there are numerous crimes being committed in which law enforcement must take action in order to protect innocent civilians against lawbreakers. But, what happens when the law enforcer turns out to be the lawbreaker by targeting African Americans for traffic stops? This illegal activity, which is known as racial profiling happens all to often throughout the U.S. and is one of the most serious issues confronting law enforcement today. The point of whether police are intentionally targeting African Americans because they think they are more likely to engage in criminal activity is being debated by civil rights groups, law enforcement officials, and normal everyday citizens. Many states have already take action by passing laws in order to protect African Americans from being targeted during traffic stops but, in South Carolina there are no such laws. In order to get such laws and crackdown on racial profiling in South Carolina, a few significant questions must be answered: Does racial profiling even exist? If so, what methods can be created to decrease racial profiling in South Carolina? And, How do you punish those law enforcement officers who commit the crime?.
Although the term "racial profiling" does not have a universal definition, it is referred to as the practice of stopping and inspecting people who are passing through public places because of bias opinions due to ones race or ethnicity. The origins of racial profiling can be dated back to the Reconstruction in the South, after the end of slavery. During this period a set of laws called "Black Codes" were created to punish African Americans who were in debt, showed public drunkenness, and loitered. Imprisoning would punish the crime, which aimed at maintaining a free labor pool with these African Americans. In 1982, President Reagan started the "War on Drugs" in which police departments were eager to crack down on drugs in the U.