DOC 100 Ziyun Zou
Oct. 24, 2015
Black Lives Matter Analysis “Black Lives Matter”, the movement against judicial injustice and police brutality that particularly against African Americans, has drawn great public attention. As indicated in the recent years, “over half of the people who being killed by police brutality were African Americans or Latino” (Nazgol Ghandnoosh). Therefore, African Americans launched the movement fighting for their human rights and real legal justice regardless of race. To support the movement, a student hold a poster in the UCSD campus parade calling for Asian Americans’ participation and support: “Our black brothers and sisters bore the burden for us so that most of us and our families can be here. It’s
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In present years, police impacted by racial bias on their daily enforcement that usually inequitably suspected blacks of a crime. For instance, “blacks were twice likely as whites to be arrested during a traffic stop.” (Nazgol). Racial discrimination in the criminal justice system caused injustice judgment towards African Americans and death of innocent these victims. Lives of all the races should be weighted equally as humans. Nobody’s life should be unequally taken by judicial injustice. Therefore, the first reasons for calling for participation is to defend for judicial justice for African American, or even, human rights.
The second reason was drawing government’s attention and enforce them to act. If people don’t participate and act, the ingrained phenomenon of discrimination could never be improved but happens repeatedly. In other words, launching and supporting the movement is necessary for establishing new rules and improving the phenomena of racial discrimination, in both of legal system and society. An example that demonstrates this point is the response to necessity of Freedom Rides from “Mississippi freedom school curriculum”: the government and Supreme Court won’t do anything unless people has been moved showing their defense and enforce them to perform their duties. Hence, the student called for participation and support for the movement in order to bring up the serious issue more
Black Lives Matter is an international activist movement that started within the African-American communities. This movement is organized by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. Ever since the black people have stepped on American soil, they have continued to be victims of racism and violence. From slavery to lynching to segregation, the black people have suffered alot in this country. In the past few years, there are so many of them that have been targeted by the law enforcement authorities across the country. This movement’s goal is to raise awareness of racism and violence against African-Americans. They wants African-American to live with dignity and respect like other Americans do.
“Most officers involved in these killings are hardly indicted, much less convicted, for excessive use of force. The criminal justice system’s high volume of contact with people of colour”. (Burton, 2015). This is a major cause of African-Americans’ unequal proportion of deadly police encounters, as well as of larger perceptions of prejudice in the black communities. “Black lives matter” has become the accumulating social movement to bring light to the inequality and unjustifiable act and the legal system is failing to up hold the citizens right and the basic
Imagine the idea of living in a society where you are segregated from your peers as a result of the colour of your skin. Envision living in a place that you no longer wish to call home because the people around you are being eradicated left right and center.
Few in this country would argue with the fact that the United States criminal justice system possesses discrepancies which adversely affect Blacks in this country. Numerous studies and articles have been composed on the many facets in which discrimination, or at least disparity, is obvious. Even whites are forced to admit that statistics indicate that the Black community is disproportionately affected by the American legal system. Controversy arises when the issue of possible causes of, and also solutions to, these variations are discussed. It’s not just black versus white, it is white versus white, and white versus oriental, whatever the case may be, and it is not justice. If we see patterns then the judges should have the authority to say something. Jury nullifications cannot be overturned regardless of the cause. Exclusionary rule, according to CULS (2010) – Prevents the government from using most evidence gathered in violation of U.S. Constitution; like unreasonable search and seizure (Fourth Amendment).
Over the past five centuries, black people have endured violence in many different ways. Today, police officers use deadly, excessive force that leads to inexcusable assaults, beatings and shootings. This demonstrates the government’s role in initiating and prolonging racial suppression and provides the explanation for police brutality to become a federal crime (Black Radical Congress, 3). In history, racist violence, police brutality, has been used to suppress the racial blacks and to preserve power and privileges for the white race.
Coming from a society with much weaker civil society structure, I appreciate the protection of civil rights offered under the U.S. Constitution. However, I also know that there are many groups especially African Americans and others racial minority groups in this country who don't enjoy the same equal protection of the law. My understanding of the complexities of the American criminal justice system has expanded after watching the Kalief Browder documentary. This documentary relates the life of a black young man who committed suicide and a family destroyed because of the negligence, lack of professionalism and more important the criminal justice bias and prejudice against black people. This case also motivated me to achieve my dream of becoming
The use of police brutality and racial profiling is an unfortunate part of today’s society that needs to be addressed. Blacks are being stopped and searched by police officers in greater numbers compared to other races, and sometimes these situations escalate into violence. In the essay Blue On Black Violence: Freddie Gray, Baltimore, South Africa, & the Quietism of Africana Christian Theology, author Darryl Scriven, a Philosophy professor at Florida A&M University, reports that, “CNN reported that May 2015 was the deadliest month for Baltimore, Maryland in 16 years with 35 recorded, civilian-caused homicides” (Scriven 2015). He then goes on to say, “Most of the victims were African American” (Scriven 2015). This use of unnecessary force is not new. Police have employed the tactic of racial profiling to unfairly stop and search people of color, and some of time, this turns violent. There are several cases of police brutality that occurred in the past few years that show many similarities with cases from the past in Macintosh County.
American society is a great nation made up of rich racial diversity, a situation that brings sensitivity on the way different races are treated, especially in the justice system. Statistics on the field of criminal justice shows unequal racial proportions of people arrested and charged in courts of law. The statistics trigger unfounded theories that some races, especially the African American race, are mistreated may be due to their skin color. The assumptions regarding unfairness in the justice system on lines of racial alignment may or may not be true, hence the need for more scrutiny. According to Justice On trial (n.d), in regard to the allegations on justice system, it is imperative that the stake holders in the justice system consider
Police brutality is a major issue in today’s society. Many African Americans tend to avoid the police for that very reason. A campaign was started in 2012 against police brutality and the unfair treating of African Americans entitled, Black Lives Matter. This movement was met with controversy as well as support from the American people. This movement has followed several controversial police brutality cases in the United States including, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Sandra Bland. All African American and all killed in the presence of a police officer, with no convictions. These three cases have been some of the biggest cases in the Black Lives Matter campaign. This campaign is determined to make sure that Black lives are treated just as equally as white live and Hispanic lives, because black lives matter
Racial tension and police brutality are the most controversial topics in the United States today. As a society, we never really know what to do with racism. The increase tensions between the African American community and Caucasian community has been at an ultimate high recently. The contemporary events in places such as Missouri, Florida, Chicago, etc. have highlighted the seriousness of these issues.
In the world today the color of your skin implies more than we might suggest. The topic that I have chosen to analyze is Police Brutality. Police brutality is often affiliated with racial profiling. It is frequently said that we live in a “white man’s world” yet the white race is by account not the only race in America. Recently, the death by police rate has immensely expanded. African Americans are the number one victims in Police Brutality. Police uniforms are utilized to speak power, yet they misuse their authority by utilizing "self-preservation" to conceal their homicides.
In our modern society, many African American citizens have been suffering from racial oppression. The difficulties of blacks trying to undergo justice is overall, halting their lives and character as blacks. Understandably, many citizens have committed crimes to where a white citizen(s) or police officer have to intervene and take charge. Unquestionably, the stand your ground law is by far disregarded when trying to cultivate equity. The idea of abolishing race, the warrant of racism, remains illicit in our sociological imagination. Racial oppression is seen as a contribution to such difficulties, leaning toward the struggles of black youth. It seems as though, the actual physical death or the disintegration of one’s personal dignity plays a very big part in social issues such as stereotyping and racism.
With all that has been examined, it is somewhat troubling to see that 21st century America today is very similar to America from the 1960’s. While it is true that Black Americans have gained civil rights and liberties, it is the current state of American society itself—as well as white fright—that dismisses these rights. The most infamous example of this is, of course, police shootings. Since the Trayvon Martin case, the United States seems to have exploded with more police shootings in which white police officers shoot unarmed black men. According to Mapping Police Violence, “Police killed at least 102 unarmed black people in 2015, nearly twice each week” (Police Violence). Indeed, America is now like the 1950’s because while Black Americans are now free to vote, walk in public, and partake in public programs of U.S. society, certain institutions still attempt to suppress their rights. This attempting at suppression of Black civil rights, moreover, can be attributed to white fright.
“Black Lives Matter” —an intended progression in society without a hierarchy, merely marching forward by spur of the people. Started by three sisters who continue to keep the organization a chapter-based, left wing social justice operation, it can best be described as “Not a moment, but a movement” by those that follow it. The case that began this outcry involved a man —George Zimmerman— whom, according to Lizette Alvarez and Cara Buckley (2013), “was found not guilty [of] second-degree murder [and] was also acquitted of manslaughter, a lesser charge.” (para. 1). Since its initial start in 2013, the movement follows and protests against police brutality and civil injustice towards individuals of the Black minority; however, this is a prime example of hate breeding hate as the movement, has opened a new floodgate full of antipathy aimed towards the White-community and Law Enforcement Officials. In short, the initial idea of “Black Lives Matter” —which is to bring civil justice to the Black-community— is a good concept, but the execution by its adherents are, ironically, bigoted; the movement needs to either evolve its state of thought or disperse before it further segregates America.
Is the Black Lives Matter movement good reason? To anwser, this stand torwards race discrimination is justified. This is because the things they go through compared to people who are not ethnic, are much more diffucult. From Brent Staples non-fiction essay, he explains the diffuculties of being a person of color. Even with “a discreet, uniflamatory distance” between him and the citizen, the stranger still fled in fear. That shows the unnessesary emotions directed at black people. During Clint Smiths TED Talk, he addresses as a little boy he couldnt even play outside with his friends without his father fearing the worst. This movement will prove that are precieving this race wrong. It doesnt make logical sense to let societies, citites, America’s,