"The Color of Suspicion": Race Profiling or Racism?

Veena Garyali, MD

When I was asked to write a commentary Needless to say, the victims were all non- on the recent article by Jeffrey Goldberg white. The reporting of such incidents in the New York Times Magazine, titled made me wonder whether racism was on "The Color of Suspicion" (June 20, the rise, or were we all just finally be- 1999), it made me think of all the recent coming more sensitive to it? reports of racial profiling allegedly prac- Is race profiling the same as racism? It ticed in the police departments of New is not, according to the dictionary. Race Jersey and New York, not to mention the or racial refers to a group, tribe, people, race riots in Los Angeles a few years ago or nation belonging to the same stock; a and the O.J. Simpson trial. class or kind of people unified by com- Checking the Internet, I found close to munity or interests. habits or characteris- 2000 articles about this topic and sampled tics. Racism is discrimination based on some of them. One carried the title: "Ar- race. Profiling refers to creating a contour rest the Racism: Racial Profiling in or outline; more specifically in this case, America." The American Civil Liberties it refers to a set of data, often in graphic Union was very much involved in the form, portraying the significant features issue of racism, stating among other of something, a graph representing the things that "Jim Crow justice is alive and extent to which an individual exhibits well in America." Not too long ago, I traits or abilities as determined by tests or came across a new term, "driving while ratings. Apparently there is some scien- black" (DWB). We are all familiar with a tific basis for race profiling. recent hate crime incident, in which a law It is a well known fact in the medical student who belonged to one of the white community that a deficiency of glucose- supremacist groups went on a shooting 6-dehydrogenase is very common in Cen- spree and killed three innocent people. tral Africa and South Asia. This trait has been demonstrated to be associated with Dr. Garyali is Executive Director of the Kirby Forensic increased resistance to malaria, and most Psychiatric Center, Ward's Island, NY. Address corre- carriers of this trait come from malaria- spondence to: Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center, Ward's Island, New York. NY 10035. infested areas. If a physician ordered tests

630 J Am Acad Psychiatry Law, Vol. 27, No. 4, 1999 Race Profiling or Racism for this trait only in his African-American In another New York Times article (July and Asian-American patients, it might be 12, 1999), by Fox Butterfield, about pris- called racial profiling, but certainly not ons brimming with the mentally ill, a racism. However, what is being discussed study done by the Justice Department in the Goldberg article is different. The showed that there are about 283,000 in- two police officers who were interviewed mates with emotional/mental illnesses. for the article, one black and one white, An interesting aspect of the study is that maintained that their form of profiling the rate of mental illness varied by race was not based solely on race, but that they and gender, with white and female in- took many other factors into account. mates reporting higher rates then black Furthermore, asked one officer: "Why and male inmates. The highest rate was shouldn't I look at race when I am look- among white female state prisoners, with ing for crime? It is no state secret that an estimated 29 percent of them reporting blacks commit a disproportionate amount emotional disorders, compared with 20 of crime, so 'racial profiling' is simply percent of black female prisoners. Over- good police work." Even if this statement all, 22.6 percent of the white state pris- were true, does it make every black a oners were identified as mentally ill, criminal? It is the sort of stereotyping that compared with 13.5 percent of the black leads to bias and prejudice and discrimi- prisoners. A psychiatrist was quoted as nation. It also begs the question of why saying that the differences resulted from there is such a high crime rate among white psychiatrists' poor recognition of blacks. Does it not have something to do mental illness in minority individuals. with their socioeconomic status, oppres- Psychiatrists were more likely to dismiss sion, and lack of the opportunities that are aggressive behavior in men, particularly so easily available to whites? black men, as a result of their being bad It may be more appropriate to broaden and not mentally ill. the discussion to minorities in general, The preceding point brings me to why because most minority groups have expe- this issue is so pertinent for psychiatric rienced discrimination. However, all mi- professionals, who make evaluations and norities don't have quite the same history recommendations about a person's state of slavery, of decades of oppression, of of mind that may affect their fate. We are being made to feel inferior to the "white familiar with prejudice, bias, discrimina- man." I am reminded of the book that I tion, and many of us have experienced it have been reading recently, titled The In- in one context or another. Notwithstand- visible Man, by Ralph Ellison. He de- ing the fact that we are mental health scribes the internal struggle of a black professionals, we are not free of these person trying to form an identity, wanting beliefs and feelings. Deep within our- to be American while not feeling selves, many times buried in our subcon- ashamed of being black; how shehe is scious minds, we carry our prejudices. seen, only in terms of the skin color but When they come to the surface, they may not the person, who shelhe is. affect our judgments and the fates of

J Am Acad Psychiatry Law, Vol. 27, No. 4, 1999 631 Garyali those we examine. This influence is by being in touch with our biases, so that something we need to be aware of con- we do not look at them through the prism stantly. It is of particular significance for of stereotyping. We, as human beings and forensic psychiatrists who give opinions part of the broader society, owe it to in cases varying from competency to ourselves and to our patients to keep this stand trial to state of mind at the time of dialogue alive in an effort to help educate committing a capital offense. Psychiatric the public. opinion is often sought by the courts, and I end this with some words from Ralph our evaluations and testimonies may af- Ellison's book The Invisible Man, which fect the outcome of the judicial process. capture this struggle of race so beauti- In an ideal, prejudice-free world, where fully: everyone is regarded as equal, where hu- Let man keep his many parts and you will have man beings look at their fellow humans as no tyrant states. Why, if they follow this con- part of the same world and at the same formity business, they will end up by forcing time accept their differences, things men, an invisible man, to become white, which would be fair and just. Reality is far from is not a color but the lack of one. Must I strive toward colorlessness?. . . .Think of what the this utopian concept. Racism is alive and world would lose if that should happen. Amer- well in America. While inevitably people ica is woven of many strands. I would recog- will get blamed for racism unfairly, more nize them and let it so remain. . . .Life is to be often than not our deep-rooted internal lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat. Our belief system, which after all is what rac- fate is to become one, and yet many. . . .One of ism or discrimination is based on, directs the greatest jokes in the world is the spectacle our thinking and judgments. We as pro- of the whites busy escaping blackness and be- coming blacker every day, and the blacks striv- fessionals. as psychiatrists and forensic ing toward whiteness, becoming quite dull and psychiatrists, will serve our patients bet- gray. None of us seems to know who he is or ter by looking at them as fellow humans, where he's going.

J Am Acad Psychiatry Law, Vol. 27, No. 4, 1999