History Main / Profiling

* On ''Series/EverybodyHatesChris'', Chris tells us that the only thing that can distract the cops from seeing a black kid in a car is ''two'' black kids in a car.

->''Meanwhile, far away in another part of town\\

'Less you wanna draw the heat''

* A line about DWB (Driving While Black) in ''Film/MenInBlack 2'': the car's stoic autopilot decoy "came with a black dude, but he kept getting pulled over".
* Taken to the next level in ''Film/MenInBlack 3'' when J, sent back to 1969, gets pulled over for DWB when they spot him driving a big Cadillac he "acquired". After the neuralizer:

You can't get through a cop show without running into profiling, it seems. It can make for a VerySpecialEpisode or can be imbued into every element of a piece to shift down the SlidingScaleOfCynicismVersusIdealism. Normally treated as definitely A Bad Thing, sometimes its appearance on the work is accompanied by a souring of the mood or a sudden change in view of a character, revealing the subtle bigotry underneath. Conversely, with the NobleBigotWithABadge, it's actually a softer way of definitely showing that they are bigoted, without them doing something so terrible that we can't still view them as noble. Lately, there has been a trend of casting and costuming parts so that it invites the "profile" (gang member, perv, etc.), drawing the audience into profiling and then flipping it as a RedHerring.

-->-- Music/BobDylan, "Hurricane"

** Another had Chris selected for a police line-up because he 'fit the profile' along with several other black men who look nothing alike. Chris comments that he knows how profiling works, and the scene cuts away to a man giving a detailed description of the perp, and then the scene repeats aggain to reveal that all the officer heard was that the perp was black.

* ''TheWestWing''

* There was an episode of ''TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'' where Will and Carlton are driving a very nice car belonging to a friend of Uncle Phil. They get pulled over by the police for driving incredibly slowly, and then arrested with little regard for due process. During this all the writers contrast Will's cynicism with Carlton's [[TheWoobie Woobieish]] optimism in authority figures as he blunders through several actions that a well behaved rich kid can't see the shame but the GenreSavvy Will tries to advise him against.
* On ''EverybodyHatesChris'', Chris tells us that the only thing that can distract the cops from seeing a black kid in a car is ''two'' black kids in a car.

* In ''VeronicaMars'', a character accused of stealing because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time is described as having been "lurking" in the area. "Lurking? You mean, 'standing while black'?"
* Happens to Eddie on ''FamilyMatters''. Carl, suspicious of Eddie's claim, simply gets angry at him for getting another ticket until he speaks to the cops who pulled him over. It turns out the one in charge is indeed a racist jerk.
* Done in ''ThatsSoRaven'', with the show's [[SarcasmMode typical subtlety]] - Raven isn't hired as a sales clerk, while her friend [[TheDitz Chelsea]] is, despite Raven performing much better in the preliminary tests (such as folding and categorizing clothes). Fair enough... but then she has a vision that the manager confessed to not liking black people. So, Raven wears a [[MasterOfDisguise ridiculous disguise]], with a hidden camera, to engineer the confession, which, after much [[HilarityEnsues pratfalling]], she gets. The manager doesn't even try to justify it like the one on ''[[Series/SmartGuy Smart Guy]]'' does - she just cheerily admits to being racist, almost without provocation, to a perfect stranger, in a public place, while working as a salesperson.
* Averted with {{Martin}}. Martin is pulled over by a police officer and decides to fight the ticket. While in court he accuses the officer of being racist. The officer disagrees and as evidence asks his wife to stand up. Martin is left speechless when the [[CrowningMomentofAwesome elegant, black woman in the front row stands and introduces herself]].
* ''{{Taggart}}'' codified the concept of "Innocent until proven Irish."
* An early version of this is seen in ''GoodTimes'' when J.J. is arrested for a robbery. Eventually, the police let him go in embarrassment when they catch the real criminal: a short white guy who looks absolutely nothing like J.J. beyond having the exact same outfit of clothes.
* On one episode of ''TheGeorgeLopezShow'', George was told to demote Hosni, an Arab-American employee, from his plane-inspecting position because of his background.
* Brought up in ''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]'' where a FBI analyst expresses disgust at profiling Muslims in light of terrorist attacks. Jack shuts her down by saying he doesn't like it either, [[IDidWhatIHadToDo but they have no choice.]]
* {{Bones}}: Cam (Black) and Arastoo (Iranian) get pulled over by a cop for "driving erratically." Cam insists that Arastoo's driving was fine and his real crime was "driving while brown."

* There was an episode of ''TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'' where Will and Carlton are driving a car belonging to a friend of Uncle Phil. They get pulled over by the police and then arrested with little regard for due process. During this all the writers contrast Will's cynicism with Carlton's [[TheWoobie Woobieish]] optimism in authority figures as he blunders through several actions that a well behaved rich kid can't see the shame but the GenreSavvy Will tries to advise him against.

* In ''Discworld/MenAtArms'', the Night Watch are horrified to hear that [[FantasticRacism speciesist]] copper Mayonnaise Quirke of the Day Watch has dealt with the murder of a dwarf by arresting the first troll he could find who didn't have an alibi.

* An episode of ''Series/SmartGuy'' had Yvette's friend Nina getting a job at a clothing store, only to find that the store manager wanted her job to be following black people around the store to stop them from stealing. She awkwardly follows people around, not wanting to get fired, but then Yvette comes in and it gets really awkward. Nina then tries to change the manager's point of view, only for the manager to justify her own position with some anecdotal evidence and ask Nina to leave. Later we see the manager following a black guy around the store...who turns out to be an executive of the clothing chain, contacted by Yvette and Nina about the manager's behavior. Oops.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': An unfortunate young Quarian on her pilgrimage is being harassed by a volus and a C-Sec officer aboard the Citadel. The volus is in a rage about the supposed theft of his money, which ''had'' to have been the quarian because she had bumped into her earlier. The C-Sec officer speaks only to the volus about the matter and says at least once in conversation, in regards to the quarian, "You know what they're like." Even after she is found innocent, the officer threatens her with arrest if she does not get some permanent housing soon, allowing the player to deliver a pissed off rant from Shepard towards both the volus and the C-Sec officer on the slighted quarian's behalf.

* A line about DWB (Driving While Black) in ''Film/MenInBlack 2'': the car's stoic autopilot decoy "used to be a black guy, but he kept getting pulled over".

[[AC:WebOriginal]]
* Funny Or Die brings us [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yuFy_qjolU The White Women's Workout]], which consists of hiring a black guy to sneak up on you and chase you around.

** Taken to the next level in ''Film/MenInBlack 3'' when J, sent back to 1969, gets pulled over for DWB when they spot him driving a big Cadillac he "acquired". After the neuralizer:

* ''TheWestWing'' spent an entire episode on this, with Bartlett's Supreme Court nominee Roberto Mendoza being arrested for driving drunk--even though he had a liver condition that meant if he drank that much, he'd be ''dead.''

** To be fair, the police zombies were attacking anyone out after dark, on account of the incredibly high violent crime rate in the area. That didn't stop Gunn from bringing race into it, though.

Has nothing to do with TheProfiler- despite what those who use this trope think.

TruthInTelevision, and we all know it.

->''"... 'Cause it turns out they were stopping every driver traveling down that particular sidewalk. [[CompletelyMissingThePoint And that's profiling. And profiling is wrong!]]"''
->--'''Ron White'''

Or, "How I learned to start worrying and hate prejudice".

* ''MassEffect'': An unfortunate young Quarian on her pilgrimage is being harassed by a volus and a C-Sec officer aboard the Citadel. The volus is in a rage about the supposed theft of his money, which ''had'' to have been the quarian because she had bumped into her earlier. The C-Sec officer speaks only to the volus about the matter and says at least once in conversation, in regards to the quarian, "You know what they're like." Even after she is found innocent, the officer threatens her with arrest if she does not get some permanent housing soon, allowing the player to deliver a pissed off rant from Shepard towards both the volus and the C-Sec officer on the slighted quarian's behalf.

* This was pretty much the point of the film ''Film/TheSiege'' with Denzel Washington, Bruce Willis and Tony Shalhoub where a series of terrorist atttacks results in New York being put under martial law, habeas corupus being revoked temporarily, all citizens of middle eastern descent being arrested and the use of torture.