On August 9, 2014, an 18 year old named Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. From this event sprang countless protests, all stemming from the fact that Michael Brown was African American and that he was killed by a police officer (Sokhi-Bulley). As the protests progressed, the demonstrations were met by increasing police resistance, bringing a growing sense of rage and conflict against the law enforcement of the town as well as the country. Overall, the community of Ferguson, Missouri, has a major problem of police brutality, likely originating from a sense of deep seeded racism within the force as well as the nation’s society. While this may appear to be a straightforward issue, there are many different angles and opinions on the Ferguson debate coming from a wide variety of sources. “Performing Struggle: Parrhēsia in Ferguson” by Bal Sokhi-Bulley comes from Law Critique, a peer-reviewed journal. Bulley’s piece covers police brutality in Ferguson and around the world. She mainly focuses on the racial tensions that arose between the police force and citizens of Ferguson, Missouri. This includes speculations for the reasoning behind this unease, intricate details about race within the …show more content…
This reasoning best explains why African Americans are most targeted for crimes, despite that police officers are armed and told to make more charges on the entire public. “What caused Brown to be shot at least six times was […] the fact that for much of recent history of this country, Black people have bought into the nonsense that we live in a post racial America. That because of the election of Barack Obama as President, racism and the wounds it brings no longer exists” (Baaith). Yet Ferguson has brought the subject of racism back into clear view, and with this information, we as a society can begin to understand it on a deeper
On the afternoon of August 9, 2014 an African-American male by the name of Michael Brown was fatally shot to death by a Caucasian male police officer named Darren Wilson in Ferguson, MO. An investigation was immediately launched through the collection of evidence from the crime scene, multiple autopsies of Michael Brown’s body, and interviews with witnesses. For several months following the shooting and after the Grand Jury adjourned, there was immense public speculation and scrutiny over whether Officer Wilson justifiably shot in self-defense or in racially motivated cold blooded murder. This event produced protests, riots, and national media coverage. The two conflicting sides of the story were that Michael Brown was shot in the back with
In a viewpoint by Nicole Flatow titled “History Indicates Varied Results in Improving Police Brutality in America,” She believes that there has been little reforms regarding police brutality. Nicole argues for years, America has barely made any effort on improving the use of force by police officers. For example, victims such as Rodney King and Amadou Diallo, led to some reforms, but did not solve the violence of police brutality. With the beating of Rodney King that was captured on camera, it sparked massive outrage that led to a riot when the police officers received no charges. Because of the riots, it created a momentum for a reform of the police.
In the Saint Louis American, I discovered an article, “Ferguson, equity and health, three years later”, written by Bob Hughes. The article talks about Ferguson and the death of Michael Brown Jr. that occurred on August 9, 2014. He mentioned the spark of the protests and rallies in response to Michael Brown Jr.’s death, and Ferguson’s respond to police brutality, racial profiling and the disproportionate rate of injustices among black people. Hughes main focus was on the aftermath of the protests, now that three years have passed, to see if progress has been made.
The Case of Michael Brown On August 9, 2014, an eighteen year-old, Michael Brown was shot by Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. The shooting caused protests and has drawn the world’s attention because Michael Brown is an unarmed, black man while Darren Wilson is a white police officer. Cases like police officers shot citizens happened before, but this case has drew attention to the world because the officer is white and the victim is a black man.
The shooting footage of Keith Lamont Scoot forms part of an outgoing debate on race and abuse of power. Recently, the shooting of black people in the U.S by the police is causing a lot of protests. But, what are the reasons that are leading to this crisis? Is it because of race? To take a posture in this situation is difficult because there is not enough information released and the judicial process of these cases are mostly carried out in secret by the police.
In a suburb outside St. Louis known as Ferguson on August 9, 2014, Michael Brown, a black unarmed teenager was shot and killed by a white police officer, Darren Wilson. Ferguson isn’t known as a violent town when it is compared to its neighboring towns. On November 24, 2014, the jury decided not to indict Officer Darren Wilson. Thus, the uprising began. There was already distrust with the majority white police department.
Since August, you can not turn on the news without hearing about Ferguson, Missouri. There has been much debate over the police officer’s use of deadly force against an unarmed teenager and if it was justifiable. The country watched as protests and riots broke out during the summer months when the officer was not immediately arrested. And again when the grand jury returned their decision the country watched waiting to see the reaction of the community. There was hope that all the talks and trainings leading up to the verdict, that peaceful protests would be the only reaction, but deep down the community prepared for what was to come that night.
“ Notice that there is more pressure on black people to stop talking about “Race” than there is for racists to stop being racists. System does not racism to end, it just wants you to stop talking about it. ”(Chris Rock). Has the black race always been a target of the law enforcement? Ferguson riots did not seem to make a slight difference because, even though thousands of people fought for what they believed was right nothing ever changed.
The exctuaray pain of a death of a child is a mother 's worst nightmare. They feel it is the only way to raise attention. In the city of Ferguson, Michael Brown was an unarmed black teen and was shot by police; this was the beginning of a wave of uprisings against police brutality nationwide. Michael Brown’s death proved how race played a role in the police system. The alteration was a interracial conflict.
Racial Tension in Michael Brown 's case On August 9, 2014, eighteen-year-old Michael Brown was shot by Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. The shooting caused protests and has drawn the world’s attention because Michael Brown was an unarmed black man while Darren Wilson is a white police officer. People believe
Michael Brown was shot and killed on August 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri which is a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Michael Brown, an 18 year old man, was fatally shot by Darren Wilson, a 28 year old police officer. Michael Brown was African-American and Darren Wilson is white. Since the shooting occurred there have been protests both peaceful and violent. These protests revolve around two things, perceived racial profiling and police brutality.
While the other book used is useful for providing an account of what happened at the beginning of the decade, this book is able to look at police brutality throughout the 1990s and how the earlier events impacted the later ones. Journal Articles Matheson, Victor A., and Robert A. Baade. “Race and Riots: A Note on the Economic Impact of the Rodney King Riots.” Urban Studies, vol. 41, no. 13, 2004, pp. 2691–2696, Academic Search Premier, doi:10.1080/0042098042000294628.
According to the article Racism and Police Brutality in America, “Whites believe that Blacks are disproportionately inclined to engage in criminal behavior and are the deserving on harsh treatment by the criminal justice system” (Chaney 484). The justice system has unfortunately followed this idea. The African American race has been a minority in the legal system in the past; however, it has been much worse as of 2015. Some individuals assume it is acceptable to refrain from acknowledging this fact. Racism is an issue in the midst of police brutality, and it should be resolved.
Police officer’s reputations are reduced and they lose the public’s trust as protectors. Specifically, society talks about the act of a white police officer savagely attacking a black citizen. The black population was enraged by this act and formed activist movements to prevent any police brutality brought upon them. As the controversy rise, society starts picking a side to defend. In this case, the nation is split into two sides.
There was data collected from the Ferguson police department from 2012 to 2014. The African American population of Ferguson consisted of 67 percent. However, 85% of vehicle stops, 90 percent of citations and 93 percent of arrests made by the Ferguson police department were made towards African Americans. African Americans are twice as likely to be stopped than white people, but they are also 26 percent less likely to be in possession of contrabands. The Ferguson police department only cares about the money that they make from basically looting African Americans under the pretense of ticketing them