Police Brutality towards African Americans

Akilah Thomas
10^th Grade
School of Information Technology at Eastside High School

            Police brutality is a crime that is has been surfacing in the news recently. Some people are just starting to realize that these injustices against the black community really occur, while others are well aware. However, the injustices towards African Americans, mainly target black males. Some statistics indicate that since many black men do not have fathers around to guide their lives in the right direction, they’ll automatically grow up to be thugs, hoodlums, hooligans, or gangsters. However, the false foreshadowings are just examples of African Americans being racially profiled. If you were able to ask Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Eric Garner, I’m sure they would have said that black people are still being discriminated against, and we have the constant injustices to prove it.

            Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17 year old African American high school student from Miami Gardens, Florida, was shot and killed on February 26, 2012 by neighborhood watch captain, George Zimmerman.[1] Zimmerman called 911 to report a suspicious person, but he only singled out Trayvon because he was black. He figured that since a black male was walking aimlessly among the streets with a hoodie on, he should automatically be classified as suspicious. During the report, police instructed Zimmerman to not approach the boy, or even leave his vehicle. However, Zimmerman decided to disregard those orders, and took it upon himself to single Trayvon out, an act which ended in Zimmerman shooting and killing Trayvon. Zimmerman admits shooting him, but claims it was self-defense.[2] Trayvon’s parents pleaded for justice, but Zimmerman was acquitted of the crime in July of 2013.[3]

            Michael Brown, an unarmed 18 year old black man, was shot by white police officer, Darren Wilson, on August 9, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri.[4] Michael Brown and his friend Dorian Johnson were leaving Ferguson Market and Liquor, where the surveillance video showed Michael stealing cigarillos. When Wilson arrived he saw that Michael fit the description of the thief, so he took action.[5] It was reported that Michael was shot in the back by Wilson, even though he was holding his hands up in surrender.[6] They say the phrase “hands up, don’t shoot” was built on a lie because Michael rose his arms and was still shot. Michael even turned around with his hands up and said “I don’t have a gun, stop shooting”, but Wilson shot him anyway.[7] Wilson racially profiled Michael based on the color of his skin and the assumption that he was a criminal.

            Eric Garner, an unarmed 43 year old married father of 6 children and 2 grandchildren from Staten Island, New York, was choked to death on July 17, 2014 by an NYPD police officer.[8] It was reported that the 400 pound asthmatic Eric Garner was put in a chokehold while other officers slammed his head against the sidewalk of a Tompkinsville beauty supply store.[9] Eric repeatedly screamed “I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!”, but the NYPD officers continued to push him down. This resulted in the ceased struggling from Eric, who appeared to be unconscious, when in reality, he was dead.[10] “Records show Garner was due in court in October on three Staten Island cases, including charges of pot possessions and possessions of selling untaxed cigarettes.”[11] This just proves that the police will find any way to make the victim look bad or guilty in order to cover up for their own wrong doings.

            There have been many reports about police brutality against African Americans, but not all of these cases have received the attention they deserve. John Crawford the 3^rd was killed in a Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio, on August 5^th. Levar Jones survived being shot by a South Carolina state trooper on September 4^th. Tamir Rice, who was 12 years old, was killed in a Cleveland park on November 23^rd. These African American men had cases that were taken lightly and were forgotten about.[12] These events sparked anger in the African American community. The many tragedies drove them to protest and in some cases riot. On top of all the disservices, the disrespect continues to be carried out with the introduction of a Trayvon Martin shooting target.[13]

            In my opinion, I think society lingers on the stories they feel are more important. However, in my eyes, all African American lives are just as significant as the lives of any other race. To stop the killings of innocent civilians, a solution would be to use a less lethal weapon called “The Alternative”, which has enough force to knock a suspect to the ground but not kill him or her. The Alternative is a small orange device that attaches to the top of a normal handgun and extends a Ping-Pong-ball-sized projectile in front of the muzzle.”[14] Utilizing the Alternative would secure the lives of our loved ones while still chastising them for whatever trouble they may or may not have caused. This method of security is utterly safer and I would definitely recommend it over a lethal gun.

            To truly solve this problem, however, we need to go beyond the use of nonlethal weapons by the police. The police force should be a reflection of the community. Consequently, if a community has a large African American population, there should be a proportionate number of African Americans on the police force. However, police officers of any race soon become jaded if they work in high crime areas. The police usually only come in contact with the worst of the community, the people they arrest. In addition they are exposed to some horrific events- murder, rape, and child abuse. They don’t often have a chance to interact with the people they protect except when they interview the victims of crimes committed in the community. As a result, they don’t get a chance to know and empathize with the local community. Community leaders and the administrators of the local police force need to get together and bring together the police and members of the community they serve. Police officers could be given time off to attend local community events and block parties. Police officers could also teach classes in crime prevention and how not to become a victim of crime. This would give the chance for the police to realize that the majority of the members of the community are good people who just want to live in peace. It would also give the community a chance to see the police as human beings just like themselves. This would help both sides get rid of that “us against them” attitude. In addition, classes could also be taught in how to behave when being stopped by the police. People also need to learn that they have to cooperate with the police if they want conditions in their neighborhood to improve; the mind set of not “snitching” has got to go. Change doesn’t come quickly, but it needs to come. However, change will only come if communities and their local police work together.