Racial profiling is a very prevalent issue in the world today. The results of this practice can cause a great debate on whether racial profiling is beneficial or detrimental to society. Individuals who are pro-racial profiling see the practice as a way to protect societies from any dangers. However, the greatest issue involves how racial profiling impacts minorities specifically. One must sit back and contemplate how the lives of minorities are affected in the worst ways when a practice such as racial profiling is enabled.

The topic of racial profiling is an interesting subject matter to delve into. As far as me, I became interested in this topic recently after all the news coverage and social media posts about the issue as a whole. As an African American male, I have witnessed people with my same identity fall victim to racial profiling; therefore, I find it necessary for me to further explore the history behind the practice and how it affects the lives of minorities. When cultivating the research question, my values were altered somewhat. I have always strongly believed in equality, so that did not change. However, this research question changed my perspective on judging others. People's lives are heavily affected when they are constantly stereotyped and judged. Now that my perspective has changed on the topic, I feel very qualified to write about this issue. Despite not having much personal experience with racial profiling, I know that one day I could be targeted. The research question is centered on minorities and being that I am a minority, I would like to see how people who look like me deal with issues like racial profiling when they are singled out.

In addition to my current knowledge about the topic, there are various informational sources that complements the research question. One source is titled "Ethical Issues in Racial Profiling." The author of this article is Annabelle Lever and she received a PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science. One may assume that her studies in political science covered analytics about ethical issues such as racism and discrimination. She is clearly against racial profiling in this article by failing to acknowledge the opposing side of the argument. The main idea of the article is that there are different ways to catch criminals besides racial profiling and also there are some horrifying results that stem from it, such as serious death or injury. For example, an innocent teen can be shot by a police officer because they look as if they are up to no good. After careful analyzation of the source, some of the key values at stake in the article are security and efficiency within communities. People may look at the argument of this article and feel that the author does not want safety and proper policing within some communities which is what most racial profiling advocates argue.

Another enlightening source relating to the research question is titled "Ethnic Profiling: What It Is and Why It Must End." The author of the article is not specified, but it is evident that the Open Society Foundation were the originators. This organization works closely with the issue in various places, including New York City and Europe. The article is completely one-sided based on the arguments made throughout it. The central claim being made in this source is that ethnic profiling affects not only minorities, but their families, communities, and immigrant communities as well. The relationships between police and communities is also extremely affected when a minority is victimized. The family of the victim may not believe in the police anymore and fail to cooperate with their directives. Also, the profiling of one person can make all people of a certain community cautious and will ultimately change their way of living, which is unjust. Again in this source, security and protection are huge values at stake. If the relationship between police and the communities they cover are hindered, there can be no sense of safety.

The last source associated with the question at-hand is titled "Racial Profiling Seen as Pervasive, Unjust." The author of this article is Darren K. Carlson who is a Government and Politics editor. Being in that field, Carlson must be very knowledgeable about a wide array of issues including that of racial profiling. This source in particular provided a great amount of statistics concerning how widespread racial profiling is and if and when it is justified. For instance, majority of people feel it is not justified to profile people in the security checkpoints in airports. There are charts created from polls asking people relative questions about the issue, so there is no clear bias from the author. These charts show exactly which minorities tend to be more affected by the issue. This article does not really have certain values or interests at stake because it is not one-sided; both sides of the argument are noted. All types of people were polled in this source so an accurate percentage of each poll choice is shown.

Taking a closer look at the practicality of the research question, there are many aspects to take into consideration. Firstly, the research question is definitely arguable by the word choice 'negatively affect.' There are some individuals in the world that believe that racial profiling is a good practice that benefits minorities rather than negatively affecting their life. All of the sources that provide information regarding the research question agree on what the definition of racial profiling is and that it does exist. They also agree on the fact that racial profiling is ineffective and negatively affects minorities. After analyzing the sources carefully, I could possibly revise my research question by widening the scope and not just focusing on how racial profiling affects just minorities, but the societies and families associated with them.

