Racial profiling is a repressive social practice that uses group characteristics to individualize stereotypic behavior for minorities in American society. The practice of racial profiling victimizes minority persons to support a White hegemonic structure that promotes White values and beliefs as superior. The harmful effects of racial profiling on Mexican American social identity are discussed in this article. Several court cases are reviewed to illustrate how “Hispanic identity” is used by law enforcement agencies to profile Mexican Americans as either drug smugglers or undocumented aliens.
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