black youth often occur. These areas often have trends of crime rates

that include drug, gun and trafficking related crimes and suspicious activities. These
crime hotspots commonly included single parent homes, unemployment rates,

government assistance (transfer payments) and white residents (Meng, Giwa&

Anucha, 2015).

Many studies have shown that black youth and black men currently and

previously have been harassed, assaulted, stopped and threatened with arrest by

police without probable cause more frequent than other races (Unknown, 2017).

According to recent analysis, it has repeatedly been found across all 73 police

patrolled areas of Toronto, that black youth are more likely than white youth to be

randomly stopped and searched. In the defense of the police force, they have

backed this practice up by stating that it is a practice of good policing in the areas

that have high crime rates. Police officers and some researchers argue that the high

amount of stops among black youth does not have to do with racial profiling but has

to do with high crime rates among black youth and the police force using specific

strategies to target the issue. In contrary to this argument, research exemplifies

that white youth statistically having higher rates of participating in illegal activity

but black youth being charged more often. An example of this finding is of white

youth having a higher rate of drug use but black youth having a higher rate of drug

possession charges (Meng, Giwa& Anucha, 2015). This shows the assumptions

made by police causing them to stop black youth more often than white youth

which results in more arrests of the minority youth.

In an attempt to put some guidelines around racial profiling, in 2010 Toronto

Police began carding which is a method in order to prevent violence; this

technique is called TAVIS (Toronto Anti Violence Intervention Strategy). Due to this

strategy, any person who is stopped and considered as a person of interest by

police is to be carded and the card will have the person information on it (Draaisma,
2017). 208 cards are what the Toronto police use daily to record information about

the individual that they stopped and questioned in mainly noncriminal encounters.

The details on these cards include the individuals name, address, gender, age, skin

color, birth place, police patrol zone, and contact time (Meng, Giwa& Anucha, 2015).

Some of the data collected from these cards proves that minority youth are

stopped more often, specifically youth aged 15-29. After Kingston police were

required to fill out forms after every traffic or pedestrian stop in 2005, the results of

its data collection was released and it concluded that Blacks were over-represented

in police stops when compared to Whites and that Black residents were 4 times

more likely to be pulled over by the police (Unknown, 2017). The social exclusion,

discrimination and marginalization of minority groups demonstrated through racial

profiling is a detrimental practice because it allows room for racism through

stereotyping, labeling and targeting in a lawful way. Considering it is a strategy that

is accepted by law enforcement and the Human Rights Commission, this practice

can be used as an excuse for people with authority to practice racism is a secretive

way. This also violates the right to not be discriminated against considering Police

use their own perception to target black people based on their appearance and/or

the neighborhood they are in and not by an actual evident reason for suspicion.

A common term used for Black people who are deemed as suspicious and are

targeted, is driving while black which doesnt necessarily mean they have to be

driving but also is used for those who are walking or standing outside of a store.

Even those who are shopping can be racially profiled which is commonly known as

shopping while black. Along with the common racial profiling of the police force,

other people from other organizations also participate in this practice. People such

as employees, managers and airport staff all seem to demonstrate practices of

stereotyping minorities. In New York, Philadelphia, and other places in the United

States and Canada, it has been reported that both young Black men and women

complained that store employees or managers followed them throughout the store

as they browsed in order to make sure there was no theft taking place. The black

customers found that the black merchants also stereotyped them and judged them

based on their appearance. In most cases, the middle-class Blacks were treated

better than their lower-class counterparts and although they share the same skin

color there was no guaranteed favorable treatment. Some of the African Americans

were insulted and told that they should dress to match their income which is

referred to as wearing your class. A memorable example was an incident that

took place in Eddie Bauer retail store where three Black youth were falsely accused

of stealing clothing that had been purchased at the same store a day earlier and

one of the youth was forced to take off the shirt before exiting the store (Gabbidon,

2003).

An ideology that arose from the previous and current common trend of racial

profiling stems from a societal fear which results in the labeling of Blacks as

criminals. Blackaphobia, whereas Armour (1997) called it Negrophobia, and

Russell (1998) referred to it as the myth of the criminal Black man (Gabbidon,

2003). Black people had to deal with being labeled and considered as the most

criminal population. It has been formally suggested that black youth are more likely

to be involved in homicides, drug and firearm related crimes (Meng, Giwa& Anucha,

2015). The escalation of this problem was demonstrated when singling out black

people was a practiced used to solve the issue of drugs transportation. In

Maryland, Police were targeting black people in hopes of making a big bust.

During the 1990s, 77% of the drivers that were stopped were African American and
although some were actually caught with drugs, the majority were not and which

shows the evident racial profiling and improper targeting (Gabbidon, 2003). The

majority of the people that have fallen victim to this tactic are proven innocent by

the law. A study of high school students took place in 1995, showing that 52%

[CCLA] of respondents who were black claim the police treat them worse than how

they treat people of different races (Unknown, 2017).

In 1992 the government of Ontario issued a 445-page report and a survey

questioning people who were black, white or Asian on their opinion of the treatment

from the Ontario justice system. The results of the report showed that many people

believed that there was an abuse of power by the Justice Systems. Between 1978

and 1992, Ontario police officers shot 14 Black people, 1 being a women and the

rest were male which resulted in 8 deaths [CCLA]. 11 of the 14 shootings occurred

in Toronto and after this, members of black communities demanded change within

the policing system (Unknown, 2017). In September of 2001, a national census by

the government was created to put an end to racial profiling but after 9/11 that

request was changed and the profiling focus was partially shifted towards the

Muslim/Arabic community for any counter-terrorism and other criminal activities

especially at airports (Channin, n.d). In 2014, the Black Action Defense Committee

decided they were going to sue the Toronto police to bring attention to the issue of

carding, racial profiling and mistreatment and abuse to black people. Following this

in 2014, the Toronto Police board created a new policy in hopes to monitor what was

going on the communities and to educate everybody on their rights (Unknown,

2017).

As a group, we are all very passionate about this topic because it affects us

directly. Considering we are all black and we all have black family members we, by
default, are victims also. We all know at least 3 people who have been stopped and

searched, followed in stores, falsely accused of committing crimes or simply just

given suspicious looks when chilling outside of a store or someones house. The

fact that racial profiling affects us directly causes us to want to make a change in

society and stand up for the people who have innocently lost their lives due to

incarceration or bullets because of this practice. Racial profiling is unfair, because

ultimately it is determined by the person of authoritys mindset based on how they

view the people they are profiling. If they think negatively about the minority group,

high chances are that there is going to be a negative outcome and this is being

demonstrated by the reoccurring deaths of black people mainly in the United

States. We want to clarify and bring understand about the crime rates of other

ethnicities, mainly white people in order to show that Black people arent the only

ones committing crimes. We also want to showcase the influential and positive

black role models that encourage togetherness and change in an attempt to

eliminate the fear of black people and promote equality. As black young women we

want to demonstrate our role and reach out to the others around us by setting good

examples, speaking positively and standing up for our rights. Although we arent

sure why society looks at us the way they do, we know that we are powerful people

and if we stand together we can create an unbreakable movement that forces

society to change in a way that would only promote growth, acceptance and

equality and that is why we are advocates against racial profiling of minority youth.
 Social Justice Project: Racial Profiling of Minority Youth

Social Justice Project: Part 3

Articles:

Restoring a National Consensus: The Need to End Racial Profiling in America. By

Robert Channin

A Recent History of Racial Profiling and Policing By Unknown

Is There Racial Discrimination in Police Stop-and-Searches of Black Youth? A Toronto

Case Study by Meng. W., Gina, S., and Anucha. U.

Racial Profiling by Store Clerks and Security Personnel in Retail Establishments by

Shaun L Gabbidon

Nakita Gillett-Mclean, Khaleah Simmonds, Janelle Charles, Seantysha Stewart

Professional Issues III: Diversity and Human Rights

Zuby Saloojee
 March 17, 2017

Work Cited

C, R. (n.d.). Restoring a National Consensus: The Need to End Racial Profiling in

America. 1-30. Retrieved from http://www.civilrights.org/publications/reports/racial-
profiling2011/racial_profiling2011.pdf

Draaisma, M., (2017) New Ontario rule banning carding by police takes effect CBC
News Retrieved March 1st,2017

G, S. L. (n.d). Racial Profiling by Store Clerks and Security Personnel in Retail

Establishments. Retrieved from
http://consumerequality.com/pubs/03_Racial_Profiling.pdf

Meng, Y., Giwa, S., & Anucha, U. (2015). Is There Racial Discrimination in Police
Stop-and-Searches of Black Youth? A Toronto Case Study. Journal of Family
and Youth. Retrieved February 27, 2017.

Unknown., (2017). A Recent History of Racial Profiling and Policing Canadian Civil
Liberties Association Retrieved March 1st,2017