Article Summary: Welcome to the ‘Club’ By Charles M. Blow
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Institution
Article Summary: Welcome to the ‘Club’ By Charles M. Blow
In the 2009 article, the author informs the readers how racial profiling remains a concern among the African-Americans and Hispanics in the hands of law enforcers. Despite racial discrimination having been banned since the time of the Civil Rights Movements of the 1960s, the minority groups continue to consider it as a rite of passage since the phenomenon is still prevalent, as evident in the arrest of Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.
According to Blow (2009), research by the New York Times/CBS News, when asked, “Have you ever felt you were stopped by the police just because of your race or ethnic background?” Sixty-six percent of black men said yes. Only 9 percent of white men said the same.” Further, research by Center for Constitutional Rights in 2008 revealed racial profiling to be prevalent in the New York Police Department 80% of residents stopped and frisked to be of Hispanic or African-American background compared to 29% of the whites, even though 70% of the whites are likely to be carrying guns.
Although Professor Gates Jr. was enrolled in the ‘club’ at a later age, the author claims to have experienced racial profiling at the age of 18 years. Blow happens to have been driving with his black friend when they were almost killed in cold blood by a white cop. Even though they had not committed any crime, the officer further “ said that if he could make us lie down in the middle of the road and shoot us in the back of the head and no one would say anything about it” (Blow, 2009). Blow suffered another incidence of racial discrimination in the presence of his children, where he ended up being victimized and given two tickets.
In conclusion, despite efforts to fight for equality, racial profiling remains a concern among minority groups. This is evident through the case of Professor Gates Jr. and Blow’s testimony. The law enforcers remain the most perpetrators of the vice that minority groups must go through as a rite of passage and join the ‘club.’
References
Blow, C.M. (2009). Welcome to the ‘Club.’ The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/25/opinion/25blow.html.