Throughout the last few weeks, in most of classes, we have been talking about the unfair treatment of African Americans in America today. In particular, the classes have been discussing the over incarceration rate of African Americans in prisons compared to White Americans along with police brutality issues. This is a very significant issue in todays society, and is one that makes me very upset because the inhumane treatment of Americans still happening in 2020 is just not right. Hearing the facts about how African Americans were treated in the 1950’s time period, and surrounding time periods, and how similar they are being treated today in some areas is just dumbfounding and infuriating to me.
I feel as though there needs to be more restrictions and a stronger watch on certain states where authorities are still blatantly discriminating against people of color. There have been states in the past few years, and possibly still this year, that have laws and actions in place to prevent people from voting at polls during election times and going into certain parts of town because of police brutality. There are states and cities all over the country that have areas where police brutality is a major problem, and these places are allowed to get away with this brutality without any consequences. There are areas where police get away with using excessive force on certain people, simply because those people have Black/dark skin. The police claim that Black people who even ask why they are being pulled over are resisting and therefore using unnecessary force and get away with. Police also harass and pull over Black people more than white people simply under the excuse that the Black person was “suspicious.” Many cops also have a tendency to pull a gun more often and sooner when dealing with Black people, regardless if they are kids or adults, than they do or would with white kids and adults. This is not right that in the county that takes pride in its citizens having freedom, a large percentage of its population lives in constant fear of those who are supposed to, and swear to, defend and protect all Americas from harm and danger.
I believe that the federal government should step in and put a stop to this brutality and racism, as it is infringing on these people’s lives that are being affected by it. Innocent people are still dying because of their skin color, or at least experience violence in some form or another, and this is a huge compromise to their safety. If state’s government won’t do anything to stop the racist actions still happening, or worse are even the reason for it, then I think the federal government needs to implement policies and actions that will stop these practices from being allowed. I also think that society as a whole needs to grow up and move on from the old ways of thinking, and stand up for the injustices that are taking place and realize that all lives matter. No one should die or be hurt because of their skin color, and even more is the fact that in the land of the free it should not be tolerated and allowed to still continue happening. I also do not feel that white people should be allowed to get away with claiming self-defense when they have murdered an innocent Black person, including the cops who shoot and kill unharmed people because they were black. The laws and biases that allow for a grown white person to claim he shot and killed a black child under self-defense because the white person felt the kid was “dangerous,” even though he was unharmed and minding his own business, and got off with this claim even after a police dispatcher told him he needs to leave the kid alone is just not right.
For me, knowing that kids are not getting a good education, if any at all, because of their skin color, and are instead being thrown out on the streets or straight into jail is just not humane. America is still abandoning its own kids because of a centuries old thought that skin color makes someone a monster and not a human. The prison systems are overflowing with inmates, most of which are Black Americans, as a result of the system that is currently set up to help White American kids and adults succeed but make Black American kids and adults fail. The system from the bottom is still racist in way to many areas of the country, and is designed to make Backs fail and therefore push them towards a life of crime and prison. In 2020 America still suffers from the same problems that it had 100 years ago, even after all the progress that has been made and all the fighting for the rights of blacks over the last 50+ years. It is time that it stops, and I truly hope that enough people will it see it this way and stand up for what is right; even if it is only little by little.
Comment
Around the time you wrote this, we had to read portions of the Justice Department’s report on the police and courts of Ferguson, Missouri. That report, and your essay, report on the very real problem we have. There are many persons in law enforcement and the courts who are unbiased, who are idealistic, and who work against prejudices and racism. But, as they are not causing problems, we give less attention to those, and focus instead on the transgressions that need correcting. That report on Ferguson should inspire anyone who reads it to take action to improve community relations with police forces. More people ought to read this report. Here are excerpts—sentences and notes I took as I read it:
Ferguson’s law enforcement practices are shaped by the City’s focus on revenue rather than by public safety needs.
The result is a pattern of stops without reasonable suspicion and arrests without probable cause in violation of the Fourth Amendment; infringement on free expression, as well as retaliation for protected expression, in violation of the First Amendment; and excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
City and court officials have adhered to these court practices despite acknowledging their needlessly harmful consequences.
This evidence of bias and stereotyping, together with evidence that Ferguson has long recognized but failed to correct the consistent racial disparities caused by its police and court practices, demonstrates that the discriminatory effects of Ferguson’s conduct are driven at least in part by discriminatory intent in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Restoring trust in law enforcement will require recognition of the harms caused by Ferguson’s law enforcement practices, and diligent, committed collaboration with the entire Ferguson community.
City and police leadership pressure officers to write citations, independent of any public safety need, and rely on citation productivity to fund the City budget.
There is no indication that anyone considered whether community policing and public safety would be better served by devoting five overtime officers to neighborhood policing instead of a “revenue pipeline” of highway traffic enforcement.
Ignoring the central fact that they had handcuffed a man and put him in a police car despite having no reason to believe he had done anything wrong, a sergeant vigorously defended FPD’s actions, characterizing the detention as “minimal” and pointing out that the car was air conditioned.
When the man then extended his identification toward the officers, at their request, the officers interpreted his hand motion as an attempted assault and took him to the ground.
FPD’s suppression of speech reflects a police culture that relies on the exercise of police power—however unlawful—to stifle unwelcome criticism.
FPD officers seem to regard ECWs as an all-purpose tool bearing no risk. But an ECW—an electroshock weapon that disrupts a person’s muscle control, causing involuntary contractions—can indeed be harmful.
The punitive use of force by officers is unconstitutional and, in many cases, criminal.
The video makes clear, however, that the man never tried to stand—he only writhed in pain on the ground.
Finally, FPD does not perform any comprehensive review of force incidents sufficient to detect patterns of misconduct by a particular officer or unit, or patterns regarding a particular type of force.
Alongside its divisive law enforcement practices and lack of meaningful response to community concerns about police conduct, FPD has made little effort in recent years to employ community policing or other community engagement strategies.
When implemented fully, community policing creates opportunities for officers and community members to have frequent, positive interactions with each other, and requires officers to partner with communities to solve particular public safety problems that, together, they have decided to address.
Another officer told us that officers cannot “get out of the car and play basketball with the kids,” because “we’ve removed all the basketball hoops—there’s an ordinance against it.”
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