By Nanon Williams

In San Francisco recently, four police officers were fired for texting racial slurs and derogative comments about LGBT individuals. Although some may argue that people have a right to their own opinions and belief systems outside of work, one must assume that these belief systems create biases that intentionally and unintentionally impact the fairness and objectivity of policing and law enforcement.

The Houston Chronicle reported that there has been a task force assigned to clear a rape kit backlog of 6,600 kits that were untested. Without a doubt, victims of violent crime need to know that there is a system in place to protect them and that holds those who have harmed them accountable for their actions and the harm they have done. And yet, out of 6,600 potential perpetrators, the newspaper chose to present three photos of African-American men in the story. Yet, according to a report published by the Bureau of Justice, violent sex offender are more likely to be white males than offenders of any other crime. White males comprise 75 percent of all offenders imprisoned for sexual assault versus 23 percent for black and 3 percent for other races. The media portrays the exact opposite.

One must certainly wonder: How much of this inaccurate reporting and racial profiling of the media influences law enforcement? And vice versa: How much of the racial profiling conducted by law enforcement influences the media?

Americans — black and white — need a strong and unbiased justice system. We need law enforcement that truly protects and serves us all. But all too often, justice is about prosecuting just us.

Black men do not commit more crimes than white men, but that is not what most people believe. It is a narrative that has been told and repeated so often that it has been absorbed into our cultural vernacular.

If we want our law enforcement, criminal justice system and media to operate without bias, then we must all hold one another to higher standards and adopt a zero tolerance policy for racial profiling.

We must adopt a new narrative — one that perceives as all people living in America as equal in the eyes of the law and equal within the eyes of media.

Racial profiling is real. Let’s change that.

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