Is Everyone A Little Bit Racism Summary

Did you know that unarmed black men are seven times more likely to die than white men? Racism is as old as human society itself. As long as human beings have been around, people have always seemed to have hated or feared people with a different skin color. Racism is just a part of the human nature. Trayvon Benjamin Martin was just 17 when he was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain, in Sanford, Florida on February 2012. The murder of Trayvon Martin affected many people. The death of Martin was just the first of several deaths where a white person killed a black innocent person. Since the deaths weren’t stopping the #BlackLivesMatter movement began.

policies that are currently in place to reduce tension between police officers and the minority groups that they serveLaw enforcement officers and the community have been disconnected. Violence and brutality of any kind, particularly at the hands of the police who here to protect and serve our communities. When Ferguson, Missouri exploded after the police shot an unarmed black teenager, the tension between the community and its protectors was laid bare. Ferguson is not the first and certainly not the last community forced to bridge that chasm. In South Carolina a policeman shot an unarmed black male who was stopped for a seat belt violation. The cop asked the male for ID, who then reached under his seat to retrieve his wallet, but was shot in the leg by the cop before he could take out his ID. When the body cam video was reviewed it shows that the trigger happy cop probably was in fear of his life, however it is also obvious that the cop shouldn’t have felt threaten as the behavior of the black male involved nothing unusual. Many would say if the driver was white the cop would have not reacted the way he did.

Young black men who are shot by the police are very commonly justified, such as Michael Brown who was shot by police because he went for a cops gun inside a cops car. Slyville Smith was killed because he had a record of various arrests, and refused to put his illegally obtained pistol down when an officer asked him to. Where are the overzealous white cops who are out to take young black men into prisons for no reason? Where are the cops who kill solely because they're racist? Some may argue that cops who are pulling people over for “small” crimes like a broken tail light or slightly speeding is what causes more police brutality, but if a cop pulls a person over for a broken tail light, and they get out of the car with a weapon, is the cop really racist in that scenario? Or is the cop simply protecting himself and others around them? Racism in the police force is virtually nonexistent. I can agree that certain individuals will be racist, but one cop being racist in an entire department of cops does not mean there is an institutionalized issue, and can be cared for much easier; fire the

Racism Without Racists is perhaps one of the most eye-opening books i’ve read to date. Never before have a read a book and felt so much guilt and understanding, as well as a mix of both at the same time. The author, Eduardo Bonilla Silva, did such a great job of making statements and then backing them up with sufficient evidence to prove his point. After reading this, I feel much more educated and confident in understanding the topics discussed in the book.

Our society shows how racism and police officers are a focal point within our country. In the United States, many police officers demonstrate racist qualities. Research states that many police officers are only patrolling around predominately African American neighborhoods. People agree that police officers are just sitting in areas where African Americans live instead of just sitting anywhere and waiting for any crimes. (Martin, Trayvon. Racial Profiling). Polices are just waiting for African Americans to make a mistake. Most Police Officers haven’t changed their ways on racism. “Diallo was gunned down by NYPD officers while trying to enter his apartment building. The officers had mistaken Diallo for a suspected rapist—who was also black’’ (Martin, Trayvon. Racial Profiling). NYPD killed an innocent man because he was African American and he looked like the guy they were looking for. Therefore, this just proves police officers have not changed their racist

Over the last two years in the United States the African-American people have been fighting a war within our own backyards. The Washington Post reports that since January 2015, the police have shot and killed over 175 young black men ranging from ages 18-29; 24 of them were unarmed. On the flip side 172 young white men were killed, only 18 being unarmed. With these statistics there are similarities in the numbers but, blacks were killed at rates disproportional to their percentage of U.S population (1.Washington Post). Of all unarmed people shot and killed by police in 2015. With 40% being black men make up just 6% of the nation’s populations. In the wake of the killings of Mike Brown, Sandra Bland, Alton Sterling, and many more the world has been made more publicly aware of injustices black people have to handle when dealing with law enforcement. Crime in the black community is nothing new in the black community or should I say black on black crime. There is a bad stereotype that has been put on black people since slavery times that I believe has help fueled the violence between the police and my people.

Furthermore, the law enforcement here in the United States is extremely brutal to black and Hispanic Americans. There are law enforcement officers that go over the line when it comes to dealing with people of color. Officers tackle and beat black Americans down to the ground, but when it comes to a white American the police officers do not go so over board unless if needed. There are cases were both white Americans and black Americans talk back to officers, but for some reason officers seem to always show more cruelty to black Americans. According to “Interpersonal Relations and Group Processes”, “Black people may engage in more belligerent behavior, including “talking back” to police officers, and—in a vicious cycle—this belligerence may prompt more severe use of force by police” (Correll1006). An

Because of this, we would see people with different backgrounds getting shot and arrested for no reason. Whenever we go on social media, we would see that people are living in a state of fear whenever a police is nearby because they don’t know whether something bad will happen to them. In the article, “Something’s wrong when the law-abiding are afraid of police,” it talks about how a black woman was fearing for her life because a police officer pulled her over. The police officer didn’t arrest or shoot her but instead asked her if she was feeling fine since she was driving under the speed limit. People started commenting that this black woman wouldn’t need to fear the police officer if she obeyed him. Perhaps that’s true for someone else, but African Americans are live a different truth. The problem with this is that no one should fear a police officer because they are suppose to serve and protect the community. When someone is fearing a police officer then we know that something isn’t right. We see that many different ethnic people are getting killed by police officers because they don’t seem to trust them but white people. That is why as a community, we should train police officers to become more comfortable with residents of a different racial background. Police officers are required to make our society safe but it turns out that they are the one that are causing us to live in a state of perturbation. For that reason, we know that our police officers are failing their

The role society plays in how these crimes are perceived, discussed, and what measures are taken to try to resolve these issues is ultimately what can change the thinking that how police officers handle things now is right. Racial injustice is occurring at the hands of people who are suppose to keep this country safe. There are many people who contribute to this problem, but where

With situations such as this one as well as the Rodney King incident in Los Angeles, Blacks have become to fear the police. When a police car approaches them, they can't decide whether justice will be served or if the cop's intentions are to harm or even kill them. The integrity of a police officer is not guaranteed to the citizen. In past cases police have been known to plant fake evidence simply to have a reason to arrest a "suspect." As a result, African-Americans make up about 12% of the general population, but more than half of the prison population (Cole 4). With so much injustice being done to minorities in general, how can you expect minorities to respect a system that doesn't respect them?

Police shootings are unfortunate events but whenever there is a shooting, the topic of race emerges. Police shootings have always been the highlights on news channels and there is always the racially biased narrative that keeps repeating itself yet no one seems to dispute this narrative. However, did you know that studies show a police officer is eighteen and a half times more likely to be killed by a African American male than an unarmed African American male is to be killed by a police officer? In fact, a recent “deadly force” study by Washington State University researcher Lois James found that police officers were actually less likely to shoot an unarmed black suspect than unarmed Caucasian or Hispanic suspect in simulated threat scenarios. Some would argue that there are still police shootings all over America and they occur when police officers

Because of this, we would see people with different backgrounds getting shot and arrested for no reason. Whenever we go on social media, we would see that people are living in a state of fear whenever a police is nearby because they don’t know whether something bad will happen to them. In the article, “Something’s wrong when the law-abiding are afraid of police,” it talks about how a black woman was fearing for her life because a police officer pulled her over. The police officer didn’t arrest or shoot her, but instead asked her if she was feeling fine since she was driving under the speed limit. People started commenting that this black woman wouldn’t need to fear the police officer if she obeyed him. Perhaps that’s true for someone else, but African Americans are living a different truth. The problem with this is that no one should fear a police officer because they are suppose to serve and protect the community. When someone is fearing a police officer then we know that something isn’t right. We see that many different ethnic people are getting killed by police officers because they don’t seem to trust them but white people. That is why as a community, we should train police officers to become more comfortable with residents of a different racial background. Police officers are required to make our society safe but it turns out that they are the one that are causing us to live in a state of perturbation. For that reason, we know that our police officers are

Although African Americans may make up 13% of the U.S. population and 14% of monthly drug users, they are 37% of the people arrested for drug offenses. The chances of a policeman stopping blacks are higher than the chances of them stopping whites. It is proven that the police force will ignore the situation of a white person committing a major crime. Compare any case of a black person involved with drugs to the case of Dylann Roof, a white twenty-one year old that opened fire and killed nine black people, and nothing makes sense. Witnesses say he proclaimed his hate for black people right before he began shooting. When he was arrested, the police were very polite to him and never treated him

Last year, blacks were killed very often and in bad demeanors by cops. Alton Sterling was pinned to the ground, hands up unarmed, was shot twice in the chest and died. Nothing happened to those cops because they say it was self-defense. Another incident where a black male was pulled over his hands clearly shown on his steering wheel, was shot dead with his wife and son in the car. Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in his own neighborhood just because of his appearance, the man was set

Life is very difficult in public spaces. It not only has the twists and turns but, for minorities, is racist. Ever since the slave days, African Americans have known to be cautious around police. A few decades ago, the Jim Crow laws legalized separation of races in numerous public spaces. Most blacks have had to adapt to racism and profiling, which is by police due to the white majority in American cities. The recent epidemic of police shootings has made the situation even more worrisome. One can see the effects of this in the streets, the television, and most importantly, the police. Racism in public space influences police perceptions of African Americans through civilian shootings, community emotions, separation between whites and