The House Judiciary Civil Rights Subcommittee is considering devising legislation to end racial profiling. Law enforcement's practice of targeting racial minorities for crimes dates back decades and isn't likely to disappear, thanks to unprecedented concerns about terrorism and illegal immigration. Americans of black, Latino, Arab and South Asian descent remain at particularly high risk of being profiled.

Just last week, the Portland Police Bureau reported that black residents composed 21 percent of those stopped by police in 2009 despite making up roughly 6 percent of Portland's population. Also, the director of the NAACP's Washington office recently remarked that each of the association's 2,200 chapters nationwide has received complaints about profiling. Moreover, in March, the former police chief of St. Louis suburb Ladue, Mo., filed a lawsuit alleging that city officials pressured him to pull over blacks. And we all know how racial profiling will likely affect Latinos in Arizona due to that state's controversial illegal immigration crackdown. 

Racial profiling is wrong not only because it victimizes racial minorities but also because it's proven to be an ineffective crime-fighter. Data from the U.S. Department of Justice and other agencies consistently indicate that authorities fare better at detecting crime when they focus on individuals' behavior rather than on race. Urge the House to ban racial profiling today!