Social Injustice: Police Brutality
Asia Williams
Sociology 002
Social Injustice/Police Brutality
A social injustice, as understood in our society, is any action against an individual or group, which would deny them of their basic human rights. Police abuse remains one of the most serious human rights violations in the United States. Over the past years, police have acted out in ways that have made people wonder “are our officers of the law really doing their job?” Unjustified shootings, severe beatings, fatal choking’s, and rough treatment have all contributed to the ever-present problem of police brutality in America. Some people are oblivious to the racial profiling that still exists in America, others do not care enough to talk about it. If it does not directly offend an individual, it is considered too much of a hassle to talk about. Police prejudice and racial profiling is responsible for many false arrests, convictions, and death of African Americans. It is a difficult and unfortunate part of life that certain groups of human beings must face these so called obstacles in their life because they are a minority or because of their skin color. Police racial profiling has been an ongoing problem that African Americans have been dealing with for years. In fact a recent incident occurred this past summer that involved racial profiling. In July 2014 a New York City man who was at most guilty of selling loose cigarettes on the street was tackled and placed in a chokehold by a police officer in mid-July. The man Eric Garner, protested that he couldn’t breathe, but the officer with his arm around Garner’s didn’t let up. On December 3, 2014 a grand jury announced that they would not indict the officer, Daniel Pantaleo. Just weeks after Eric’s death in Ferguson, Missouri, a police officer, Darren Wilson played a role in the shooting death of an unarmed teenager, Michael Brown. Both Eric Garner and Michael Brown are black and their deaths, within just days of each other helped sparked a national
Sociology 002
Social Injustice/Police Brutality
A social injustice, as understood in our society, is any action against an individual or group, which would deny them of their basic human rights. Police abuse remains one of the most serious human rights violations in the United States. Over the past years, police have acted out in ways that have made people wonder “are our officers of the law really doing their job?” Unjustified shootings, severe beatings, fatal choking’s, and rough treatment have all contributed to the ever-present problem of police brutality in America. Some people are oblivious to the racial profiling that still exists in America, others do not care enough to talk about it. If it does not directly offend an individual, it is considered too much of a hassle to talk about. Police prejudice and racial profiling is responsible for many false arrests, convictions, and death of African Americans. It is a difficult and unfortunate part of life that certain groups of human beings must face these so called obstacles in their life because they are a minority or because of their skin color. Police racial profiling has been an ongoing problem that African Americans have been dealing with for years. In fact a recent incident occurred this past summer that involved racial profiling. In July 2014 a New York City man who was at most guilty of selling loose cigarettes on the street was tackled and placed in a chokehold by a police officer in mid-July. The man Eric Garner, protested that he couldn’t breathe, but the officer with his arm around Garner’s didn’t let up. On December 3, 2014 a grand jury announced that they would not indict the officer, Daniel Pantaleo. Just weeks after Eric’s death in Ferguson, Missouri, a police officer, Darren Wilson played a role in the shooting death of an unarmed teenager, Michael Brown. Both Eric Garner and Michael Brown are black and their deaths, within just days of each other helped sparked a national