Racial Proffiling
...which causes them to be suspended from school for numerous days but, when a Caucasian student does the something, it is considered “kids play “and nothing is done (Toronto Star). Many Latinos have also argued that when in a mall they are privately followed by undercover security guards because they are people of colour and store managers think Latinos are most likely to steal then other ethnic groups as reported in the Toronto Star. Although anyone can experience profiling, racialized persons are primarily affected. The Ontario commission that deals with public related racial profiling has said that they have only dealt with cases coming from people who are identified as Aboriginals, African Canadians, Arab, Chinese, South Asia, Latin Americans and south Asians. It is important to note that concerns with profiling relate directly to the concepts of discretion and power. Persons in society who hold positions in which they exercise a large degree of discretion have more of an opportunity to engage in profiling and are also more likely to be perceived to be engaging in racial profiling in the exercise of their discretion. Similarly, those in a position of power may consciously or unconsciously exercise that power different when dealing with racialized persons. And, because these individuals are entrusted with power over others in society, it is particularly important that they be accountable when widespread concern is being expressed about the way in which power is exercised. This was recently acknowledged by one of Ontario’s top law enforcement officials at the 98th annual conference of Canadian association of Chief of Police. Studies have shown that racialized persons perceive that racial profiling is affecting them and also the white persons believe that visible minorities are treated worse, for example by the police and the criminal justice system. In a recent survey of Oakville’s black youth aged 13 to 24, researchers were told that adults appear to brand them as troublemakers on the basis of “youthful indiscretions “ more quickly then they do white kids doing comparable things. Similarly, they believe adults react differently to white and black youth wearing the same type of clothing: white youth are assumed to be going through a “phase “while black youth are more likely to be seen as potential criminals. The perception of racial profiling is so strong that it has found its way into popular culture with songs being made about it by popular artists like Lenny Cravitz, and Amanda Marshall. Not talking about racial profiling will not make the concern go away. It will only exacerbate existing tensions. The denial of the problems by the Ontario law systems has had many effects on society as a whole. First, communities dear being rebuked and silenced if they are vocal about their concerns. There can be a backlash against those who speak out which causes them to keep what they seen to themselves. In addition, denial of a problem can lead to the phenomenon of blaming the victim. Therefore, rather than seeing a social problem as contributed to by the existence of racial discrimination, the fault is laid squarely at the feet of the group involved. Recent progress has been made as several law enforcement officials have either acknowledged that profiling does occur, may occur or that perception that it occurs must be addressed. For example, Kingston Police Chief Bill Closs quoted: “Today we are setting an even higher standard for Kingston police officers in that they are being asked to acknowledge and understand the existence of unlawful profiling/biased-based policies and the need to prevent it. While my officers and this service have never condoned this practice, the publicity generated by the allegations had cast a shadow over the Kingston Police. Racial profiling is not institutionalized in our service but, the perception cannot be ignored and police must respond to the reality or the perception by going beyond denial and patronization.” The OPP have announced a pilot project to equip 38 cruisers in Toronto to Kenora with in-car digital video cameras. This will allow the OPP to assess allegations of racially motivated misconduct with obje...