It has been a long week.
Most of you know I was traveling this past week to Baltimore. Baltimore’s murder rate has been on the rise,
so much so that the mayor has requested help from the FBI because the Baltimore
police can no longer control the high rates of violent crime.
Meanwhile, in Texas, Jordan Edwards, an unarmed,
African-American 15 year old, was shot and killed by police. The officers had received a call about a
teenage house party where they believed under-age drinking was occurring. When the police arrived, the teens did what
many teens would do in that situation – they scattered and tried drive
off. The police first said they saw a
vehicle reversing aggressively at them; however body camera evidence later
showed the vehicle was driving away from the officers. Officer Ray Oliver fired into the car of
teenagers, killing Jordan with a shot to the head. Bloodwork showed none of the teens had been
drinking at the time of the incident. I’ve
blogged far too frequently about the killing of un-armed African American
men. You can read my thoughts and your
fellow students’ comments here: http://historicalandpoliticalissues.blogspot.com/search?q=trayvon
and here: http://historicalandpoliticalissues.blogspot.com/2014/12/hands-up-dont-shoot.html
and here: http://historicalandpoliticalissues.blogspot.com/2016/07/americas-black-and-blue.html
I was raised to respect police officers. I have friends and family that serve in the
police department. I understand that
they often have to make split-second, life-changing decisions. That being said, we can’t ignore the history
of racism in this country, particularly within the justice system. We all have biases – perhaps those biases
come into play more when you’re faced with high stress situations. I don’t have the answers, but it breaks my
heart to lose so many young men to senseless violence.
So my question to you this week is, “What do you think can
be done to ease the tensions between African-Americans and police? How can we begin to find healing after incidents
such as those mentioned above?” Answers
are due no later than Wednesday, May 10th 2017
This certainly is an issue I try to avoid speaking on, not because I don't want to or don't think it's an issue, but because I'm terrified of saying something wrong because this isn't something I deal with. I try to think on the more positive side of the spectrum, and say that because it's getting better that it can't be too bad. Clearly, I'm mistaken. Very clearly, we have some form of racism problem in America. I too have family that work for the police, and I respect them deeply. The question is, how do you hold a person accountable for doing wrong, when the person doing wrong is paid to hold people accountable. It's a system that regulates itself, to a degree. One could almost say, we need a police for the police. My only problem is, I don't have first hand experience on the issue, so it's not right of me alone to judge how it should be resolved. If I were to give one thing, I'd say we need more regulations and consequences for police. Perhaps we could even take a page form the American government and find another group who has the power to put checks and balances on the Police. As far as healing, I have little idea what exactly can be done, but whatever it is, many more strides need to be taken before we can not only end this problem, but also prevent it from ever occurring again.
ReplyDeleteI honestly cannot answer your question about holding a person responsible for their actions but, I used to feel police were good people. I still do in most ways because I've sort-of gathered myself and noted that they are trained to serve and protect, at all times. They make the conscious decision to do the harm they do. I was once a victim in a crime, but when the suspect, in my circumstance, was shown more compassion than I was; I saw the situation from a different perspective.
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ReplyDeleteWhat we need to try to do is find first the healing for police and families of victims, plus try pushing harder for prevention so that in an occurrence of high stress during duty does not occur. No human-being is immune to human error; but, in reviewing all the cases where the cop(s) had control of the situation, then took advantage of the situation substantially resulting in the death of a non-threatening, African-American person I find it harder to believe that high-stress-level was the case. I see it more a low-tolerance situation. Most cops, in my opinion, just chose the wrong career.
ReplyDeleteTechnology; such as body cameras, is one answer but, the question remains, "Is it enough?" The answer is no longer why. I think we have all wrapped our minds around the word "Why?" Are people who serve and protect the people taking their jobs to seriously? Do communities, and Cops need to come together to try to find peace and knowledge to get gain control of this never-ending circumstance? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmwSwtyCfg4
I don't think the tension between police and African Americans will be eased any time soon, unfortunately. That can't happen when police keep killing young, innocent, African American people. Every time it happens it causes more, and worse tension. The more police keep killing African Americans the more angry the people are going to get. Violence is definitely not the answer but I think that's what people are resorting to right now on this issue because they don't know what else to do. I think police have a right to protect themselves, but racism is still alive and I believe there are police officers that take advantage of their "status". The story of Jordan Edwards it just sad and there was no reason for guns to even be drawn by police. I remember in high school there were a couple of parties I went to that were busted by the police where everyone tried to run... there weren't guns drawn then. I think it's going to take people of all color to come together to stand up for African Americans against police and any hate crime for that matter. As for healing after crimes likes these happen, it's going to take people coming together to comfort one another, and actions to be taken against police violence.
ReplyDeleteThe thing about racial tension in this day and age is that it isn't so easily cured. As a young black man myself, all I hear around my community is about how bad the police are. It's been that way since I was young. I don't think it's so easily fixed as a, "everyone come together and we make up" kind of situation. There are countless lower income areas and cities where blacks and other minorities are stuck in and can't see a way out. They need help and when the police aren't helping, of course the community is going to say screw the police. Personally, I think that we need more POSITIVE interactions between minorities and cops. Although that in itself won't fix anything in the present, that coupled with effort from both sides can help shape a brighter future.
ReplyDeleteAlso the cops who keep shooting unarmed, young and innocent blacks and other minorities need to be put in jail, not getting off with just a slap on the wrist.
DeleteRacism is a topic that I don't really enjoy discussing, and I'm sure no one does, but avoiding talking about it will do nothing as it looms over our heads. We clearly have a big issue and well there isn't really a way to just cut it out of our system instantly, we can still do things to try and bring it down and eventually hope to end it. In cases like this, the evidence seems to point at the officer committing murder, rather than doing their job and being here for the people. In cases like this, I think the officer should be held accountable for the crime as anyone else, murder is murder and the offender should be treated justly with correct punishment. I'm sure many of us have heard about many officers getting away with such acts, and we all want it to stop. As I see it, if a police officer is committing a crime, their rank no longer matters. A criminal is a criminal, no matter who they are.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I cannot think of anything that can be done to ease the tensions. There’s always going to be racism and, in the future, it may be less of a problem but I have no idea how to make things better. I, even, asked my husband and all he said was “Just give everyone cotton candy!” I do not know if cotton candy would fix the situations but maybe the solution is something just as simple.
ReplyDeleteI think that if a cop unjustly kills someone, they should be prosecuted to the same degree that people that kill cops are. By “unjustly”, I mean that it can be proven beyond a doubt that it was not self-defense. From what I have noticed, when someone kills a cop, they are usually punished more severely. Cops that unjustly kill someone should be punished just as severely because they are job is to “serve and protect”. Please, don’t take this the wrong way. I respect police officers and I am thankful for the ones that do their jobs correctly. I, also, believe that just because they are police officers, they should not be able to get away with more than a slap on the wrist.
I do not believe that this is strictly a matter of racism. That is not to say that racism in not a factor of these events, nor that it is not a threat to the minds and lives of all who experience it. But it does seem to me, whether by my personal perspective or lack thereof, that tensions felt across the nation are not strictly "African-Americans" versus "the police."
ReplyDeleteI resist the urge to divide people into boxes. I dislike terms that denote ethnicity because they fail to focus on that we are all people. I generally abhor clarifying between the color of skin or where our families are from. So if we attempt to remove race as a factor, if we can just try, the conflict becomes "people who, whether due to community or circumstance, have lost faith in the law's ability to protect them" versus "people who swore to protect and uphold the law that have, whether due to ineptitude or neglect, failed to make people feel protected." While it fails to roll of the tongue as easily as "black people vs. the cops," but I think it's essential to resist oversimplifying a complex issue.
It's easy to point to these incidences of unconscionable violence and say "Cops are racist," because racism sucks and many will agree that is the case. I cannot defend the senseless murder of innocent men, but I also will not condemn others simply for wearing a badge. What is clear to me is that there are individuals who have broken their oath to serve and protect, who have failed the public trust, and have thought themselves above the law, though no one is above the law. Some have acted in panic, and others in malice, but all are unworthy to be police officers. Law enforcement needs to take increased measures to insure that their enforcers have both the fortitude to stay cool under pressure and the commitment to uphold the law. Meanwhile, we as citizens all must cease this collective disdain for our uniform neighbors, and help them in keeping our communities safe. It's on all of us to uphold the law; the police just do it for a living.
I have written and rewritten this response several times over the past two hours out of fear that I may offending people or that I may be off base. But the way I figure it, I can't stop people from disliking what I've got to say, and I can't live in fear of being wrong. So to sum up my excruciatingly long-winded huff, I don't think it's just a problem of racism, we deserve better cops, and cops deserve our support.
I think what will ease the tensions would be to actually watch out who they are hiring to join the police force because it's really hard to believe that they will let people that start a lot of conflict with only African Americans. They need to really find out more about who is going to be part of the police force and just because they are really good in the police academy and all that but most cops think they can do whatever they want and that's not okay. We need true and better cops that care more about people no matter what color they are.
ReplyDeleteI think it’s fairly obvious at this point that racism still is a huge problem in our society with no clear solution. It seems that we and future generations will have to deal with it after all it’s been a part of our nation since the beginning. But if we are going to make a change I think we need to start by treating both sides as equals have them learn and communicate with each other in order to build up trust between the communities and the police. Then I would attempt to add more funds into education and better police training as well as attempt to give the community more representation in the local government.
ReplyDeleteI am probably going to get some hatred for my response on this post, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But honestly, these racist problems are broadcasted on television to separate us even more. When white kids or asians or whomever gets shot by the police, the news doesn't report on that. It is very obvious that racism is still lingering but don't you think we can suppress it by not making everything about race? Unfortunately I don't see a viable solution to ending the violence of police against black teens and adults.. because in all honesty, most police don't wake up and think "Im going to go shoot a black guy today".. they shoot to defend themselves and they go through extensive training to know when it is and is not right to retaliate. Yes, some of them act wrongly in certain situations, but that's how you weed out the bad seeds. Hate on my response if you will, but the reason racism is still so present, is because we keep talking about it. When we report on the news instead of saying "Black Teen Shot by Detroit Police" why can't we just say "Teen Shot by Detroit Police"? We are deliberately adding the race card into our stories, news, and every day lives, just to make it evident.
ReplyDeleteI feel like police men/women won't stop shooting or killing innocent African Americans. Races is not going anywhere, we need to start docking their pay or firing them from their job. If this keeps happening there will be segregation again and things will get out of hand. There needs to be only rubber bullets only not metal that will kill some body. Then they need to start aming at the legs instead of the chest. If we start doing this, we won't be so depressed about hearing about black women and men getting hurt.
ReplyDeleteI do feel that it is a racism issue. In my opinion, I think it has never stopped but what brought the issue back in news are these officers that just assume all African American individuals are bad. I think that the media plays into this as well. Most of the time in the news, they tend to show African Americans who did something bad. I don't see much of other races that have done bad seen on the news. I guess I'm trying to say that the media likes to show one race doing bad more than another one. In turn, officers hear more about that race and 'how bad' that race is. Officers choose to assume that every African American is lethal. It's not one race, anybody can be lethal. I do think that officers should be penalized because they don't take a minute to find the truth but that's sort of in their job description, Getting to the bottom of things. They choose to shoot first and ask questions later.
ReplyDeleteRacism is a HUGE issue. Especially one that I avoid... It has been a problem in the past, it is a problem in todays world and it will continue to be a problem in the future. What we can do to ease the situation is our actions- including gun violence. As for the cops/ African American community- I believe that the media has made it a bigger deal than it was. It has become a "domino effect" which has led many people to keep a closed mind on this topic rather than doing research on it. I believe that all of us need to stop the violence and get along (even if it is easier said than done). Who will start first is the question?
ReplyDeleteI have mixed emotions about the situation. If we are wanting to ease the situation is to not look at everything as violent and analyze the situation and not jump to conclusions when looking at the color of someones skin.
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