people with its roots coming from British rule with roots in the Hindi language where the word was used in association with “scoundrel” or “a deceiver”. The term is often used to describe a thief or deviant. Thugs are usually closely associated to violence, gangs and crime. The word gained popularity in the Black community and mainstream culture during the rise of rap in the 80s and 90s and the War on Crime. In the era of political dog whistles, many world leaders used the term to disparage criminals and castigate the Black community. Some recent examples are the usage of the word “thugs” when describing Afro-Trinidadian impoverished males in the ports of Spain, president Donald Trump describing protestors as “thugs” following the murder of George Floyd, and the British Prime Minister responding to additional protest following George Floyd by saying “Racist thuggery’, will be answered by “the force of law”. Other words like ghetto, hood, and sketchy are used by politicians in a similar way to represent blackness while not explicitly stating it. Covert Racism and the Police Covert racism in policing refers to the subtle and often unconscious biases that police officers may hold towards people of certain racial or ethnic groups. Many scholars argue that covert racism in policing persists as modern police forces move away from openly racist practices. Covert racial disparities in policing is be seen in various ways including surveilling a perimeter, searching individuals, and conducting traffic stops across the United States. For example, a research team at Stanford University compiled and analyzed a dataset of nearly 100 million traffic stops. They found that after sunset, the “veil of darkness” resulted in black drivers being stopped fewer times than before sunset. Their findings indicated that police stops and search decisions were affected by racial biases. Stop and Frisk has also been defined as a form of covert racism in policing. Although many police departments use stop and frisk, the NYPD came under intense scrutiny for its tactics in the mid-2000s. Critics claim that Stop and Frisk led to the explicit targeting of young men of color by the police. At its peak in 2011, the NYPD reported making nearly 700,000 stops. A disproportionate number of the stops were targeted towards young men of color, over 90% with over 70% later being found innocent. The use of stop and frisk was deemed unconstitutional in 2013