Racist Police Shootings And Its Impact On America

I examined a selection of articles regarding some of the high profile cases of police brutality like

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)

In a National Interest article by J. Christian Adams, an unnamed officer was attacked by a citizen after the officer refused to use force when the citizen acted aggressively (Adams, 2015, para. 4). Adams states "The officer said he didn’t defend himself because of fear of what the media and the activists would do to him. 'A lot of officers are being too cautious because of what’s going on in the media,' the unnamed police officer told CNN. 'I hesitated because I didn’t want to be in the media like I am right now. It’s hard times right now for us.'"(Adams, 2015, para. 4). This case was especially alarming as the officer in question was beaten over the head with his firearm after he refused to draw it. The unnamed officer had stopped a citizen, by the name of Jared Cunningham, for driving erratically, but shortly after the stop Cunningham rushed the officer in an aggressive manner. Instead of drawing his firearm to defend himself, the officer in question refused to act and sustained severe injuries. This is perfect example of how the media can affect an officer's judgement. Biased media can lead an officer to question their abilities and may stop them from reacting appropriately. Incidentally, the inability to react in a professional manner will cause harm to the officer and can endanger citizens. To fix this issue, media sources must develop a more unbiased standing.

The media understands which topics are going to cause people to stop everything and listen better than anybody else. One of those topics is racially motivated brutality by police officers. This has become a major issue in the United States lately and the media adds fuel to the fire any chance they can get for their 15 seconds of fame. A good example of how the media turns regular law enforcement incidents into a topic of race is the way they word their headlines. This is especially true of articles as they want catchy titles in hopes of catching the attention of readers. Getting an individual to actually take the time to read an article is tricky business today as reading is considered by many to be a lost art. What better way is there for the media to attract attention than by saying a certain race is under attack? For example, the title “Man Tasered for resisting arrest” probably would not garner that much attention by today's standards. However if it gets a media makeover and is now, “Black man Tasered by officer for resisting arrest”, it will likely receive more attention. This is an unfair practice that stirs up more controversy and hate for law enforcement officers from those who can’t see past the racial propaganda. Cases like these are popping up all too frequently and as the reader has probably seen they can lead to civil unrest and

“Officer Jeronimo Yanez, charged with second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Philando Castile, a 32-year-old black Minneapolis man” (Capecchi). “Brian Encinia, former Texas trooper charged with misdemeanor perjury stemming from his arrest of Sandra Bland, a black woman who was later found dead in a county jail” (Almasy). “Sgt. Kizzy Adonis, charged with failure to supervise in connection with the 2014 death of Eric Garner, a 43-year-old black Staten Island man who died after police to administered a controversial choke hold” (Eversley). These are a few examples of the mistreatment suffered by young black citizens at the hands of police officers that resulted in the death of a suspect. Throughout the nation, the mishandling of the authority given to police officers has increased and is not merely coincidentally occurring.

Racially biased statements and racial slurs have become an everyday staple in many police departments, but they go usually unreported. A Department of Justice investigation into the Baltimore Police department found examples of this exact behavior. When the DOJ interviewed the Baltimore community,

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

To show the other side of the argument, an article by CNN was written on December 20, 2016. The article, written by Jacqueline Howard, stated that black men are almost 3 times as likely to die from police use of force. The claim was that, among males aged 10 years or older who were killed by police use of force, the mortality rate among non-Hispanic black and Hispanic individuals was 2.8 and 1.7 times higher than that among white individuals. They claimed that because the population of white men is larger, the number of deaths per million in each demographic population was 2.8 times higher among black men and 1.7 times higher among Hispanic men. To someone who is looking at the article with a mentality that the police are looking to kill minorities

To prove his case, the author cites various statistics and incidents that demonstrate that these incidents are not accidents but manifestations of a larger problem. Granderson quotes CNN poll statistics that state that almost half of the white respondent in the poll affirmatively stated that none or almost none of the police in their neighborhoods are not prejudiced against African Americans. Contrastingly, only thirty-five percent of non-whites are of this opinion. Additionally, Granderson relates his own experiences with racial profiling (Granderson,

Puente was criticized by a local commissioner who said “you looked at old cases”, proving that, though it may only now be more recognized by the general public and media, police brutality is something seen through the decades. Worsnop published his article in 1991. Bruce Shapiro published a piece for The Nation in 1997 titled “When Justice Kills” describing the account Malik Jones, who was shot by police in Connecticut while still in his vehicle. However, Puente was not wrong in looking forward in time after his research reached the commissioner. If one were to look on any news, or even entertainment, source today, one would be likely to view a headline about excessive force. Most notably is case of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Though many opinions abound about that situation – just mention the word “Ferguson” at a party to hear – it opened America’s eyes once again to what our officers are capable of. The historical prevalence of Puente’s research cannot be argued. Not only in the Boston area have police been up to no good, but around the country as

The specific audience of my argumentation is the racially ignorant white populations that refuse to acknowledge the idea that police brutality towards the African-American race is evident amongst our society. The racially ignorant white population assumes that police brutality is used as a defense mechanism rather than an appeal to racism towards African-Americans. This hostile audience becomes uncomfortable when asked to discuss police brutality towards the minorities and would rather disregard or ignore the conversation. Thus, they may not initially agree with my arguments because it might be difficult for them to comprehend the idea that African-Americans are being subjected to racial cruelty. My goal is to persuade the ignorant white populations about police brutality amongst African-Americans so they become more aware and can help support the abolishment of the cruelty minorities are faced with.

A report made on May 31st shows that at least 385 people have been killed by American police since 2015 has started. FBI reports show that over the past decade, the annual average for fatal shootings by police is about 400, and this year they are close to surpassing that only half-way through the year. Two thirds of these people have been either African American or Hispanic with one in six of them being unarmed at the time of the shooting. More than 80 percent of the shootings were because of what had started as minor things that escalated into assaults. This is important because police brutality has become a bigger issue with police being more likely to shoot with race in mind.

Undoubtedly the most controversial topic in the recent past is police involved shootings. Although not specific to a police officer, the Trayvon Martin case in 2012 gained national media attention surrounding Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law. The case of Michael Brown Jr. sparked the 2014 riots, protests and civil unrest in Ferguson, Missouri when shot and killed by Officer Wilson. Areas of the country witnessed the same response by large populations supporting inaccurate facts and circumstances involved with these cases. An instant gratification society coupled the court of public opinion and widespread media coverage yielded disastrous results in many of these cases. Community relations are hugely impacted while investigators attempt to

Police brutality has been a big issue towards black people because they have been killed when only minor crimes have been committed. Racism is thought to be a major cause of police brutality directed at African Americans and other ethnic groups. Most white communities, including white police departments, were unfamiliar to the presence of African Americans and reacted to them with fear and hostility, which has led to racist stereotypes. Reflecting the beliefs of many whites, most police departments acted upon the presumption that African Americans, and especially African American men, possessed an inherent tendency toward criminal behaviour. The forms of police brutality to which this situation gave rise were variable and generally not limited

For reasons still unknown, Gray was taken into police custody on the morning of April 12 “on a corner of an impoverished West Baltimore neighborhood” (Rector). While being transported to central booking, Gray suffered a “severe and ultimately fatal spinal cord injury” (Rector). When arriving at the Western District police station, “officers said Gray was ‘no longer breathing at all’” (Barajas). Once a medic was called to the scene, “it was determined that Gray was in cardiac arrest and was ‘critically and severely injured’” (Barajas.) The death of Gray on April 19 has become a controversial issue for the American public, following the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and more recently Gray and Rekia Boyd. Most notably, the death of Brown in Ferguson, Missouri “prompted protests that roiled the area for weeks” (Buchanan et al.). Police brutality towards black Americans, largely exposed through citizen journalism, has been especially prevalent in the media. In cases such as Brown’s and Gray’s, protesters and entire cities were thrust into the limelight as the national media flocked to these areas to try to compete for the best coverage, lacking any contextual information about the problems in these cities. A study about selection bias in news about murder examines how research shows “that