Racial Profiling: Turnpike and Terror

Feature Story by Julie Fernandes - April 14, 2004

An African American dentist driving a luxury car is stopped by police approximately 100 times on the New Jersey Turnpike. He is never issued a ticket. A Nigerian national is strangled and slammed into his steering wheel in a traffic stop on that same turnpike. His Egyptian American companion is held at gunpoint.

For many years, New Jersey and its turnpike have become synonymous with racial profiling. In December 1999, the state agreed with the Department of Justice to halt law enforcement's targeting of individuals on the basis or race, ethnicity, or national origin.

The issue of racial profiling in New Jersey and across the nation is of particular concern to New Jersey Senators Jon Corzine, D, and Frank Lautenberg, D, who are among 117 co-sponsors of the End Racial Profiling Act (ERPA). The proposal calls for banning racial profiling by all levels of law enforcement and assures that monitoring measures are in place to respond to victims. Recognizing that law enforcement is a key stakeholder in efforts to end racial profiling, the bill also would also provide grants to state and local law enforcement agencies to bring their departments into compliance with the bill.

Almost three years ago, a version of the legislation won bipartisan support in Congress and many were optimistic about its chances for passage. Both President Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft declared that racial profiling is wrong and vowed to "end it in America." Across the county, a consensus was forming that a disproportionate number of African Americans and Latinos faced unwarranted scrutiny by law enforcement. Studies demonstrated that racial profiling was an ineffective tool. But the September 11 terrorist attacks froze the bill's momentum.

In the wake of September 11, the Bush administration promoted increased use of racial profiling, expanding its application to Arabs, Muslims, South Asians, and Sikhs in the "war on terrorism," despite information from counter-terrorism experts that focusing on the racial characteristics of individuals wasted resources and might divert attention from credible evidence, including suspicious behavior by someone who did not fit a racial or ethnic profile.

Knowing what we know about the ineffective and divisive nature of racial and ethnic profiling, our task is to abolish it once and for all. From traffic stops on the turnpike and fruitless raids in the name of the war on drugs in the city of Camden, to increased law enforcement scrutiny of Arab Americans, no one is truly safe. If law enforcement is free to focus on people because of their race or ethnicity, instead of their conduct, the real criminals go free. The End Racial Profiling Act calls for a national commitment to combat this problem.

Racial profiling poses a dangerous threat to our core constitutional values. It also humiliates innocent people and alienates minority communities. As America struggles to strike a balance in the debate between homeland security and civil liberties, we must not lose sight of our national commitment to equal justice under law.

Fernandes is a senior policy analyst at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.