America, the land of freedom, equality, and opportunity, considered as the global leader of justice and democracy. The national anthem demonstrates these virtues, but the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s was the pinnacle of proving that these characteristics are exaggerated. The Civil Rights Movement fought against racial discrimination that dominated the country at the time, hence led to the Civil Rights Act of 1968 that illegalized any form of discrimination ranging from the color of an individual, gender, religion to sexuality. The struggle of African Americans among other minorities led by famous and charismatic leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was believed to ensure equality (Seabrook, & Wyatt-Nichol, 2016). However, the white supremacy notion still dominates the country in the 21st century although it has reduced compared to the Ku-Klux-Klan of the early 20th century.
The changes in laws have enhanced the changes, but there are still loopholes that subjects minorities and mainly African American men to be discriminated by the Criminal Justice System and the police (Seabrook & Wyatt-Nichol, 2016). Social injustices and use of lethal force towards black men is one of the most researched topics in criminology, but very few changes have been enforced to change the trend and prejudice that criminalize black men. The past five years have seen unarmed black men gunned down by the police leading to the need to revisit Dr. King’s statement, “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.” (Devair & Rhonda, 2017). According to a study by the Associated Press and NORC (2015), black Americans are almost four times more likely to endure police brutality as the whites. The study demonstrated that over 80% of these African Americans are men. It was also evident that the issue raised contentious reviews from the public. By citing a survey from the Pew Research in 2014 discovered that blacks are more likely to claim that the police are too quick to use excessive force when handling blacks than when treating whites. The whites, on the other hand, argue that police use excessive force only when required to do so. The difference in views does not hinder the 71% of Americans calling for surveillance cameras to record any police brutality and the 52% who argue that the only way to change the growing epidemic of biased CJS and police brutality is by changing the policies.
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The U.S. Census Bureau in 2014 stated that Black Americans were 13.2% of the total population. However, the in 2015 reports from the Guardian claimed that 1139 people killed by the police, blacks were 302 which is equitable to 26.5%. The report also depicted that 223 unarmed people killed during the period 75 or 33.6% were black. Although the number varies from the report from the Washington Post as of December 22, 2015, 88 unarmed people shot by the police, 34 or 38.6% were blacks. In 2015, black men who form a mere 6% of the entire population made up 25.5% of all victims of police violence (Buehler, 2017). According to Desmond and his colleagues (2016), black boys are 20 times more likely to face police brutality than their white counterparts with the death of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old boy, in 2012 dominated the news after being shot by a neighborhood watch coordinator.
The data and summaries of multiple scholarly studies depict that the racial discrimination is taking root in the land of equality, justice, and freedom. The claim that less than 10% of the perpetrators of such horrendous acts do not face any charges means that the CJS and police departments are broken thus need to be fixed (Charbonneau, Spencer, & Glaser, 2017). This paper-based it argument on changing the policing and CJS regulation using three fundamental questions as listed below.
1. What are the causes of police brutality towards African American Men?
2. What are the impacts of the biased police violence to the blacks and the society?
3. What can be done to end police brutality and discrimination in the CJS?
These questions are based on data provided in the introduction thus reducing the need to prove there are biases in police use of excessive force. The issues help reduce the broadness of the topic with thousands of scholarly journals reviewing the matter. Therefore, answering them will provide the base for determining the most suitable ways to eliminate the vice.
Causes of Police Brutality towards African American Men
According to Atherley & Hickman, (2014), police brutality is the use of excessive physical force or verbal and psychological assault and intimidation respectively. Atherley & Hickman, (2014), argue that stereotyping the blacks makes it seem right or as if the blacks deserve the harsh treatment from the law enforcers. According to Gabiddon (2010) discussion on the concept of “Negrophobia” which is irrational and the fear of blacks. Gabiddon claims that the prejudice that blacks are criminals as the Ku-Klux-Klun depicted by arguing that black men objective is to rape white women and ensure white’s demise tends to be essential in the criminalizing of black men. Just as the white supremacists in the 20th century, this fear result in victimizing the blacks and cornering them before they can harm the whites. Racial profiling although biased have subjected the blacks to being targeted by police as the police-public contact survey demonstrated. The report described that although the police stop blacks and white drivers at the same rate, blacks are three times more likely to be searched than the white drivers.
The disparities in police practices make blacks bitter and more prone to resist arrest (In Egharevba, 2016). The CJS has over the years being described as biased as shown in the overwhelming number of blacks in the prisons which would also increase the need for African Americans to resist arrest thus leading to use of excessive force (Tolliver et al., 2016). Dubois once stated that the laws made target the minorities and maintained white supremacy. His claims tend to be depicted through the unfair treatment of black men under the CJS and increases tension between the police and the African Americans. African Americans claimed that the cops racially profile them subjecting them to searches at all time. However, it was evident from recent research that white police officers have a 71% likely to use excessive force when arresting white men compared to the black officers arresting black men which is about 15% (Hayward et al., 2017). These statistics demonstrate that increasing black officers will reduce the rate of biased police.
The media plays a crucial role in forming and cementing the stereotyping associated with blacks and crime. The Ku-Klux-Klan used the media to air their views about the blacks in the film Jim Crow and the need for the whites to unite and diminish the strength of the people who want to destroy their lives (Simmons, & Lawrence, 2001). The media through the use of criminals as blacks created the Afrocentric characteristics that include dark skin, full lips, and broad noses. The Afrocentric characters are criminals and selfish willing to kill for their benefits. Blacks with such features are more likely to be brutalized by law enforcers compared to the lighter skinned guys (Haider-Markel, & Joslyn, 2017). The reason for the biases even among the blacks is due to the media creating the lighter-skinned guys as more peaceful and career-oriented compared to the criminal minded black guys.
The CJS and police departments are responsible for the epidemic. The loopholes and biases within the agencies and policies make it easier for the officers to use excessive force. The broken window tactic tends to be overexploited by police. The police are more likely to ignore the more significant crimes and heavily punish the low-level crimes. Incarcerations for low-level offenses is the reason behind most of the arrests and victimization of the black men with the police providing some incriminating evidence with the court being biased in their ruling. As earlier indicated the cases where police who shoot civilians are prosecuted are most likely to be delayed or settled away from the courts which encourages the police to continue their misconducts. With less than 10% of the cases solved it is evident that the police walk-away after killing the suspects which is a big question on the CJS in the country. Lastly, lack of diversity and dominance of the whites makes it possible to enhance white supremacists.
Impacts
Since the end of slavery, African Americans have tried to fight for equality with the Civil Rights Movement being one of the major success stories. However, the recent increment in police brutality although lesser than before the 1960s, blacks regard the police as enemies whereas whites regard them as security or their helpers. Following the killing of Jude in 2012, Desmond, Papachristos, & Kirk, (2016), argues that the relationship between the black civilians and the police deteriorated. Less than 40% of the blacks stated that they would call 911 when they witnessed or encountered any criminal activities. The multiple mass killings seen for the last five years means that the relationship is only worsening. The failure of contact results in the increment of crimes and social disturbance in the low-income societies dominated by the African Americans and other minorities. The police, on the other hand, tend to focus on reducing crimes and with the built disdain it increases the use of excessive force or shootings (Paxton, 2009). About 65% of the blacks interviewed claimed that calling 911 would be a waste of time since nobody would take them seriously compared to only 40% of whites who doubted the police would take them seriously (Ren, Zhao, & He, 2017).
The economic constraints among the African Americans tend to be increasing due to the killings, unwarranted arrests and other biased policies that break up families. Scholars claim that less than 20% of the black children today have both parents who have never been arrested compared to the 80% white children. The arrests destabilize the primary level in the society thus leaving black women to fed for their children and with the lack of father figures, the children are more likely to join gangs. The cyclical trend repeats itself but does not improve the society or behaviors. The pattern shows that blacks will continue dominating in poverty and imprisonments. According to behavioral and criminalization theories, the community plays a crucial role in forming the behaviors of the children (Desmond, Papachristos, & Kirk, 2016). The breakup of families and racial profiling only results in diminishing the part of society thus affecting the growth and development of the children.
The number of whites who complete college are twice as many as the number of blacks. These issues may be based on the economic constraints and lack of motivation or role models. Some of the blacks in college bear an enormous burden to maintain their families and may either spend longer time or dropout from school. The biases and police brutality thus contribute to the failures in most low-income societies and increases the social segregation in the country. For instance, a black boy seen around high income households is more likely to be suspected of wrongdoing compared to their white compatriots (Devair & Rhonda, 2017). The social stereotyping tend to inhibit black boys from working hard and choose to join gangs that would protect them from police or other ghettos gangs.
Recommended Solutions
The Black Lives Matter supported by the former President Barrack Obama was a positive move that used the media to change the social stereotyping of black men as criminals. However, the move alone does not ease the tension and the use of police brutality. More than 71% of Americans called for installation of cameras that would be used to prosecute the police misconduct (Devair & Rhonda, 2017). The move is significant but with the current impartiality in the police departments and the CJS, these videos can interfere with hence the need to think of a more convenient. The first change needs to be empowering the African American societies. Poverty and harsh conditions increase the rate of criminal activities in the society. The empowerment and initiating community initiated and integrated social justice would aid reduce the tension between the society and the law enforcers.
These social justice systems should have the power to review the police misconduct which would result in the officers facing the law and losing their jobs. Increased diversity will also decrease the rate of police misconduct as evident in the NYPD which is one of the most diversified policing department in the country and with the least cases of police brutality. The CJS by employing the Civil Rights Act and the Sixth Amendment should limit searches and seizures that have been the cause of the biases. Lastly changing the training and follow up of police activities while ensuring that the CJS uphold the rights of the blacks by employing the concept that a suspect is innocent until found guilty would assure trust from the African Americans and other minority communities (Aymer, 2016). The change would reduce the resistance from the blacks when stopped by the police as they know that their rights will be honored. The role of the media is paramount therefore it is their work to ensure that they portray a better image of the blacks to ease the stereotyping and also be the mirror of the society.
References
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