Racial Profiling has been heightening for the past two
decades due to false allegations by law enforcement agents against people of
color. It has increased in number and frequency. This isn’t just talking about
African Americans; It’s is referring to Hispanics, Indians, and many more
ethnicities who have a darker skin tone then that of our Caucasian associates. Quantitative
and qualitative evidence has been collected at a federal, state, and local level,
confirming that racial profiling persists even though it was deemed
unconstitutional.
In the
year 2005, drivers of African American descent were 4.5% likely to be arrested
during a traffic stop than a Caucasian driver who only had a 2.1% chance of
being arrested. It is very sickening to know that the very people who we trust
to protect us in this country are the ones that bring us down. Now you may say
to yourself, African Americans and Caucasians are not the only races targeted
here; and you are absolutely right. Hispanics play a huge part in racial
profiling as well. Hispanic drivers were 65% more likely to receive a ticket
than Caucasian drivers who had a 56.2% chance and African American drivers who
had a 55.8% chance. Racial profiling doesn’t just happen on the open road, it
also happens right here in a local community.
Imagine a
teenage female with cocoa colored skin walking into Victoria Secret in a
predominately white neighborhood. She is just like every other shopper only a
different color. She wanted to buy some under wear so she began to look around
trying to make up her mind of which pair she wanted to get. All while she was
searching, she felt eyes burning her back. She knew the cashiers and even the retail
ladies were watching her, thinking she would steal. One retail lady even asked
her if she was looking for something in particular. That may sound like a nice
thing to say to someone but the girl knew the truth. I KNEW THE TRUTH! I knew
the truth because I was that teenage girl.
It is very
demeaning and belittling to feel as if you don’t belong and know that people
are judging you based on the color of your skin. Would you like it if people
looked at you and thought you were dumb, or a gang banger, or even a drug
dealer, just on your appearance? No you wouldn’t, so why do it to someone else?
Sources:
To be honest, this is probably the best work you have done so far, Briana. Brava. Besides a couple of grammatical mistakes, flawless. I loved the unique voice you portrayed and I could see the raw passion you had for the topic. I could totally relate to some of the things you talked about (being someone of color, as well) and it was quite touching. I also really loved the fact that you used actually statistics to back up your case, excellent.
ReplyDeleteYour use of pathos was tremendous and it was even more believable because you backed it up with evidence.
I am so proud of you. Keep up the good work!
Like Pruvi said, it’s excellent! I really enjoyed how you spoke with a passion on the subject, how you backed up your argument by "building a bridge” between yourself and the audience, when you finally revealed that the girl was you. That was a shocker! It definitely has just the right amount of pathos to really intrigue your audience. I felt surprise at the statistics you showed, anger at the audacity of the sales women and cashiers, and so much pity at the fact that despite racial profiling being against the constitution, it still occurring today. The only thing I would consider changing is the ending. It sounds a little too pushy and cheery, due to the fact that the previous parts are full of these emotions that are not quite positive. You might want to add like a bit of anger or determination to that ending, maybe changing the “Ready….Set…..Go!” to something a bit more suitable to your tone. Despite that there are a few grammatical errors and some sentences that can be slightly tweaked so that it flows better (the flow is great already, but I kind of got stuck at some parts); this is truly by far the best work you've done!
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