“I can’t breathe.” A white police officer holds unarmed African American, Eric Garner, in a chokehold for fifteen seconds on the streets of New York City. Ultimately, Garner utters eleven times for the officer to stop before he died of strangulation, only for selling loose cigarettes. Justice is about being fair and equal. Across America, the African American community has been suffocated of their unalienable rights, just like Eric Garner, by prejudices and racism within white police officers.
Eric Garner was a 43 year old African American man who was also fatally injured by a law enforcement officer. A police officer in Staten Island, New York claimed Garner was selling illegal cigarettes, and then the officer placed Garner in an illegal choke hold. A bystander was able to record the event on his/her smartphone. Although the officer placed Garner in an illegal chokehold, the officer was not charged with any crimes. The officer was only put on modified duty, and his supervisor was stripped of her gun because of failure to supervise.
Emmett’s mother Mamie was an excellent woman. She was the first black woman to graduate from Argo community High School and she worked in the Air force as a clerk.
How would you feel if you were accused for something that you didn't even do? For instance, Emmett Till. He was a 14-year-old boy who was born on July 25, 1941 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. While he was visiting his family in Money, Mississippi, he was dreadfully murdered for “flirting” with a white woman while he was at the market buying gum. In this essay, we will discuss the tragic death of Emmett Till and the impact that he created.
On Saturday, Eric Garner’s mother spoke to the thousands of demonstrators who took the streets in protest to Garner’s unlawful death, she said, “Keep on doing it, but do it in peace.” Garner was a New York shop owner, known for illegally selling cigarettes. Daniel Pantelo, the officer responsible for locking Garner in the choke hold, responded to a 911 call about Garner illegally selling cigarettes once again. Officer Pantelo pulled Garner into a choke hold after refusing to talk with Pantelo and his colleagues. Garner pleaded,
“I can’t breathe!” cries 43-year-old Eric Garner eleven times as Staten Island police officer Daniel Pantaleo illegally chokeholds him to the ground on July 17, 2014. As a result of this violent police encounter, Eric Garner, when approached by officer Pantaleo nonviolently resisted to being detained or frisked for selling loose cigarettes, lost his life despite his desperate pleas for air. This entire ordeal, as captured on cellphone video by a nearby bystander, offered the nation a firsthand look into the inner workings of contemporary— albeit, problematic— policing strategies, theories of punishment and police resistance, as well as a citizens struggle for self-preservation. However, before examining this, it is crucial to grasp the social contract theory as presented by John Locke throughout Second Treatise of Government.
It is the ability of an individual to be able to exert authority in a situation and have an influence on the outcome. An example of a group of people who implement their power are people who work for law enforcement, or police officers. A significant part of the Black Lives Matters movement focuses on the police brutality that blacks have been facing by police officers, who are usually white. In a recent case, Sandra Bland, a 28 year old black woman was found hanging in her jail cell in Waller County, Texas in July of 2015. A video of her arrest shows Sandra Bland being pulled over for failure to use a turn signal to indicate a lane change. The officer asks Bland to step out of her vehicle and when she refuses he opens the side door and threatens to use a taser on her. The officer then pins her down to the ground and slams her head into the ground. Bland’s autopsy results showed that there was severe bruising to her back as if someone had pressed their knees against it (Sanchez, 1). Unfortunately, there have been many situations just like Bland’s, where it is common police officers use their power to give unfair and cruel punishments towards people of
Last year, I was browsing on YouTube. A title got my attention, so I clicked on the link. I started to watch the video. It was a dark skin man being forced by police officers until death. Eric Garner a dark skin man was on his 40s who was a victim of police officers mistakes or to be realistic it was training for them. Garner has suffered after the police officer tight grip his neck in order to restrict his breathing. Garner gave in at that moment but the police officer was remaining the force on him. Melanie Eversley states, “The refrain "I can't breathe," said by the asthmatic Garner to police at least 11 times as police held him to the ground and before he died, became a rallying cry for protesters who claim a pattern of misconduct by
Eric Garner, at the age of 43, was a victim of the police brutality and militarization that is occurring in the United States.Garner was the victim of violence by New York Police officers and his death isn’t the only case that includes
“All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these, are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Deplorable, though, is the fact that people of color have systematically had their liberty violated unceasingly throughout our history. Fifty-two years ago, in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, Martin Luther King, Jr. declared, “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.” Uttered decades ago, these words should have no pertinence in today’s society; yet they still ring loud and reveal the same plight that people of color share today. The real argument, though, is that under the constitution, police have no legal right to rob people of color, or any people for that matter, of their civil liberties; however, people of color are continually targeted, and are treated with such an abysmal impertinence that it should no longer go unnoticed.
Police brutality is a major issue in today’s society. Many African Americans tend to avoid the police for that very reason. A campaign was started in 2012 against police brutality and the unfair treating of African Americans entitled, Black Lives Matter. This movement was met with controversy as well as support from the American people. This movement has followed several controversial police brutality cases in the United States including, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Sandra Bland. All African American and all killed in the presence of a police officer, with no convictions. These three cases have been some of the biggest cases in the Black Lives Matter campaign. This campaign is determined to make sure that Black lives are treated just as equally as white live and Hispanic lives, because black lives matter
The brutality of the police force has been a long worldwide problem, but especially between the years of 2012-2016. Black people are being unjustly beaten and shot in plain sight for doing nothing while being unarmed. Journal of African American Studies “Blacks are viewed as deserving of harsh treatment in the criminal justice system” (482). “Black males with more “Afrocentric” features may receive longer sentences than blacks with less Afrocentric features like lighter skin and straighter hair”(482). Nowadays it is important to know about the police force. It’s important to know our rights as citizens and be careful around cops. Not everybody is good, but not everybody is bad also. In The New York Amsterdam News 21 people were killed by Chicago police in 2008. Entire families were being attacked. They believe it’s because of their skin color and how they are different. The year of racism started off with the world seeing the police murder of Oscar Grant. “The media have pushed people away from hearing the issue of police brutality, and it has fallen off of the radar screen.”(2) “You can’t give in. They will try to make an example out of you, try to break your spirit!”(2) African Americans say do not trust the cops with anything. “They will ruin you.”(2)
A young man’s brutal death at the hands of the police is found justified in a court of law due to his “suspicious” appearance: a black hoodie and his hands in his pocket. An elderly woman is fatally shot in her home for her relation to a suspected criminal. A married man with two toddlers is choked to death after a minor traffic stop by an officer who later claimed that his unarmed victim was wielding a gun. These people all have a few commonalities: the color of their skin, their presumed guilt at first sight, and their ultimate unjustified death administered by the law force. These are not uncommon occurrences. Due to the staggeringly disproportionate rate of African-Americans killed by the police, and the underlying rampant racial profiling, police brutality towards blacks in America must be called to light.
On an ordinary day, March 3rd 1991, Rodney Glen King became an icon of racial tension in the United States. Following a high-speed chase, King was severely beaten by the LA Police. These four policemen were accused of “charges of assault with a deadly weapon and excessive use of force by a police officer.” This resulted in a 3-month trial, after which the police officers were released. The jury was predominately white, suggesting the conception of racial inequality, which triggered riots all over LA. (1) This paper argues that racial discrimination in policing results in unwarranted treatment, incarceration, and death.
Segregation and Racism. Time and time again when we talk about these topics we go back to the early 1900s and late 1800s. During this time African Americans were treated with with the most othe most of disrespect. Lynchings would happen with the simplicity of an African American making an accidental mistake which is found offensive by communities yet is not considered law. We hear many saying that there is finally justice in today 's time, but is there really? What if hints of racial profiling and injustice are being dropped all the time yet we are naive to pick up? On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner, a 43 year-old, African American male was selling unlicensed cigarettes on the streets of Staten Island, New York City. Undercover NYPD officers approached Garner and confronted him while Garner denied and attempted resisted arrest as officers handcuffed him. Finally Daniel Pantaleo, one of the many officers, put Garner into a chokehold and took his life after he said he couldn’t breathe, 11 times. Months later the Supreme court let Pantaleo go free of charges. Although some argue that Garner shouldn’t have resisted arrest and his health conditions caused him to pass away, Garner’s death and trial is an injustice because Garner clearly begged for air and was being handled with excessive force; the problem of racial injustice could be solved through a re-trial without racial profiling for Garner and many others.
#FuckYourBreath and #DyingWhileBlack are the hashtags that spread across the internet shortly after the grand jury cleared the man who killed Eric Garner with a chokehold. “Only country where men and women are put on trials for their own murders” tweets India Renae with the hashtag #DyingWhileBlack. Quickly, a new hashtag began to trend nationally. #CrimingWhileWhite filled the captions on twitter and instagram accounts. Stories from not-so-law abiding citizens were called to share the stories of the crimes they committed along with the escape of punishment. “Got pulled over for a busted taillight once. My insurance card was expired, and I had a couple drinks at dinner. Let go.” tweeted Andy Paul, using the hashtag #CrimeWhileWhite. The purpose of the new hashtag? To Illustrate the racial discrimination in our criminal justice system. Today’s news and social media highly publicize the fatal encounters between black men and police. Whether it be the outrage of citizens rioting on the streets of Baltimore, Maryland after the homicide of Freddie Gray, or protesters holding up signs saying “We can’t breath” in response to the officer who refused to provide attention to the medical issues of Eric Garner, the media are covered with evidence of the racial discrimination in our society. We live in a world where people fear those who are hired to protect us because they are targeted by the pigment of their skin. Is it safe to say that our criminal justice system is racist or is