Some may ask how do we manage, some may ask what is it like, and then some may ask do we wish that we can switch races? In my opinion those Questions answered every day in the most unnoticed, silent ways. But this isn’t about my opinions or about my beliefs about this society and how they treat our kind. This is about the truth, the truth that everyone is so scared to bring up because they think it’s just going to cause even more problems than where it 's at right now. Well I’m here to say that it shouldn’t be that way. I’m here to say that all the cops who shot down multiple black people, innocent black people at that. And on top of that those cops end up getting off without getting locked up. There were a total of 1,134 black people killed by the hands of law enforcers in the year of 2015. Also from what I’ve read that 1 of 65 black males deaths are from police brutality or shootings, some never discovered. So you can’t tell this country doesn’t have a problem.
In 2014 there was a total of 45.67 million black people in america and that only made up 14.3% of the United States. White people in 2014 had a tally up to 197.8 million living in the United States, around 62% of the U.S. To me that makes white people feel like they run this country which they swore they built around equality, swear they’re treating everyone the way they want to be treated. I watched a video once and it was a room full of white people with a white speaker, and she asked the crowd how many of
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)
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.
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.
“If someone puts their hands on you make sure they never put their hands on anybody else” (Malcolm X) is a contestable ideal. Do we Americans allow our law enforcement to continue killing innocent African Americans whose own ancestors contribute to the success of this nation? No! We cannot sit on the sidelines and watch innocent lives ruined over and over again. We must auscultate to the cries of our four fathers. In order to halt the self-destruction of this nation we should fight for change in the police force, attempt to cease the embodiment of racial profiling, and support the efforts of those striving to bring about change.
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
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.
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.
I just want to take a second and have all of you guys close your eyes and think, think about you walking down the street drinking Dutch bros and your stopped by a police officer because of the color of your skin. How would you feel, (pick another person at random). Ok so imagine the people that have been victim to this, men and women of color who were stopped frisked, beaten and thrown into jail. Or the families who have lost love ones to corrupt, ignorant police officers. It’s sad. And it happens on nearly an everyday basis. Actually, a black man or black woman are killed about every 28 hours by law enforcement. Now isn’t that heartbreaking. Studies are shown that the legal system targets black and Hispanic men and women, and their communities. Another thing is that black and Hispanic people are given harsher punishments than white people for the same or similar offences. This study has been proved accurate multiple times. A 2012 research from washingtonpost.com that white people comprise about 62% of the U.S population and are victim of 49% of fatal police shootings. And black people comprise about 13% of the total U.S population and are victim to approximately 24% of all fatal police shooting. Black men and women have 2.5x more chances of being shot and killed by law enforcement and 5x more chances of being shot and killed if unarmed. 14% of monthly drug users are
Lately there has been a lot of controversy around the topic of police brutality against African Americans. Everyone has their own opinion regarding this topic, some argue police are too harsh against blacks. Others say they are just doing their job. While indeed police can be brutal to people but it’s not just African Americans that face this brutality. Every race endures discrimination and I think it’s time for people to open their eyes and see that.
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
It is said that America is free, all people have equal rights and are treated the same, but when it comes to the lives of black people the same rules should but do not apply. Although African Americans only make up 2% of the U.S. population, they are killed at twice the rate of whites, hispanics and Native Americans, and were 9 times more likely to be killed by police officers in 2015 (Swaine, Laughland, Lartey, McCarthy). Being born black in america means that not only are you more likely to be pulled over by police and hassled, but you are almost 10 times for likely to be shot and murdered by a police officer. ‘Yes, all lives matter, but all lives, white, are not being shot six times the rate of blacks and that’s what we need to be aware of’ (Schwartz).
Growing up as a young black male there are daily struggles that you go through as anyone else would, and then there are the struggles that you face being black in our day and age. As America’s history has proven to us, the day in the life of African Americans have been far from easy. From the various stereotypes to racism on a daily it is an issue that quite honestly is hard to understand if you are not an African American. As time has passed we have been through slavery, the Jim Crow Era, the Civil Rights Era, and our present day issue Police Brutality. Although Police Brutality has always been an issue faced in the African American Community the last few years has proven that it is becoming a bigger issue in the community and one that needs
According to the FBI’s most recent accounts of “justifiable homicide,” in the seven years between 2005 and 2012, a white officer used deadly force against a black person almost two times every week. Of those black persons killed, nearly one in every five was under 21 years of age. For comparison, only 8.7% of white people killed by police officers were younger than 21. If you are an unarmed American male under the age of 21, being black (instead of white) more than doubles your chances of being shot to death by the police. When I read this I was left in complete shock that number say a lot about police brutality. That’s is 8 police attack a month, that really puts me in an angry mood. How could this continue on, who knows if this number has increased since then? With all the police attacks that has happened in the last couple of months is really sickening. And of those attacks, they were all under the age of 21, in fact, that puts me into that category and I couldn’t imagine being one of those victims. How someone could put through that police attacks. Police are supposed to protect and serve the community, but I guess that isn’t the case at all. And what stands out the most is the end of that sentence, your chances of police attacks are doubled, that really opens my eyes to the cruel world we live in. This makes me want to push that much harder to become a better person. And the only way that could happen is that I get a college degree, but who knows if that would be a
There are many political issues that we as America deal with nowadays. The matter that seems to stick out to me the most is this whole “Black lives matter” campaign. I feel very lugubrious to see that we the people of America are going against our own men and women who fight everyday to keep this community safe. Of course there are a wide variety of citizen who are ambivalent about the situation. If you are on the fence about this problem, then I think it’s a good idea to picture being in an officer’s shoes for just one day, dealing with people everyday that wish ill things upon them. Sure, not every cop is going to be the most benevolent man or woman you have met in your life, and sure there are cases in which a cop does a poor job, but society
The United States of America is a country with a history built on diversity and promise of opportunity. Striving to blend multiple cultures and sectors of individuals into a melting pot. However, some state that it has failed citizens, as even after a century of attempting to not see colour African Americans continue to struggle to be viewed as equal and not be discriminated against. In our modern day, "racially open" societies, racial profiling towards African American men can be witnessed frequently in their everyday life. American citizens have witnessed countless cases of police brutality and in recent unlawful murders of black lives, it has become a controversial topic among communities that have seen police brutality take place on their local newsrooms or in front of their homes. Over the past decade police abuse remains one of the most serious human rights violation in the United States. Police officers are trusted and expected to respect society as a whole and enforce the law, yet a great amount of the population feels unsafe because of the colour of their skin. Racism is a global issue that is widely conversed, yet it is still a growing concern amongst the nations of the world. Racial discrimination and/or can be defined as any action, whether intentional or not, based on a person’s race, which has the effect of imposing hate towards an individual or group. As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity