(USA Today) – Just after a heated summer that included a handful of fatalities at the hands of police that raised questions of racism, the NAACP has released a report that says many states do not have laws that explicitly prohibit racial profiling.
The civil rights organization on Thursday released the 68-page report, Born Suspect: Stop and Frisk and the Continued Fight to End Racial Profiling in America. The group launched the study after the Feb. 26, 2012, death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin, shot by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, said lead author Niaz Kasravi, the NAACP’s director of criminal justice.
Kasravi told USA TODAY that what stood out most for her was that the findings were similar to another study she did after the 2001 terror attacks while working for Amnesty International. Back then, the focus was on alleged racial profiling against Muslims.
“Not much has changed. The numbers are pretty stagnant,” Kasravi said.