Police, courts, and the judicial branch enforce laws and punish transgressors. The capability and fairness of the “justice” system, however, is not always effective. Members of the court and police men are humans with varied backgrounds and beliefs. It is difficult to have no prejudice and bias whatsoever when judging offenders of the law. A prime example of discrimination by law enforcers is the Ferguson riots in 2015. An African American teenager was shot by a Caucasian police officer. The incident led to “riots and tumults” between two diverse racial groups, which Paine identifies as nonexistent. America’s justice system works to ensure equality and unity, but the system in turn forces people to make debatable…
Cops are supposed to keep us safe, maintain order, and preserve the peace. However, this has not been the case for years. On the news, practically every day we hear of police brutality. We hear the cries of the family lamenting their loss, whether be it a man woman or child. Yet while this loss of life takes place, the murderer’s judgement is not always favorable. Will the brutal officer be punished? Was Darren Wilson charged for killing Michael Brown, an unarmed man? No! Justice was not served! Justice did not take place! A man responsible for pulling the trigger on an unarmed man, shooting his body six times, with bullets piercing his skin all over until it was devoid life. Brown may have been a criminal, his last moments should not have been ugly, so painful, so sad. We observe…
Michael Brown was an 18 year old black man who was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri 08/9/2014. Michael had intensions to go to college with no previous criminal record. The death of Brown sparked subsequent events in Ferguson and became a national controversy touching on much larger national issues of race, justice, and police violence. This event grew even more national attention when police reacted to protesters, even those acting peacefully, with military-grade equipment such as armored vehicles, tear gas, rubber bullets, and sound cannons. Ties between local residents and their government arose again when heard the investigation into the shooting, inherently secretive grand jury proceedings and subsequent reactions which controlled by mostly whit politicians despite Ferguson’s majority black population. One of the main reasons this shooting grew national attention was the fear commonly held by many parents is that black lives matter less, particularly in the face of increasingly heavily armed police who carry tremendous legal freedom.…
At the Black Matters Conference, I had the opportunity to see an interview with Lezley McSppaden, the mother of Michael Brown who was a victim of police brutality. During the time period of the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power movement police brutality was always an issue. Today we see that this issue is most cases has not yet been solved. Although in the earlier years it consisted of a lot more violence. For example, police officers helping out white rioters by supplying weapons, using violent acts to disperse crowds, and also ignore the different crimes of whites on people of color. The types of police brutality or being treated with inequality led to rebellions against authority. The acts of rebellions can be seen in the Black Panthers.…
In addition, Martin Luther King Jr. had numerous hopes in what he wanted to accomplish. Martin Luther King Jr. used the strategy of fighting in a peaceful way to seek equality and challenge the unjust authorities (King, Martin Luther, Jr. 9). MLK suggested that the best way to end with segregation was under nonviolent protests. Government was holding a ironic position by proclaiming segregation as unconstitutional but allowing other states to practice it (Parel, “Civil Disobedience”). As an activist against segregation, King wanted to culminate segregation in every corner of the country; which was a problem that was generating unemployment (“Martin Luther King, Jr.”). Even though people were…
In the police force in the Ferguson area, there were “allegations involving use of force that raised questions” (50). Police officers rarely stay in the same department over their career. Therefore, there is almost no familiarity between the officers, and the community they are serving in. Most of the revenue of…
This is a country where many unarmed civilians have suffered injuries or been killed at the hands of police officers. Drastic changes are needed to solve the issue of police brutality. Such excessive force by police officers is very disturbing to the community. People around the country are fighting for a country where law enforcement treats all communities with dignity, employs restraint on the power police officers, and only use the necessary force to maintain the community’s safety. Over the years there have many cases involving police brutality such as the cases of Rodney King, Timothy Thomas, and Eric Garner. Many people feel that nothing has changed with the issue of police brutality since juries still acquitted police officers, cops get their jobs back, and brutality happens again. But change has occurred and some things have become better as a result of it being publicized and causing public outrage.…
The 1992 Los Angeles Rebellion was a response to the March 3, 1991 brutalizing of Rodney G. King by three Los Angeles police officers. Twenty-three other law enforcement officers watched as King was beaten kicked and shocked by officers wielding batons and stun guns” (Contemporary Police Brutality and Misconduct 2). In such a stark overstep of power it was clear to the people of Los Angeles and others across the country that police reform was necessary. The riots allowed the issue of police brutality to be brought mass public attention and spurred some law enforcement reforms. While some reforms were brought about the problem was never completely handled. On top of this, police administrators have often ignored or been lax in using internal department policies and procedures to punish officers who have displayed a pattern of brutality and/or misconduct (Contemporary Police Brutality and Misconduct 2). While the problem is a difficult one that will require compromises from everyone, it is important to understand its complexity and importance to…
As of late more and more attention has been directed towards some unsavory police actions towards the black community. This is in direct relation to A Lesson before Dying. In A Lesson before Dying Jefferson, an uneducated black male is prosecuted for a crime he did not commit and thrown into jail for it. He receives a death sentence and loses all self-worth. In relation to current police brutality incidents some officers have been unjustly killing black citizens and not being sent to jail but instead on paid leave. Many never get convicted of their crimes, even with video evidence, but that only fuels protestors. This has led to a heavy divide between citizens and their police, similar to…
Racial tensions in the United States has been has major problem for the last few years. The multiple cases of police officers shooting African Americans have only increased these tensions. One of these cases that fueled the flames is the incident that happen back in 2013, when Officer Kerrick shot and killed Jonathan Ferrell. The actions of Officer Kerrick were wrong since he acted more in fear than any actual proof that Ferrell was going to harm…
What happened 52 years ago? What was going on 52 years ago? Segregation, Inequality and The Civil Rights Movement. 52 years ago on August 28th 1963 Martin Luther King Jr made his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. He did not change everything, but he changed a lot. Although some people believe equality is acquired, in reality it has not been achieved according to Martin Luther King Jr's dream. This is evident due to Martin's figurative language, diction, and effective lines.…
In today’s society, many things are developing and changing, such as strategies in law enforcement, as well as what is important to cover on media and whether it is the full story or not to gain more popularity on that broadcast. There has been an uprise in the amount of cases involving police officers shooting someone without probable cause, physically assaulting someone, etc. that is being presented on the news. One such cases was the Michael Brown case.…
In the early 1990’s police brutality had become common; police officers abused their powers and became brutal when dealing with offenders and even non-offenders. One infamous example of such brutality occurred in 1992 in Los Angeles when a black man named Rodney King was violently beat by five officers for being “black.” The five officers repeatedly struck King as a few other officers stood by not paying any attention to the situation near by. Two of the five officers were later acquitted which angered the black and Latino community around the world as did the videotape of the incident. This incident did however put more attention and awareness on the issue of police brutality.…
When you think of police brutality not too many distant stories pass through our minds. “… They didn’t have to beat me this bad. I don’t know what I did to be beat up” Rodney King, March 3, 1991. Most adults remember what they did, how they felt, when seeing Rodney King on any local news station being brutality beaten by police. This country witnessed various cases of police brutality. Yet controversial topics among communities that have seen police brutality take place in front of their homes.…
Throughout the years African Americans have struggled with obtaining justice and protecting their rights. However, the conflict seems to be even greater today. In the past decade multiple stories about the unjustified death of an African American has occurred. Police brutality is very popular amongst these cases. In each case the race card was also pulled, causing a lot of controversy between blacks and whites. Violent protests took place and resulted in chaos. Instead of solving the problem these acts created bigger ones.…