What can you do if you are stopped?

What can you do if you are stopped? Civil rights attorneys advise the following:

1. Know your rights: you are not required to give permission to police officer to search your car. You can deny the request - but do so politely.

2. Don't argue: the police may try to intimidate you. Do not be confrontational and provoke an argument.

3. Get the names of the officers: be sure to get their badge numbers, squad car number, license plate number, and make a note of the location and time of day.

4. File a complaint if you feel you have been mis-treated: contact the ACLU or other civil rights organizations for legal advice.

www.ethnicmajority.com

Its No Big Deal !

An Iranian man by the anonymous name of "Farzad" believes racial profiling is no big deal. The Iranian man is one who lives in the UAE (United Arab Emirates). He went to college in the United States, and traveling or visas were always a hassle according to him. He claims he always received a single entry visa and had to go through extra security procedures yet he believes there was no racial profiling involved during these acts. Farzad said, "Not once did I ever view these as racial profiling. Those people were just doing their job, and the least I could do is to not whine and slow them down."

Once at the airport an immigration officer made him go back to the end of the queue (about 70-80 people) in the airport because he did not fill out a form. The officer had the forms with him, but he told Farzad, "because you are an Iranian, I will make you go to the back of the line". Farzad said, "I just smiled and went to the back of the line. So he was jerk, big deal, I know plenty of jerks over here." Yet again he did not view this as racial profiling. He said he just followed the procedures, didn't break the law and it's the best damn education that he had ever received. Farzad got a job after he graduated, but could not work because of a certain regulations not allowing Iranians to work in high-tech industries. He had to leave the U.S.

Farzad's final mesage was, "My message to those people is; why don't you spend your time reforming the regimes of your home countries that have given you such a bad name, than blaming the country (who has given you shelter/opportuntiy that you would never have in your home country), for protecting themselves and YOU."

In my opinion Farzad indeed was a victim of racial profiling yet could not find the courage to accept that he was a victim of this act against non-american people. In a way it was smart of him to go along with the flow and not protest with any of his situations but I do believe he know he was a victim of racial profiling and just decided not to do anything about it.

http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/

The ACLU's role !!!

The ACLU(American Civil Liberties Union) is an organization in which is also very concerned with racial profiling. In there definition racial profiling is any police or private security practice in which a person is treated as a suspect because of his or her race, ethnicity,nationality or religion. This act most commonly occurs when police investigate, stop, frisk, search or use force against a person based on such characteristics(most commonly a person of race in which is not white)instead of evidence of a person's criminal behavior. It often involves the stopping and searching of people of color for traffic violations, known as DWB(Driving While Black or Brown). In most situations, the so called "violator" is of a black or latino race but after the September 11 attacks, muslims, arabs and many other races have now also been a part of this dvery uphauling behavior from police.

According to the ACLU racial profiling is a new term for an old practice known by other names: institutional racism and discrimination and owes its existence to prejudice that has existed in this country since slavery. There are hundreds and thousands of innocent black, latino, arab, etc. shopper, drivers and pedestrians who have fell victim to racial profiling. These discriminatory police stops and searches have reached outstanding proportions in recent years. Fueled by the "War on Drugs" and the "War on Terror", some police have taken the innitiotive to target people in which they think fit the profile of a gang memeber, drug courier of a terrorist. This is an act that needs to be stopped and should be handled immieadiately.

The ACLU is a very serious organization when it comes to defending human rights. They believe it is a crime and something has to be done about it. The following is an example of how serious the ACLU is about getting rid of racial profiling.

ACLU Files Racial Profiling Lawsuit Against Rhode Island State Police (01/08/2007)PROVIDENCE, RI - In a federal lawsuit filed today, the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island charged that state police engaged in racial profiling and acted unconstitutionally when they detained 14 people on Interstate 95 and transferred them to immigration officials. The individuals, all Guatemalans, were stopped in a van after the driver changed lanes without using a turn signal.

http://www.aclu.org/racialjustice/racialprofiling/index.html

Racial Profiling a Problem?

Racial profiling is Racial profiling is the use of race as one consideration in suspect profiling or other law enforcement practices These racial profiling activities carried out by the police has led to problems in many aspects of their lives and and even the most routines ones like driving or shopping. .A year-long study conducted by the Domestic Human Rights Program of Amnesty International USA has concluded that the acts of racial profiling since the September 11 attacks have certainly gone up considerably. The study further found that state laws di not provide enough protection against racial profiling. Despite promises by President George W. Bush to end racial profiling, the number of American ethnic, racial, and religious groups whose people are at high risk of being subjected to racial profiling has alo increased considerably.

Here are some examples the AIUSA(Amnesty International United States of America)have posted and have really found to be disturbing, injust and has attracted the attention of many:

While driving: A young African-American schoolteacher reports being routinely pulled over in his suburban neighborhood in San Carlos, California, where only five other African-American families live. Native Americans in Oklahoma report being routinely stopped by police because of the tribal tags displayed on their cars. In Texas, a Muslim student of South Asian ancestry is pulled over and asked by police if he is carrying any dead bodies or bombs.

While walking: In Seattle,Washington, a group of Asian-American youths are detained on a street corner by police for 45 minutes on an allegation of jaywalking. While a sergeant ultimately ordered the officer in question to release them, the young people say they saw whites repeatedly crossing the same street in an illegal manner without being stopped.
While traveling through airports: An eight-year-old Muslim boy from Tulsa, Oklahoma was reportedly separated from his family while airport security officials searched him and dismantled his Boy Scout pinewood derby car. He is now routinely stopped and searched at airports.

While shopping: In New York City, an African- American woman shopping for holiday presents was stopped by security at a major department store. She showed the guards her receipts. Nonetheless, she was taken to a holding cell in the building where every other suspect she saw was a person of color. She was subjected to threats and a body search. She was allowed to leave without being charged three hours later, but was not allowed to take her purchases.

While at home: A Latino family in a Chicago suburb was reportedly awoken at 4:50 a.m. on the day after Father’s Day by nine building inspectors and police officers who prohibited the family from getting dressed or moving about. The authorities reportedly proceeded to search the entire house to find evidence of overcrowding. Enforcement of the zoning ordinance, which was used to justify the search, was reportedly targeted at the rapidly-growing Latino population.

While traveling to and from places of worship: A Muslim imam from the Dallas area reports being stopped and arrested by police upon leaving a mosque after an outreach event. Officers stopped him, searched his vehicle, arrested him for expired vehicle tags, and confiscated his computer.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/racial_profiling/report/index.html

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