In a recent poll taken by the child advocay group Children Now the children included said that,"the news media tends to portray African American and Latino people more negatively than white and Asian people. Most of the major news media did not cover this story and the ones that did said," that the children were influenced by television news." (qtd in media blackface 4) On of the major and most well known cases of racial profiling is the case of Amadou Diallo. Four white officers members of the anti street crime unit fired 41 shots at Diallo hitting him 19 times. The officers contended that they they fired in self defense. On Feb 4, 199, after Diallo,22, reached for an object they though was a gun while he was standing in the vestibule of his apartment. The object turned out to be his wallet. All four officers were charged with second degree murder as suspended from there jobs. The officers said that Diallo darted into the entrance of his building and took a combat stance. He pulled out what they perceived as a weapon and opened fire on him. The officers contended that Diallo's death was a tragic case of self defense. Charges against them said that they violated department policies could still result in there firing. They jury o!.
f four blacks and eight whites deliberated for more than 20 hours over three days before returning the verdict. Not guilty on all counts, 24 in all, from murder to reckless endangerment.(associated press 1) This case, when I heard about it and heard the facts I thought for sure that justice would be served. They shot an unarmed man 19 times and it just seemed to me like that was way too many times. He didn't fire back and didn't charge at them. It seems that they could have shot him once or twice to wound him and take him in. They found bullet wounds at the bottom of his feet so he must have been lying down. This whole case really disturbs me because the officers could have taken a different action and this man would still be alive today.