Black Men And The American Civil Liberties Union

Media spiked many thoughts that police brutality is a big deal in today’s times, which then lead to the huge riots throughout the city of Ferguson where Darren Wilson and his family had to be protected from thousands of protestors who threatened his life as well as the entire city. The real story as well as the autopsy reports later came out to show that officer Wilson did not shoot him numerous times as he was running

Racial injustice against people of colour is an immense, ongoing issue that has not only targeted lives but has also taken many innocent lives. In America, these racial divisions date back to the days of slavery, where black people were denied of their basic human rights because of discrimination. In present day, some individuals view America as a post-racial environment, due to such victories as electing a black president; but the brutal, fatal and unjust events in Ferguson, Missouri prove that these divisions are still present. On August 9th, 2014, an unarmed, 18 year old black teen was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white police officer. The events that led to the death of Michael Brown occurred on an early morning where Mr. Wilson stopped Michael Brown and a friend after leaving a convenience store. An altercation occurred which prompted Mr. Brown to flee and officer Wilson to begin shooting. The death of Mr. Brown caused the city to stand up against police brutality through peaceful protest, looting, and even violence, to gain justice for Mr. Brown and his family. As the protests grew, the police used military tactics such as, tear gas, to “maintain order” during the unrest of the city. In recent, news the grand jury decided that Officer Darren Wilson was not responsible for the death of Michael Brown, which led to a larger public outrage not only in America, but also across the

Numbers suggest that, for instance, while Blacks compose six percent of population in St. Clayton city, they represent 57% of overall police arrests. Similarly, the probability of Black arrest in Berkeley (CA) and Madison (Wis) cities is nine times higher than other racial groups compared to their corresponding population. In addition to this, Bureau of Justice statistics report that at the national level, Blacks are two times more likely to be arrested compared to Whites. Concurring with media reports and national statistics institutes’ estimates, empirical studies also report high proportion of minority arrests compared to their representation in the population (Golub, Johnson, & Dunlap, 2007).

“Forget the rhetoric: the evidence shows the NYPD's policy is not about stopping violent crime, but racking up arrests for non-violent drug offenses. While New York should immediately put a stop to its illegal practice of stopping and frisking anyone with a complexion a shade darker than Celine Dion, don't kid yourself: only when the U.S. ends its insane devotion to the war on drugs will we ever be able to effectively address the racist impacts of the criminal justice system.” (Davis, 2010)

Based on the statistics of NYPD’s 2016 second quarterly reports, 1,862 people in the African American community are stopped versus 342 Caucasians (NYPD second quarter reports, 2016). Consequently, this implies policemen classify “blacks” as delinquent even though they are uninvolved in any unlawful acts the majority of the time. The product of racial discrimination furthers the understanding that the country still does not hold minorities equal next to the other ethnicities. This demonstrates just one example on how the Stop and Frisk law variously inflates negative predigest to further the understanding that “blacks” are synonymous with barbarous criminals.

The practice of ‘Stop-and-Frisk’ in New York, by the federal courts, has been found unconstitutional not because of the actual process once the person was stopped, but because of the way they were targeting based on race with little to no reason. When you look at the racial breakdown of Stop-and-Frisk targets in New York from 2003-2015, consistently fifty percent (50%) or more were black (Bump) yet blacks make up twenty-five percent (25%) of the population (Matthews). White was not even a category as it was comprised in ‘other’. Latino was the only other category which comprised about twenty-five percent (25%) (Bump). Blacks make up twenty-five percent (25%) of the population in New York. In Pittsburgh, a city similar to New York, it was found that in traffic stops, black men are eight percent (8%) more likely to be frisked and the grounds on being frisked are if the officer thinks there maybe be criminal activity (Ryan). Again, it is a hundred percent (100%) up to the officer whether a frisk in this case happens. The problem is how objective are police officers when stopping African Americans, specifically men, if statistically speaking they are stopped disproportionately.

In the year 2018, there are still numerous signs of racial bias that’s evident throughout the criminal justice system. The way in which policing tries to serve and protect the major population is sometimes seen being done in discriminating ways. Racial profiling is another key contributor to racial bias throughout America especially towards African Americans. African Americans are noticeably given harsher sentences than whites in situations where the offense was the same for both. There are deviant and corrupt agents throughout much of the criminal justice system and it still hasn’t been addressed properly in a way that everyone starts to understand the negative impacts that are being done together. Some police officers may feel the need to

Incarceration rates are a definite proof that racial discrimination occurs. “Incarceration rates in the United States have risen sharply since 1980”, stated Filip Spagnoli, “the racial distribution of inmates in the U.S. is highly negative for black Americans. Whereas they only make up 12% of the total U.S. population, they represent more than 40% of inmates”

Racism has a huge impact on society to this day. The greatest wrong doing in the U.S criminal justice system is that it is a race based organization where African Americans are specifically focused on and rebuffed in a considerably more forceful route than white individuals. Saying the Us criminal justice system is racist might be politically disputable in different ways. In any case, the actualities are debatable. Underneath I explain many cases of these issues. Information on race is available for each step of the criminal justice system – from the use of drugs, police stops, arrests, getting off on bail, legal representation, jury selection, trial, sentencing, prison, parole, and freedom.

The criminal-justice system and racism is one of the most controversial topics today. Very few times in history has had Americans split in two with their opinions. These events have caused dissension towards police officers, African Americans, and the media itself. In 2006, blacks made were under 13% of America’s population, yet made up 37.5% of all federal and state prisoners. (Mac Donald) This statistic shows just how much African Americans are involved in law enforcement, while being such a minority group. Racism has been a problem in America for a long time. Even though all race are equal, many African Americans use racism as the go-to explanation of bad outcomes for them. This topic was chosen because of all the commotion it stirs and of all the lies that sometimes can come with it.

In Ferguson, Missouri a 18 years old black teenager named was Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer. On August 9, 2014 Michael Brown and his friend Dorian Johnson left Ferguson market and liquor after stealing some cigarillos. As they were walking down the street, a police officer, Darren Wilson, who was by himself tell the boys to walk to the sidewalk. Mr. Wilson had a got a description of the suspect from the liquor store owner, and he taught Michael fits the description perfectly. He calls for backup and puts his car in the middle of the street to block the traffic. In a couple second an encounter between the police officers and Michale causes the Johnson to shoot two times at Michael.The first shot his michael’s thumb

These police constantly report that they do not show any white superiority or ethnic bias. As I read article 2,” Here’s how Racial Bias Plays out in Policing” the facts are telling a different story. As stated in the article, African Americans and Latinos have been the targeted the most for Pedestrian and traffic stops in Baltimore and Seattle. In a 5-year study 95 % of the 410 people studied were minorities it got so repetitive one black male was stopped 30 times. The fact that one person can be targeted more than twice out of a survey so large is outstanding. The police cannot pretend that one person being stopped thirty times is a coincidence or that this male deserved being stopped each time. The law enforcement is being oblivious to the racial bias because they have the authority to do so. Another reason presented is the so called “War on drugs” police have made it look like ethnic minorities have been using drugs at an uncontrollable rate but in all actuality Caucasian and non-Caucasian groups have been using at the same rate. However, for some reason African Americans and Latinos have make up 62% of state offenses and 72% of federal trafficking offenses making minimum jail time mandatory. Understanding that because African American and Latinos are being arrested more and getting longer sentences for drug trafficking this is showing the disproportionate affect it has on them

An article in TIME magazine talks about research done by Injury Prevention that proved that racial minorities, including African Americans and Latinos, are more likely to be stopped and searched than white people are. I don’t know if this means that the officer on the scene was an outright racist and chose to be harsher because they saw that the person they had to deal with was a minority or if they truly felt threatened but somehow there is a correlation between color and arrest ratio. I believe that there are definitely policeman that were raised to believe that their race was superior to any other race and that don’t do enough to understand people who aren’t from the background that they are from.

In 1992, a Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 92 percent of blacks disagreed with the acquittal of the Los Angeles police officers involved in the videotaped beating of a black man, Rodney King (Wines 6). Some police officers could be judgemental depending on your race, 3% of all black males of any age were imprisoned, compared to 0.5% of whites at the end of 2013. (Wines 10). A criminal has a better chance of not being arrested if they’re not black. In addition, Patricia J Williams stated,” the war on drugs disproportionately affected blacks -- in California in 2011, a black man was 11 times more likely than a white to be jailed for a marijuana felony” (Wine 11). Most people are aware that racism still exists ,but if we thought about a world with no judgement on race, the world would become a more peaceful and would be a better place for everyone. It would be a better world since no one has to fear about any prejudice laws and people would be made fun off less. So, it is easy to see that police officers should be monitored and that people should be judged by their skin

Many citizens living within the borders of the United States are considered to be unprejudiced and unbiased toward racial matters; however, when there is a murder on the 6 o’clock news, our minds quickly shift to a thought of an African American male as the suspect of the crime. One could observe an African American male and automatically and suddenly thoughts with negative connotations come into play. People immediately start to stereotype and judge without even understanding or knowing a person; especially black individuals. Two stories which incorporate the police brutality issues are explored which will see contrasts and comparisons being made. This was the renowned Michael Brown case and a story by Leslie Marmon Silko entitled ‘Tony’s Story’. What’s the Michael Brown Legacy and why does Police Brutality and Minority Prosecution deal with his legacy? August 9th, 2014, Michael Brown was an 18-year-old unarmed African-American who was jaywalking with a friend. Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson. When the officer approached Michael, he claims Michael resisted arrest, he punched him and tried to reach in the police car to get his sidearm pistol.