Analyzing the Persistence of Racial Profiling in the European and Inter-American Human Rights Systems in the Era of ‘Colorblindness’

Abstract

This article provides a comparative analysis of how racial profiling is addressed within the Inter-American and the European Human Rights Systems. It demonstrates that, despite normative and jurisprudential advances, both systems exhibit limitations in addressing this practice as a manifestation of structural racism. The study identifies a dissonance between the principles of formal equality and the lived experiences of racialized individuals. It concludes that the jurisprudential ambiguity of the European Court of Human Rights and the still emerging interpretative line of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, within the context of colorblindness, hinder an effective response to racial profiling.