Killing Of Black People Essay

On July 6th, a Minnesota police officer pulled Philando Castile, a 32 year old black male, for a broken tail light. The officer asked the man to get out his license and as he reached for them, the officer then pulled a gun and shot Castile. As Castile lay with his head back bleeding out, his fiance, Diamond Reynolds filmed a video explaining he had shot Castile four times. Reynolds’s four year old daughter had been sitting in the back seat to witness the entire thing. Of the 708 police shootings to occur before September this year, ¼ of those deaths, 173 black individuals have been shot dead. Between 2008 and 2012, 12,765 people had been victims of police shootings and 51.1% were African American. Just to put things in perspective for you.

Many African-Americans are killed every year by police officers and their deaths impact not only their families but their community. However this past year the death of John Crawford and Tamir Rice impacted not only their family or community, but the entire nation. The case of Rice and Crawford isn’t nothing new, we always hear about a black person being shot by the police quite often. The only thing that makes these cases unique from rest is that they were both caught on tape. On November 22nd, 12-year-old Tamir Rice was playing in the park with a toy airsoft gun when officer Timothy Loehmann shot him two seconds after arriving to the scene. He died the next day due to a "gunshot wound of the torso with injuries of major vessel, intestines and pelvis” according to the autopsy results that were realized shortly after. 22-year-old African-American John

Despite the important racial progresss our society has made since Emmett Till’s death, from the civil rights era, to present increase of police brutality has still left the Black/African American community in shadows of segregation. The second most recent shooting of teenager Michael Brown has left citizens in ongoing battles with law enforcement officers of Ferguson, Missouri. New Statement (2014) reports, Missouri police similarly attempted to retain control of the narrative, claiming Brown had stolen cigars, and then paying for them, and then claiming he was a bad child and attacked the officer who shot him” (New Statement, 21). Brown autopsy reveals he was gun less and shot six times. Police brutality is not solely about Ferguson, Emmett Till, or the civil rights movement, but it is simply about the history of capitalism and police brutality in America and having many forms of it.

“What are you following me for?” “You shot me. You shot me!” “Please don’t let me die” “Officer, why do you have your guns out?” “I can’t breathe.” “I don’t have a gun. Stop Shooting.”(The Last Words). These were some of the last words from victims of police brutality against African Americans. Police brutality has been occurring ever since the police force began, but recently, the police have been targeting African Americans. In 2016, more than 250 African Americans were killed by the police. Most of the victims were unarmed and have not committed a serious offense. These frightening statistics do not have to continue. If the average American recognized the severity of the issue and raised their voice, this inequity

The rise of lynchings of African Americans rose after the end of the Civil War in 1865, and during the era of Reconstruction in the South. White nationalism, Jim Crow Laws and Segregation made lynchings more accessible, as “mob rule”, and the failure of the federal government to deem the treatment of African Americans as a violation of the 14th Amendment easier. Lynchings in the United States rose in number after the American Civil War in the late 1800s, following the emancipation of slaves; they declined after 1930 but were recorded into the 1960s. The focus of the paper is to study the rise of lynchings of African Americans from 1865-1877, and why it was so prevalent.

Eric Garner. Keith Lamont Scott. Philando Castille. Michael Brown. Do you know who these people are? I am Arianna Dwomoh, a ninth grade at Leesville Road High School in Raleigh, NC. I want to write to you about how racial profiling/ bias is a large part of police shootings and arrests lately as most victims are unarmed people of color. Over the past couple of years, cops have shot and killed unarmed or innocent black men and boys. This shows light upon the worrying racial differences in how police use force. For those who critique the police, the numbers show that it's not just higher rates of gun ownership and violent crime that explain the higher number of police shootings in the US, compared to other countries. Maybe, it's the nonchalant

a few years now, police brutality has become an extremely controversial topic and has raised many debates and questions about law enforcement and civilians. Police brutality has been common for decades. However after the death of African Americans such as Michael Brown, Alton Sterling, and Philando Castile, many other African Americans have rose up in protest and anger. The anger stems from these men dying at the hands of police which the civilians believe they died from situation that should have been handled differently. Cases like these have caused a major divide with African Americans and law enforcement. Many people wonder where the relationship between the two went wrong and how police brutality became such a big issue that seems impossible

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

Within the past year, law enforcement officers across the nation have come under intense scrutiny for police encounters that have resulted in the use of force and police involved shootings. Every time a person of color is killed by a police officer, the media broadcasts the shooting nationwide, inciting hate, anger and racism. Nothing productive is achieved when the media focuses on officers killing people of color. Instead, trust, faith and respect is lost from the public, and law enforcement officers are feared. People fear that when they encounter the police, they will be shot because of who they are. Sadly, all officers across the nation deal with the harsh scrutiny that has resulted from the actions of few. Majority of officers are good, hard working individuals who would put their life on the line to save and protect human life. Yet, on a daily basis, officers across the nation are disrespected and hated, simply for the job they do and who they represent. Despite recent events, police brutality is not an issue; law enforcement officers are still deserving of the public’s trust and this trust can be rectified with the understanding of use of force, increased community policing and continued use of force training for officers.

A problem that is immensely significant to me is the killing of African Americans by law enforcement. As a member of the African American community, this affects me along with my everyday life because it could happen to someone in my family or someone whom I am close to. I would also like to point out that there are very few cases where the police officer who killed the civilian gets penalized; keep in mind, the punishments are very minimal. In my opinion, they are getting rewarded for killing black people. As a member of law enforcement, their job is to protect and serve the community, but it seems like all they are trying to achieve is inflict fear upon and intimidate people. One action that I have taken is joining the “Black Lives Matter”

The killings of Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and Alton Sterling can undoubtedly be attributed to the systemic racism deeply embedded in police forces across the country. Around the country African American communities are oppressed by this racism every single day. Any officer who makes a racist statement should be immediately fired, yet this is not the reality; systemic racism exists in the police force and warrants and overhaul.

The brutality of the police force has been a long worldwide problem, but especially between the years of 2012-2016. Black people are being unjustly beaten and shot in plain sight for doing nothing while being unarmed. Journal of African American Studies “Blacks are viewed as deserving of harsh treatment in the criminal justice system” (482). “Black males with more “Afrocentric” features may receive longer sentences than blacks with less Afrocentric features like lighter skin and straighter hair”(482). Nowadays it is important to know about the police force. It’s important to know our rights as citizens and be careful around cops. Not everybody is good, but not everybody is bad also. In The New York Amsterdam News 21 people were killed by Chicago police in 2008. Entire families were being attacked. They believe it’s because of their skin color and how they are different. The year of racism started off with the world seeing the police murder of Oscar Grant. “The media have pushed people away from hearing the issue of police brutality, and it has fallen off of the radar screen.”(2) “You can’t give in. They will try to make an example out of you, try to break your spirit!”(2) African Americans say do not trust the cops with anything. “They will ruin you.”(2)

A young man’s brutal death at the hands of the police is found justified in a court of law due to his “suspicious” appearance: a black hoodie and his hands in his pocket. An elderly woman is fatally shot in her home for her relation to a suspected criminal. A married man with two toddlers is choked to death after a minor traffic stop by an officer who later claimed that his unarmed victim was wielding a gun. These people all have a few commonalities: the color of their skin, their presumed guilt at first sight, and their ultimate unjustified death administered by the law force. These are not uncommon occurrences. Due to the staggeringly disproportionate rate of African-Americans killed by the police, and the underlying rampant racial profiling, police brutality towards blacks in America must be called to light.

Police brutality is not a new subject. It has been around for numerous years, and like most issues, has resurfaced to the public’s eyes. The recent events brought up the question: Does there need to be a reform in the system in the police system? In this year alone, there have been countless cases of individuals being harmed or even killed by police officers for reasons that continuously are not explained. What has people more attentive to this injustice are statistics showing that most victims in these police attacks happen to be African Americans and other minorities.

Recently, our country has undergone tremendous suffering due to police brutality. Some police officers are taking the law into their own hands and intertwining their personal views and stereotypes on the black community. They are committing inhumane crimes on African Americans and our justice system is allowing it to continue. Several police officers are noticing that if they commit this crime out of pure hate it is acceptable and the courts will rule in their favor. It continues to happen because there is no punishment for their wrong doing.