Theme Of Police Brutality In All American Boys

-By definition the term police brutality is “applied in the context of causing physical harm, it may also involve psychological harm through the use of intimidation tactics beyond the scope of officially sanctioned police procedure.” In today’s society we have police known as riot police, who are known throughout the world to use extreme force. Statistics show almost every time the riot police are involved in crowd control, there is at least one fatality and multiple injured. This is why I believe this is one of the most important issues in the World today. Police are there to protect us but from April 2009 to June 2010 in the United States there were 5986 reports of misconduct from police officers. Police brutality has today’s citizens doubting the police department, and how they go about their arrest. Police brutality is an everyday occurrence, especially in cities where there are large communities of Blacks, Latinos and Asians.

The book All American Boys, by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely takes place in the United States, although the state is left unspecified. The time period is also unconfirmed, but through assumption it can be estimated that it takes place in modern day time. Where it connects to American History isn’t exactly a specific section, but moreso just racial tension in general, linking the book to various parts of history. The main characters in All American Boys are Rashad and Quinn. Rashad is an African American boy who gets into an accident while at a convenience store, causing a police officer to assume that he was stealing. The policeman then proceeds to brutally beat Rashad, despite his compliance. Then there is Quinn, a white boy who, while

Police brutality is the lavish physical assault or verbal assault during police procedures which can involve interrogating or apprehending a suspect. Police brutality originated from the labor worker strikes in the 1800’s through the 1900’s. The violent brutal act of these officers usually formed around the lower socioeconomic class. Since then police brutality has hit an all-time high in the 21st century. In New York alone there has been reportedly over 72 police brutality reports some reports even ended in the deaf of a citizen. There’s been claim of police officers violently choking citizens at traffics stops and beating citizen up in public. There’s been new technology such as body cameras which are used by most police but not all.

First, it is crucial to note that police brutality is not synonymous to racism against a particular group. However, there is a stigma that police often racially profile a specific African Americans. In February 2015, two cases of police brutality did not involve African Americans; instead the two victims were a Hispanic shot and killed in Washington State and an Indian-American severely paralyzed in Alabama. Even with this considered, of late, a majority of police brutality cases have involved minorities and specifically African American males. Cases such as Michael Brown and Freddie Gray have sparked a cultural uprising. These trigger event inspired the protests and riots against police brutality demonstrating collective action and physical violence, but the idea of police brutality is much larger than these individual cases, since it is a reoccurring cycle.

This topic police brutality is so important to our because Police is brutality is so big right now and we cant people have innocent people in the streets getting shot for doing what they're supposed to be doing. Why we are talking about this is because we have to make a change and stop what is going on. Police have been targeting black lives and there a holding them at gunpoint and shooting them before they even get a trail or can go to court. We as in all of us shouldn't be scared to walk outside or they shouldn't be scared to see a police. Police are here to protect us and it feels like we are at war with them right now but there are supposed to protect us.

“I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!” These were the last words of Eric Garner, a middle-aged African American man. Garner died at the hands of multiple police officers who were trying to restrain him for selling cigarettes. These sorts of images are showcased on television way too often. To the point that some people feel helpless, they know that they alone do not have the power to overthrow the superiority of an officer. So they have really no choice but watch the tragedy unfold. Also fear that if they interfere, that they may be the next victim. “I am most struck by the behavior of the EMTs, who stood along with the police and did nothing as they watched Eric Garner die” (Williams 10). Although some people deny that police brutality is a problem, recent studies and events (such as the one listed above) prove that ultra-aggressive police officers, militarization of police agencies, and the effects of racism have increased police brutality.

“Many years later, little had changed. A black man named Rodney King was involved in a high-speed chase in Los Angeles. California, on March 3, 1991. Police pulled him from the car and beat him. A bystander took video footage of the beating. The four police officers involved were indicted, but they were acquitted in 1992.” ( "Police Brutality and Race.")The quote from the article “police brutality and race” shows a situation that happened in 1991 that is similar to the incident in the book. A lot of times when incidents like police brutality the police officers often win because they are “doing their jobs” when in reality they are often accusing many citizens. Often cases of police brutality the civilian that is abused is male and black. This is because they are stereotyping thinking they are up to no good when they can be innocent by standers. Racism and stereotyping in most cases end badly. Police officers abuse their powers and hurt and or injure people because they “assume” which often leads to a bad ending. “FBI statistics show that white officers killed black suspects twice a week in the United States over a seven-year period. That’s an average of 96 times a year.” (police officers abuse their power).studies show that WHITE police officers are the ones to kill BLACK suspects due to “assumption”. Their is a very high statistic that shows how many blacks are killed in a

Wright would examine racial profiling if he was to write Black Boy today. Racial profiling is a very serious issue in the society today. Many African American were being target, and in some case murdered by law enforcement official because of their race. On August 9, 2014, a white police officer named Darren Wilson shoot an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown multiple time in Ferguson, Mo. According to news article “From Ferguson to Charleston and Beyond, Anguish about Race Keep Building”, Even though there was a video tape showing that the black teenager was unarmed, the county grand jury still decided not to indict the police office because they believed the old assumption that African Americans are more likely to be criminals. “Grand juries have tended to give the benefit of the doubt to police officers. National polls revealed deep divisions in how whites and blacks viewed the facts in each case. Whites were more likely to believe officers’ accounts justifying the use of force. Blacks tended to see deeper forces at work: longstanding police bias against black men and a presumption that they are criminals”.

Police brutality and corrupt cop issues have increasingly risen. The problems posed by the illegal exercise of police power, which is an ongoing reality for individuals of a disfavored race, class, or sexual preference. There are innocent people beaten or put in jail or prison. They can be helped, but the ones beyond help are dead. There are good cops and there are bad cops. Under the law, article 7 states:

Imagine a young child screaming at the top of their lungs while being carried away, at what looks like to be against their will. Many children have been removed from areas and even arrested by police officers who have used unnecessary physical force on the child. Majority of these altercations between the child and police, the child was unarmed, being cooperative, and not being violent towards the police officer. When has there ever been a time where it was a justifiable right to harm a child that isn’t causing any physical harm to themselves or others? In this image one can note that the young boy is terrified while being forcefully removed by authoritative figures, and one of the officers seem to find the situation to be humorous. The boy was so scared that he urinated on himself. It’s obvious that the child is defenseless and shows no sign of hurting anyone, but yet the officers choose to handle the situation with unnecessary force. How does police brutality on children affect how society portrays law enforcement? Have children been traumatized after having to go through the experience of being physically or even verbally harmed by an officer? Are the children given justice for this injustice act by police?

Police officers have one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States. In the mainstream media the stories of “Police Brutality” is extremely popular and race is always tied into the news stories without any justification. Anti-police rhetoric has been heavily publicized in the press for last several years. Any reasonable person would question the police force after watching the news and that’s understandable because media outlets in the United States tend to be very controversial. So the question remains, are the police racist or are they just doing their job?

brutality in America, more specifically Springfield. Rashad and Quinn are your average high school teenagers, attending the same school not knowing one another but going about their daily lives when Rashad is brutally beaten by Officer Paul Galluzzo. The taped beating of Rashad causes both young men to dig deep and answer questions about what is right and what is wrong. Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely presents counter-storytelling in All American Boys to tell a story of racism and police brutality from the perspective of African-American teen (Rashad) and a White teen (Quinn).

Police brutality against the black youth in America is not uncommon news to us, it dates as far back as 1999 when four police officers shot forty-one bullets at and killed Amadou Diallo, a Guinean immigrant, in the Bronx, NYC. The officers later claimed to have seen Diallo reaching for something that looked like a weapon but actually all he had in his hand was his wallet. However, all four policemen were acquitted if all charges in the case, in fact, one of the killer cops, Kenneth Boss, stayed on the force and was allowed to carry a gun again in 2012.

Police brutality is an ongoing problem in the United States. Law enforcement agents are there to protect the public for they have the legal right to use physical, and even deadly, force. However, many of these officers abuse of that power. In the past year, there have been more than 900 cases of police abuse. Most of the victims have been innocent, unarmed, and/or of color. Police brutality is becoming more and more of an issue as society keeps growing. This nationwide problem could be solved in many ways, but having peaceful protests and by educating our police officers about racial differences are two good possible solutions.

different people, groups, and institutions influence policy decisions. Police brutality is influenced by many, such as our American political ideals of civil rights and liberties, the political process in terms of the media and our political institutions, one which the courts.