If asked in a poll, most Americans — especially in these recent racially charged months — would probably say they are against racial profiling.
If asked in a poll, most Americans, however, would probably say they favor profiling. For instance, they would want a suspected rapist described as a tall, thin white teenager wearing a Linkin Park T-shirt stopped and arrested if seen near the scene of the crime. Or if the suspect was a carjacker characterized as a young black man with a red cap and a black hoodie. Or if the perpetrator was a suspected murderer said to be a short Hispanic man with a crew cut and a jeans jacket.
Most people of all races don’t understand the difference between profiling and racial profiling.
Indeed, the words “racial profiling” have been thrown around by the national media and those in the professional race business so often following the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Mo., in August that it’s a wonder anyone can understand what it is and what it isn’t.
Racial profiling is the use of a person’s race or ethnicity as the primary reason to suspect that person has broken the law. Profiling is the use of various descriptions of a criminal suspect to help track down the suspect.