Police Brutality In Native Son By Richard Wright

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’s shooting involves a racial tension between blacks and whites since Brown was unarmed and surrendered. In Ferguson, the majority of people are African Americans, and the majority of police officers are white. On the night of the shooting incident, Brown was walking home and confronted by Wilson because Wilson thought Brown was suspicious. There was a struggle between Brown and Wilson. According to Brown’s friend, Wilson started the fight. Wilson was violent toward Brown and shot Brown several times even though Brown had already surrendered and put up his hands in the air. People who are on Brown’s side claim that a white police officer abused his power, and a sign of race discrimination among police officers.

In the spring of 1991,” In Los Angeles, California, four Los Angeles police officers that had been caught beating an unarmed African-American motorist in an amateur video an acquitted of any wrongdoing in the arrest.” [“1992 Riot in Los Angeles”]

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. People have started riots, movements, and protest over the past few years in different cities and states. Many people don’t like cops because they have killed so many innocent African American males and

Assurance in equal justice remains as an overwhelming political principle of American culture. Yet withstanding unbelief exists among numerous racial and ethnic minorities. Their doubt comes as no surprise, given a past filled with differential treatment in the arrangement of criminal equity, an issue particularly clear in police misconduct. Researchers have investigated police responses to racial and ethnic minorities for quite some time, offering sufficient confirmation of minority burden on account of police. These examinations raise doubt about different police techniques of coercive control, maybe none more so than police brutality. Its use exemplifies the pressures between police and minorities that exist in America today.

There are numerous issues that deal with the American criminal justice system, but the two I found most prominant that occur on a daily basis is the abuse from police officers and clear racism shown by the American criminal justice system. To begin, racism as we know is a prejudice directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior. In the criminal justice system African Americans are directly targeted and punished in a higher more aggressive way, than say someone who is caucasian and committed the same exact crime. Racism is more often than not, the motive for official misconduct. There are examples of racism from every known region in the United States, spanning across centuries from slavery to

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 order to move forward, the African-American community must heal. As an activist and aspiring social worker, I

I believe that the federal justice system is just and unbiased. The federal justice system has guidelines and rules to keep them from using power improperly and targeting groups of people based on their race. This is talked about in article “Is the Criminal Justice System Racist”. There are statistics given pertaining to the prison sentences given to African Americans, prosecution during a felony trial, and crime/prison rates.

The severity of racial profiling is very concerning. As proven by numerous texts studied for this Expository Writing class, it is evident that the Black respondents of Otis Johnson’s poll, analyzing citizens’ relationships with the police, are not the only Black people that: “expressed far less confidence than whites in local police to treat both races equally” (Johnson). In White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh describes various privileges which sound ordinary, though surprisingly only White people have. Among them, is one that affects all people on a daily basis: “If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race” (McIntosh). Governmental

The author seeks to bring to light the unfair treatment of the Negros by the whites in the places they live in. He also seeks to show that leaders only make empty promises to their people. Brutal cases are most among the Negros as they are attacked and their cases go unnoticed or ignored. Moreover the author wishes to show that the Negros are not treated equally as other residents of Birmingham.

Images and video of Eric Garner’s murder by police generated outrage and protests across the nation. Many wept for the loss of this innocent, but for Black America, it was just another offense in a long series of transgressions against the black body. To them, the pain was familiar—they had known it by many names: slavery, Jim Crow, mass incarceration. Police brutality was nothing new. This situation was different, however. Garner was the last straw—the one that broke the camel’s back. Horror, disgust, and rage swept through the nation’s major cities. This image galvanized communities around the country, who declared in one voice: “No more. Enough is enough.”

“The true measure of our commitment to justice, the character of our society, our commitment to the rule of law, fairness, and equality cannot be measured by how we treat the rich, powerful, the privileged, and the respected among us. The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavoured, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned” (Stevenson 18). The novel, Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, is a true story about the redeeming potential of mercy. It follows a gifted attorney, Bryan Stevenson from Alabama, who founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending the poor, the wrongly condemned and those trapped in the criminal justice system. “He has won relief for dozens of condemned prisoners,

Police brutality is explained as officers applying more force than what is needed to control a situation. For example, police brutality is when too much physical force is used or pulling a weapon against a civilian. Police officers have weapons supplied to them like handguns, pepper spray, batons, and stun guns, but they can only be used to the extent that is necessary to control a situation. However, if an officer shot a jaywalker or used any force at all it would be unreasonable. In addition, when threats or intimidation is used it is considered police brutality (Smith, 2016). Above all, if I witnessed police brutality I would contact a local law enforcement agency and inform

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. As a result, there is a drastic increase of violent outburst between both sides. For the last years, it was reported that 51.5 percent of black were killed by police officers (ibtimes.com). On the other hand, there have been 51,548 assaults against law enforcement and it resulted in 14,453 injuries in 2015 alone (nleomf.org). In the United States, recently, police brutality has been a popular subject all over the news and social media.

This report is showing light to the communities’ response to police brutality particularly in the black communities and also their encounters with police officers. Police brutality is physical violence and great cruelty demonstrated by a police officer. Police brutality and misconduct have existed for many decades and it even has been broadcasted in news stories over America, but nothing has changed. It has happened predominantly to African Americans in lower-income states. Police officers are given slaps on the wrist for taking a life or injuring an innocent person. This will show how police brutality has affected black communities and how African American communities’ have responded to it with movements and protest, and how they try to overcome

Police brutality will be an issue until a solution is created. Many individuals are victims of this form of assault on daily basis. The liberties held by law enforcement are challenged each time they perform their duties. Police officers should abide by the same laws that each citizen is expected to abide by. Although police officers are granted with the right to determine laws as constitutional, civilians are sometimes treated in ways that are beyond unlawful.