Social Inequality In The Wire

Excessive force being used by officers has been an ongoing issue since law enforcement was created. During the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, it has been made aware that minorities were a target for the law enforcement of that time. The 1967 murder cases of “Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner against the sheriffs of Neshoba and Lauderdale County” at that time was huge seeing as everyone involved in the case got off without any charges (Wynter). After years have gone by and the 41st anniversary of their deaths has happened, someone was convicted. All this time, no one would speak up against the police of these counties in fear of being brutally murdered just like the three men that was in their care. The injustice of it did not make sense

After an investigation into this incident The DA’s office did not charge Officer Campbell. There was only one actual witness to the killing and his credibility was questioned. Apparently this is one of many other incidents against minorities in the city of Denver. As a result and investigation into the Denver Police Department was initiated. The Investigation was geared towards trying to identify if Officers were racially biased and “trigger happy” when it came to minorities (Maher, 2008).

August 9, 2014 Michael Brown, a 18- year old black man was shot and killed, brutally at the hands of police officer Darren Wilson. Brown was leaving the gas station when he caught the attention of Wilson, who was supposed to be responding to another call. He thought Brown looked suspicious because he was a big, black “intimidating” man. Wilson “claimed” Brown was reaching for a gun so he fired twelve unnecessary shots at Brown while his hands were up. It turns out that Brown was not in possession of a weapon. Darren Wilson made up this allegation to make it seem like self defense, and to make Brown seem at fault for the shooting taking place. When Wilson went to trial the court found him not guilty. White police officers are not beingg held accountable so these police shootings are becoming more brutal and frequent. The Mike Brown

For this assignment, I will be analyzing the 2004, blockbuster film White Chicks with specific reference to dimensions of social stratification such as gender, class, and race. White Chicks follows the story of two African American FBI agent brothers, Kevin and Marcus Copeland who accidently foil an assiduously executed undercover operation intended to capture a group of notorious Dominican drug smugglers. As a final opportunity to redeem their tarnished reputations, the two agents take on an assignment far below their customary standards when they agree to escort billionaire heiresses Brittany and Tiffany Wilson to the Hamptons in order

As the case grew people were retaliating more that it wasn't a fair ruling protesting that consideration to be taken into account and an investigation. The people wanted Justice for Trayvon and the ruling to be a fair one in order to be assured that in this case and the future if any case similar occurs, fair judgment will be used in the situations unlike the verdict in this case. The department before this shooting was accused of protecting relatives of police officers involved in violent incidents with African-Americans. Within the community in Sanford Florida after the Martin case this made the distrust increase even more between police and Sanford’s black community.

In the closing statement, Ta-Nehisi Coates provides us a statement inquiring that “police are turning to police brutality to solve situations where it's not needed then leading them to overuse their power. The use of excessive physical assault or verbal assault during police procedures, such as apprehending or interrogating a suspect should never be acceptable. Deadly force is not always excessive force. However, when deadly force exceeds the force that is necessary to create a safe environment, it is considered police brutality. This is emphasised in Ta-Nehisi essay when said “his father called the police, who apparently arrived to find the 19-year-old wielding a bat. Interpreting this as a lethal threat, one of the officers shot and killed LeGrier and somehow managed to shoot and kill one of his neighbors, Bettie Jones.” this situation could have been conducted differently Though the officer over used his authority and instead of simply calming the man down governing both the father and son he chose to kill which wasn't rational .

Police brutality has been an issue in the United States for decades. Many of the police force today are perceived in a bad way through video footages on social media that displays images of the police brutally beating on citizens to an extent of death. In the article “Police Violence and Citizen Crime Reporting in the Black Community” written by Matthew Desmond, Andrew V. Papachristos, and David S. Kirk, discusses police misconducts causing communities to be an unsafe environment for citizens, especially the black community. Many black men have experienced racial profiling or police brutality in Milwaukee and this continues on to a point where calling 911 for help is no longer a choice for individuals to use due to a publicized case of police violence against a defenseless man, Frank Jude. Jude, as stated in the article, was unarmed, accused, stripped naked, and beaten by the police viciously. This terrifying incident caused many to protest against the police force. Desmond, Papachristos, and Kirk all believed that after this savage case, many residents in Milwaukee, mainly the black community, stop reporting crimes which lasted for a year. In Milwaukee, police violence on black men made an impact on citizens reporting

This is proof that there is racial discrimination in law enforcement that affects police brutality. This also reinforces the culture of people of color being less human than white people, which takes its roots all the way back to slavery in America. When slavery was still prevalent in the United States, white people believed that black people(slaves), did not feel pain like they felt pain. After slavery was abolished, black people were still strongly regarded as inferior to white people and white people still saw them as wild creatures rather than human beings. White people saw themselves superior to every other race of people, so it was common for them to mistreat other races that weren’t white. This mindset is not as strong as it was in the past but, it is still strong enough to affect the choices police officers make during interactions with people of color. As a result of discrimination at the police level, many people have turned to court system’s to reach justice.

All across the nation, in the news the black community has been making their voice heard, in regards to white police brutality, and murder against the unarmed black community. Many of these brutal attacks and flat out murders of unarmed black people haven’t been largely prosecuted, some officers have even been acquitted of any wrong doing or murder. This has led to outrage in the African American community at large. The shooting of an unarmed black teen named Michael Brown caused the racial strain in this country to break.

In the reading, Jones explores the relationship between class, race, and gender. She states that African Americans, in general, are oppressed, however, black women

“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.

The book starts out addressing the problem with the New deal and Great Depression. Black Americans suffered the most because they were mostly in agriculture and would be hit the hardest. Black urban unemployment reached well over 50 percent, more than twice the rate of whites. In my own opinion that wasn’t a coincidence. In southern cities, white workers rallied around such slogan “back to the cotton fields city jobs are for white folks." The most violent times took place on southern railroads, as unionized white workers intimidated, attacked, and murdered black firemen in order to take their jobs. Throughout African Americans lost their jobs in various parts of the South. Ku Klux Klan practices were being resumed and it became more and more dangerous for Blacks to live daily lives.

The heated issue of police brutality and police officers violating civil rights has extensively covered media headlines for several years. Hundreds of people are killed every year by police officers, and many of these cases bring up issues of police brutality. More often than not, it is usually a white police officer and an african american offender encounter that sparks media attention. The shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri is just one of these cases that has caused a major divide in the United States. Michael Brown was fatally shot by Officer Wilson after an unfriendly encounter in the streets. Those who believe that Officer Wilson made the right decision in shooting Michael Brown, point to the fact that the grand jury chose not to indict him. Although Darren WIlson was not charged after the shooting of unarmed Michael Brown, some people believe that his actions were unlawful and he should have received some sort of punishment for his wrongdoing. Acknowledging all of the facts of the investigation, Officer Wilson did not act properly in the circumstances of the time.

The ninth episode of The Wire was about how wallace doesn’t want to work anymore and that he wants to go back to school. D’Angelo gives him permission to go back to school and even gives him some cash. Later Wallace is shown buying drugs. Another big part of the episode was the basketball game between the east and the west side. When the cops showed up to the game, the realized that Avon had to be there.

One significant theme that is present throughout the story is the one of unequal rights for African Americans. One instance of social injustice is described in the very