On February 26, 2012, an innocent African American teenage boy was shot and killed because he was wearing a hoodie, and his skin was dark, so he looked 'suspicious.' He was walking home from a trip to the convenience store and Trayvon was noticed by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida. The volunteer approached him because there had been several robberies and break-ins in just a few days. Trayvon Martin, born February 5, 1995, had no criminal record. He was a good kid according to his community. The shooting gained international attention which caused protest rallies worldwide to get justice for young black teens getting killed and an end to law enforcement getting away with no consequences. The injustice of African Americans in the justice system.
Racism in America is known as the “system''. It's designed to target African Americans for white supremacy. Such as voter suppression, a method used to stop specific groups of people from voting. Also, almost two million African-Americans, over 8 % of the adult African-American population, are impotent in their right to vote by their conviction by the criminal system. This event is three times the national Average. (“Quigley 424”). Also, concerning is the racial profiling imposed by officers and searches without evidence of criminal activity and based on perceived race, or national origin is illegal.
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Racial profiling influences many neighborhoods where many African Americans live. (“Racial Profiling”). Black residents are more than likely to be stopped by the police than white people. “More than 1 in 6 Blacks that were pulled over or stopped on the streets had several interactions with the police over the year.”(“Jones Alexis 2018”). They were more likely to threaten or use force against black inhabitants. The racial divergence in policing has had effects on the public trust of the police. “60% of Black residents who have experienced the threats or use of force, perceived the force as excessive, compared to 43% of white residents who experienced force.”(“Jones Alexis 2018”). Along with this, Black people have the most trouble with finding a job after being incarcerated because of discrimination in hiring.
When being released from prison, race dominates. “A study by Professor Devah Pager found that 17% of white job applicants with criminal records received callbacks from employers while only 5% of African-American job applicants with criminal records received callbacks. Race is so prominent in that study that whites with criminal records actually received better treatment than African Americans without criminal records.”(“Pager 2012”). Racial discrimination happens everywhere. black employment may have grown more serious over time, as more and more employers move away from dominant city areas where less than half of low-income continue to be condensed. Additionally, fewer black people without a job are more likely to experience police brutality or even be killed by the police
More and more innocent black teens are being killed by the police. Micheal Brown is a victim. On August 9, 2014, Michael brown jr, who was only 18 years old was shot and killed by a 28-year-old white Ferguson officer. In the city of Ferguson, Missouri. the officer said, “brown was trying to attack him and his car for control of his gun until it was fired.” Johnson, who was his friend stated that “the officer initiated a confrontation by grabbing brown by the neck through his car window threatening him, and then shooting at brown.” Brown got out of the car and surrendered with his hands up saying “Don't shoot” before he was shot. The officer continuously shot at brown until he fell to the ground, he was shot six times all from the front. The officer shot twelve bullets in total during the altercation.
Supporters of police behavior argue that police brutality is not a significant problem and that accusations about it are over-exaggerated. They claim “Many claims of brutality, they contend, are made by criminals attempting to manipulate the justice system by filing false complaints.”(“Police Brutality August 6, 2016”). Police say that they are trying to do their best in a very dangerous job. Police are not deliberately targeting the outnumbered group, they resist, and shouldn’t take the fall for broader social abuse. Blacks can prevent the use of force by complying with officers' orders. Sunil Dutta, a Los Angeles police officer, argued that if you don’t want to be a victim of police brutality simply don't argue with them, threaten that you'll sue them, and don't aggressively walk towards them.
The controversy of illegal use of firearms and police brutality against African Americans still has not settled and is still in effect today. So many lives were lost because of the unnecessary use of force and getting victimized because of their skin color. Up until this day, African Americans still do not have respect from law enforcement.
Work Cited
- Carter, Robert L. “The Criminal Justice System Is Infected with Racism.” Vital Speeches of the Day, vol. 62, no. 10, Mar. 1996, p. 290. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9603196080&site=ehost-live.
- 'Police Brutality: Do U.S. police departments use appropriate force when dealing with the public?' Issues & Controversies, Infobase, 3 Aug. 2016, https://icof-infobaselearning-com.ezproxy.rose.edu/recordurl.aspx?ID=14188. Accessed 25 Feb. 2020
- Quigley, William. “Racism: The Crime in Criminal Justice.” Loyola Journal of Public Interest Law, 16 May 2012, law.loyno.edu/sites/law.loyno.edu/files/Quigley.pdf.
- “Florida Teen Trayvon Martin Is Shot and Killed.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 12 Nov. 2013, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/florida-teen-trayvon-martin-is-shot-and-killed.
- pager, Devah. “Racism: The Crime in Criminal Justice.” Loyola Journal of Public Interest Law, The Free Library, 2012, 'Racism: the crime in criminal justice..' The Free Library. 2012 Loyola University New Orleans, School of Law 25 Feb. 2020 www.thefreelibrary.com/Racism: the crime in criminal justice.-a0296951993.
- Jones, Alexis. “police stops are still marred by racial discrimination, new data shows..” prisonpolicy.org. Prison policy initiative, 12 Oct. 2018. Web. 26 Feb. 2020.
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