Home » Take Action » Become a Student Activist » Case of the Month Archives » November 1999
Lesson Plan: Racial Profiling
Purpose
The purpose of this lesson plan is to help students understand the constitutional standards governing police-citizen contacts, when a police officer can stop a citizen for questioning or a search, and why racial profiling is a growing controversy in America.
Grade
9-12
Objectives
Students should be able to:
- Identify the protections guaranteed by the 14th Amendment
- Explain why stopping a member of a minority group because that person fits a "drug courier" or "gang member" profile is racially biased and discriminatory
Materials
- Complaint in the ACLU's Oklahoma racial profiling lawsuit: Gerald v. Oklahoma Dept. of Public Safety
- Handout: ACLU Briefing Paper "Racial Justice"
- ACLU Report: "Driving While Black: Racial Profiling on Our Nation's Highways"
Activities
- Teacher will give an overview of police racial profiling practices and explain why it is controversial to stop someone solely because the person is "driving while black or brown." The "Racial Justice" handout, the ACLU report and the Gerald complaint will be used as teaching tools and possibly passed out to the class.
- Students will pretend they and their friends have just been stopped by the police because they fit a drug courier or gang member profile. They must write a letter to the chief of police explaining whether they feel the officers' actions were justified or not.
- The class will divide into two teams, the police officers and the targeted motorists. The police officers will present their case to the class why using a racial profile to stop motorists is an effective law enforcement technique. The other group will argue that this technique is biased and unfair.
