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Since the beginning of time, African Americans and other minorities have always been

racially oppressed due to them simply not being Caucasian. For years many activists have been

actively working to create equality throughout America. Some of these efforts were very

effective and have made changes, though not all of the problems have been solved. In the month

of April 2010, the Arizona Senate Bill 1070 was officially enacted. This policy basically allows

law enforcement to racially profile persons that appear to be an immigrant and demand on spot

for verification of their citizenship1. Many argue that this policy will only give law enforcement

another step stool to discriminate against those who are non-caucasian.

In my opinion, this policy should be reversed because, it is racial discrimination and influences

racial profiling. It is known that minorities already have it hard in America and this only

continues to make things worse for them. Racial profiling also violates the supremacy clause of

the United States Constitution. The Senate Bill 1070 is inviting police to rely on the appearance

and characteristics such as race, ethnicity and language2. The policy is allowing police to stop

those who look suspicious for minor infractions and demand them to show their citizenship

papers. It is very biased and unfair to many people that have to deal with this issue.

Another problem with this policy is it ties in with the issue of police brutality in America. Police

brutality has been a major issue for minorities in America for quite some time now. Law

enforcement has been getting away with many of their unjust actions and those who have lost

1 TheEditor. "The Most Important Policies That Impacted African Americans." MadameNoire.

Madamenoire, 10 Sept. 2010. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.

2 "Frequently Asked Questions About the Arizona Racial Profiling Law." American Civil Liberties

Union. ACLU, n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.

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their lives to these actions or placed in jail have been served no justice. 963 unarmed, minorities

were shot by law enforcement in the year of 20163. Issues as such are not being taken as

seriously as they should be. With that being said, allowing law enforcement to legally racially

profile is only going to create bigger problems for police systems and minorities in America.

So I know that youre probably wondering how can we reverse this policy? I am a true believer

that unity throughout a nation solves so many problems. It has also been proven that when an

outstanding number of Americans advocate for change, they are more likely to be successful.

There are several movements and organizations that are designed to aid issues as such. The

Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Race Forward, The Black Lives Matter Movement, etc.

If we could get these organizations to could come together and work towards reversing this

policy, the task would most likely be successful.

Reversing this bill will not

only give the minorities of color

their proper rights and respect back,

but it will also express to the

government systems that policies

that discriminate against anyone

should never be enforced. Yes,

immigration is a problem in America which is totally understood but, people should not have to

fear being antagonized and racially profiled by those who are supposed to be there to protect

them. Law enforcement in America are already seen to be receiving the upper hand in many

3 "Police Shootings 2016 Database." The Washington Post. Ed. Washington Post. WP Company,

2016. Web. 21 Apr. 2017

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situations that involve civilians more specifically minorities. Implementing unjust policies are

simply unfair. So what can we do now? We now gather various organizations and those who are

against this policy to come up with a good strategy that will reverse this policy.
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Works Cited

"Frequently Asked Questions About the Arizona Racial Profiling Law." American Civil Liberties

Union. ACLU, n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.

"Police Shootings 2016 Database." The Washington Post. Ed. Washington Post. WP Company,

2016. Web. 21 Apr. 2017

TheEditor. "The Most Important Policies That Impacted African Americans." MadameNoire.

Madamenoire, 10 Sept. 2010. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.