America was founded upon the ideals of equality and freedom, so why have the citizens taken it upon themselves to sacrifice the very values that are the foundation of The United States? Racism is presumably nonexistent by many Americans who refuse to face the facts even though many movements, such as the black lives matter movement, have drawn attention to the racist acts that have occurred. Inconsistencies within the police department have given rise to long existing prejudices and given people a reason to believe racism has persisted in America. Racism still exists in America because of distant events in the past that have created stereotypes passed on through the generations and stereotypes upheld in the police system.
Previously spread
…show more content…
Many people may associate people of middle eastern descent as radical Muslims, but that is often a false idea as are most other crime related stereotypes given to the different races. Police brutality is usually targeted at African Americans because of the past notion that African American people are violent by nature, but that idea had since faded, we hoped. No, that has not faded even a little bit. In 2016 alone “233 African-Americans shot and killed by police”(Nodjimbadem). Eric Garner is a Black man who was killed by the a policeman who placed him in an unnecessary chokehold, a chokehold that would end up with fatal results. Garner said to the man “I can’t breathe”, yet the officer continued to hold on. The man who killed Garner was not charged. This is only one of the many heart wrenching cases that are the product of race driven violence. Many important figures have spoken out on these issues that continue to occur, many NFL players kneeled during the national anthem, in hopes of spreading awareness to all the people watching. Martin Luther King Junior is obviously a very important historian, he was one of the brave men and women who encountered police brutality in the past, that were victims of the polices stereotypes about African Americans, which is still a persistent issue in America and will not stop until the people in America discard the prior prejudice involved in race and realize that we are all equal and
Today’s topic: Police Brutality “Yall haters corny with that illuminati mess, paparazzi catch my fly and my cocky dress. I’m so reckless when I rock my Givenchy dress. I’m so possessive so I rock his Roc necklaces. My daddy alabama, momma louisiana.
Mike brown was also a African American male who was targeted by police, during his arrest police used unnecessary force to hold brown down. He said repentantly that he couldn’t breath and police disregarded what he was saying, this lead to mike browns death, when tried the police faced no penalty for their actions, this had a major impact on social media and lead to the hash tag “I can breath” people on social media used this expression in remembrance of mike brown, these 3 words go more in debt in the issue with police brutality. Mike brown became a huge impact on the issue of police brutality in social media. I only gave a couple example but there are unfortunately plenty more, the racial profiling and targeting of African Americans by police didn’t stop there. The African community felt like something bigger had to be done and this has started the on going black lives matter movement, a activist movement created by Alicia Garaz, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tomiete.
Addressing police brutality must be done with empathy for and awareness of the plight of the African-American community. Historically speaking, there has not been a period wherein the African-American community was not inhibited by institutionalized barriers. American enslavement provided the foundation for later oppressive provisions that are especially prevalent within inner-city, predominantly Black communities, which, incidentally, many of the prominent instances of police brutality have taken place. Political regimes like the “war on drugs,” “school to prison pipeline,” and mass incarceration criminalize and dehumanize the African-American community, and thus affect the collective mindset of the population. I believe that an imperative first step that has not been taken is acknowledging the effects these may have on the Black community.
In the article Police Shootings Won 't Stop Unless We Also Stop Shaking Down Black People by Jack Hitt, the author describes a numerous amount of incidents against African Americans that almost always resulted in violent endings. Police are doing a lot of unjust things to citizens, most of which are to generate revenue for the city and to fund their own paychecks. For example, racist officers would pull over someone who is black for a minor incident and have them fined an amount that they are financially unable to pay; thus resulting in an escalating, yet endless amounts of additional fines. They also abuse their powers by breaking laws and justifying it with their police badge and authority. This shows that police who target people of a certain
NBC releases video of a high school student being body slammed by a police officer. The video has drawn a lot of attention from the media and the districts Black Parents Association. This particular video shows white officer Ben Fields asking a black female student to go to the discipline office, the female student refuses to listen then is arrested for the actions she choose. The video draws so much attention because of race, it makes you wonder if the student was white would this video be criticized as it was.
Police racism is a very big problem in America. The killings of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Walter Scott are other examples of police racism and brutality as well. Reasons behind police racism and brutality are simple. People still have a certain way that they think about people of color.
Almost every year hundreds to thousands of African Americans are killed due to police brutality. Over like a hundred of African Americans were killed this year because of police brutality. Everyone who has been a part of police brutality, their families have to go on with life knowing someone really special to them is not in their life anymore. Many families are devastated this year because they have lost a family member or a spouse due to this situation. Many African Americans think that police brutality is not right.
This issue is multifaceted and complex. One-sided arguments have led law enforcement officers to be held accountable for their actions when using deadly force, while other opinions believe that law enforcement officers are doing their best in challenging situations and should not be unfairly criticized (Lee & Vaughn, 2010). One major concern regarding police shootings is the disproportionate impact on people of color. Many people believe that systemic racism leads to police brutality against people of color, particularly Black Americans. Statistics have shown that Black Americans are more likely to be killed by police than any other racial or ethnic group (Lim, 2017, p.306).
Every week there is a different story about an unarmed African American being shot to death by a white police officer. African Americans are twice as likely to be unarmed when killed during encounters with the police opposed as white people. According to a Guardian investigation which found 102 of 464 people killed so far this year in incidents with law enforcement officers were unarmed and not carrying weapons. When will it stop ? An analysis of public records, local news report and Guardians reporting found that 32% of African Americans killed by police in 2015 were unarmed as were 25% of Hispanics and Latino Americans, compared with 15% of White Americans killed.
How long will we continue to reject the fact that it is racism that fuels police brutality in the United States? Racism has been a topic of in the media each day in the country. Police brutality is happening everywhere and has become more commonplace with the increase of racist police officers who are a part of a corrupt system that targets the African-American male population. Police are not killing blacks because the crimes they commit are threatening, but because of the color of their skin and the way they look. Whites are rarely killed because they appear to be innocent to the police.
According to “The Washington Post”, Last year 963 African Americans were shot and killed by police. Ever since the 1960s Africans has been fighting for equality; in the Eric Garner case and Michael Brown, it demonstrated how White police officers abuse and misuse their power towards African Americans. Since the increase of police brutality communities has had marches, rallies, and even the Black Lives Matters movements as a response to show that Polices’ abuse of power is unacceptable. The Black Lives Matter movement was created after radical discrimination it is a political movement to inform and protect Black Lives. (Wesley Lowery.
After participating in a high-speed car chase, King was beaten by four officers and after once they were done he had a fractured face bone, a broken ankle, multiple lacerations, brain damage, and broken teeth. With how hard they had beaten him, they should have at least got charged with assault, but instead three walked away and the fourth was acquitted. This was the first time the world had seen what the police force was capable of and the ruling left a bad taste in the black community
An occurrence observed by the population of Los Angeles, California conveys the existence of racism and police brutality. According to The Polls-Trends: Racial Differences in Attitudes Toward the Police, “…three quarters of blacks, but only 38 percent of whites, continued to view police brutality as a common occurrence” (Tuch and Weitzer
Police brutality remains a common yet controversial topic around the world. Police brutality is “the use of excessive and/or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians” (thelawdictionary.org). It’s a topic that segregates communities and makes each other their enemy. Specifically, a white officer has been the enemy of the black community. Unfortunately, the tension between police and blacks grew over the past few decades.
Cops around the United States have been accused of racially profiling black people. This topic has been brought up by everyone around the U.S. and is very controversial. Studies have shown that the majority of deaths by police officers have been people of opposite color in America. Police brutality in America is a growing epidemic that has shown no signs of slowing down. Innocent men, women, and even children have been killed by police officers for no reason.