ETHC445N - Principles of Ethics Reflective Assignment Required Resources Read/review the following resources for this activity: Attached Ethical Memoir belowMinimum of 1 scholarly sourceIntroduction Y

Running head: ETHICAL DILEMMA

ETHICAL DILEMMA: RACIAL PROFILING

Adrianna F. Pierson

Chamberlain University

January 13, 2020

Ethical Dilemma: Racial Profiling

As an African- American female living in Chicago, the ethical dilemma I have had to face is racial profiling. Racial profiling is a prevalent moral dilemma that faces a number of minority groups in the USA. It involves the prejudicial attribution of specific traits, behaviors, and actions based on one’s race, ethnicity or nationality. Racial profiling is an ethical dilemma because there lacks a definite and precise perspective on whether it is right or wrong (Mackinnon & Fiala, 2018). There are experts in criminology who have cited that using immutable factors such as the race of a person sometimes assists in identifying potential criminals (Dieter, 2003). Some scholars believe that it is utterly untenable to use race and other immutable factors because it clogs on the judgment of law enforcement officers, besides the fact that it ignores the importance of intersectionality in the discourse.

I faced the dilemma while in a street in Chicago, whereby I was stopped by a police officer, who claimed and booked me for prostitution. The ordeal, which lasted around five hours before one of my parents bailed me, was perplexing and shocking to the extent that it is among the few discontinuities that have rocked my life. The officer, obviously white, and probably in his middle ages claimed that the only evidence he had against me was that normally, black hookers used the street and since I was in the street, it passed for him I was a hooker as well. It was clear that he had relied on the fact that I was black to make the intelligent hunch. I explained to the officer the main detriments of racial profiling, even though I was quite angered.

The main problem why racial profiling is catastrophic to justice, as elaborated in my case is because it leads, and most often to the castigation of innocent people. In other words, when law enforcement officers, like the one I encountered attribute crime to the mere fact that a person is from a specific origin, they simply mean that all those from the origin are guilty until proven innocent. Racial profiling reverses a fundamental principle in the corridor of justice that everybody is innocent until proven guilty (Dieter, 2003). If faced with the same problem again, I would find it more prudent to seek retribution through the justice system because presently there is an urgent need to reign on rogue officers.

It is undeniable however that racial profiling sometimes is not far separated from reality. The officer who booked me in the street of Chicago had reasonable grounds or probable suspicion because the streets I was strolling are at night decorated by hookers. Although they are mainly blacks, it is also important to understand the challenge of intersectionality in the dispensation. Intersectionality brings issues such as class and social status, poverty, and education to the effort to understand why some challenges and deviant behaviors are prevalent in a specific race. Good ethics is called upon to direct therefore our actions, whether the victim of racial profiling or the law enforcement officers. There are several perspectives such as utilitarianism, which calls for actions to be grounded on the need to maximize happiness and minimize pain. The other perspectives to rely upon are virtue ethics and Kantian-deontological. Reason and logic are also important facets of good ethics (Mackinnon & Fiala, 2018). Ethics is a conceptual subdivision of philosophy that analyzes the moral compass of an individual (Ruggiero, 2012). These perspectives exemplify the fundamental grounds and lenses through which we should judge our behaviors and actions.

References

Dieter, R. C. (2003). Maryland study finds that race and geography play key roles in death penalty. Retrieved 8 2018, from Death penalty information center: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/files/pdf/PR-DPICMarylandStudy.pdf

Mackinnon, B., & Fiala, A. (2018). Ethics: theory and contemporary issues, 9th edition.

Ruggiero, V. R. (2012). Thinking critically about ethical issues (8th ed.). New York: Mc-Graw Hill.