preview

Discrimination In Ferguson

Decent Essays

Discrimination Discrimination can be based on stereotypes, gender, age, and or race. Racism plays a key role in discrimination against black people. The living condition causes stereotyping and abuse of powers and because of this racism is prevalent in Ferguson, Missouri. On August 9th, 2014, Michael Brown, an 18-year old black man was repeatedly shot and killed by a 28-year old white Ferguson police officer named Darren Wilson. It was said that Brown was a robbery suspect who stole cigarillos. Later on, Officer Wilson and Brown got into an altercation which caused Officer Wilson to fire a total of 12 bullets, killing Michael Brown.
Stereotyping is one of the many factors why racism is prevalent in Ferguson. Statistics say 67% is African-American …show more content…

However, Ferguson’s important political leaders such as the mayor and their police force are 97% white. In a city that should have more African-American’s being in power since their race is more popular, it is not. This shows the stigma towards black people and how they are treated inferior to white people because people believe they cannot take care of a city. Additionally, according to city-data, Ferguson has a higher crime rate than the United States average. Since Ferguson has many black people, this makes others believe that African-Americans are the main cause for murder, rape, and other crimes that occur in America. This shows the stereotypes that occur in the world for black people. Michael Brown’s incident caused a riot in Ferguson resulting in night curfews. However, the police force only went further with their insensitivity by using tear gas, dogs, rubber bullets and other weapons to stop the protest. The reason to Michael Brown’s death was stereotyping him to believe he was the one that stole the items because of his skin colour. Darren Wilson fired a total of 12 bullets and articles have said that he kept shooting because Brown was coming towards him. …show more content…

Police officers believe that they are superior to the citizens. Ferguson is isolated from the other cities because of it is a dangerous area so this makes it more difficult for the citizens there to be who they are without being discriminated against. In the Zimbardo experiment, it shows how roles affect behaviours and in the view of the government, black people are all criminals and so they have to play the role of hiding away from the government so they are trying hard not to be seen near police officers because they are afraid of being interrogated, arrested for no crime and or killed. Although they are just like other human beings, the government makes them seem like they are inferior to other races. Additionally, police officers are supposed to be playing the role of protecting citizens of a country, city, state, etc. but instead they are using their power to ruin the lives of innocent families. Furthermore, police officers are not even disciplined for their wrong doings. In Michael Brown’s case, Officer Darren Wilson was not convicted of the murder and the court said Wilson only fired his bullets in self defence. It is evident that having power can lead to one’s victory even if they do not deserve it. How can one fire 12 bullets for self

Get Access