Trayvon Wasn’t the Only Victim of Racial Profiling

BET.com takes a look at others who have been profiled.

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LAPD Accuses Cop of Racial Profiling - The Los Angeles Police Department found 15-year police veteran Patrick Smith guilty of racial profiling this week. Smith primarily pulled over Latino drivers based solely on their race. In addition, he misidentified the drivers as white in routine paperwork to conceal the fact he had a disproportionate number of stops involving Latino drivers.\r(Photo: David McNew/Getty Images)
Report: Gates’ Arrest Avoidable - An independent review released Wednesday revealed that last year’s arrest of Black Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. by a White police officer could have been avoided. According to the report, both men missed opportunities to "ratchet down" the situation and end things more calmly. Cambridge Sgt. James Crowley arrested Gates for disorderly conduct at his home last year while investigating a possible burglary. Gates alleged he was a victim of racial profiling. Charges were dropped./content/dam/betcom/images/2011/03/National/0311_news_king_0304.jpg

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Trayvon Martin Targeted  - Walking while Black is not a crime, but it’s enough to get you killed if you’re 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. On February 26, the honor student was killed by community watch volunteer George Zimmerman on his way home from a local 7-Eleven store in Sanford, Florida. Zimmerman told police the Black teen looked “suspicious, but critics of the shooting say Trayvon was racially profiled by Zimmerman and question how suspicious a teen holding only a bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea can look. Trayvon was not the first African-American to fall victim to racial profiling, however. BET.com takes a look back at a problem that has plagued minority communities for years. –Danielle Wright\r(Photo: Landov)

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