In 2015, the total number of people killed by police officers in the United States was 1,134, and of that number the death rate for young black men was fives times higher than that of white men (Historic US Event). These staggering numbers caused outbreaks among the community. Black Lives Matter protesters point out… “...numerous incidents as examples of a justice system that supports the systematic harassment and brutalization of black people and does not hold police officers accountable for violence (Opposing Viewpoints). The people were upset. The counts of police brutality were simply going unnoticed and no one had to answer for their actions except for the men who died at the hands of the police. Following the death of Michael Brown, the …show more content…
This was the topic of Gretel Kauffman’s article, “Philadelphia Teachers plan ‘Black Lives Matter Week’: Does BLM Belong in the Classroom?.” Her article does not take a side in the matter, but rather, brings up valid points for talking about race in the classroom. In Philadelphia, a couple of schools decided to incorporate lessons about Black Lives Matter; there were coloring books for young students and science lessons about the biology of skin color for high school students. Kauffman articulated that educators and activists who supported bringing BLM into class plans and classroom discussions say it provides students with an opportunity to learn about and engage in relevant social issues. Charlie McGeehan, an English and History teacher, stated, “this is a critical issue of our time - in our society, but also in our students’ lives… It’s important for us to dive in.” In addition, educators from Seattle’s Washington Middle School also believe that talking about the movement can be beneficial, explaining that, “School is part of society, students and staff are part of society, and so what is happening within our society deserves and demands our attention. This is a ‘teachable moment’ for the Seattle Public School community” (Kauffman). While some people are proponents of the movement and what it stands for, there is also a side that heavily contradicts with the Black Lives Matter movement. Christopher Paslay, an English teacher at Philadelphia’s Swenson Arts and Technology High school, supports equal rights and justice for all students, regardless of race, he feels the movement encourages divisions in society, he says, “it challenges nuclear families, and our justice system… I don’t think kids should be taught that Western Society is perpetrating a war on black people” (Kauffman). Featured in their article, Opposing Viewpoints noted
This approach is a way to miss and dismiss the point of Blacks actually discussing the critical state their community is in. The focus is not black lives over other’s lives in the world, but is it the focus of the neglect of black lives, when taken away, they are not viewed with disgust as when their white counterparts die/are harassed in the same manner. It’s weirdly interesting that when Blacks are literally killed for following the law and are unarmed, they are blamed for their own death, all because a cop feared for their life. Once officers say that phrase, which I view as a cliché to say when one signs up for such a fearful job, cases are usually wrapped up and forgotten about. However, thanks to social media, the public is able to see the hideous lies and blatant truth about certain cases that highlight why the people have a problem with the government and distrust the police. Oddly as all Americans are forced to pay taxes, these taxes go to public necessities like schools, to fire stations and to the police station, even to wars. Sadly I interpret it as the government focuses Blacks to pay police to kill their people off, and the government seems to always instantly support the officer’s word over the victim (if still alive), and people. If people do not stand up against
Police brutality has been the most prominent form of racism captured by the media and since the 1992 Los Angeles Riots protesting the death of Rodney King, it still dominates headlines. After more than two decades later, the number of innocent, and unarmed black American deaths have only increased along with the acquisition of the police accountable. According to “More Than 250 Black People Were Killed By Police In 2016,” Julia Craven states that “34 percent of the unarmed people killed in 2016 were black males.” This is unreasonable because according to the same article, “black men make up only 6 percent of the U.S. population.” The numbers are disproportionate enough to show that there is a clear target against blacks. This statistic of black males compared to their white counterparts also show a significant disparity as statistics John Wihbey and Leighton Walter Kille provide in “Excessive or reasonable force by police? Research on law enforcement and racial conflict,” clearly state that unarmed blacks were killed at twice the rate of whites with “31.17 per million, while just 1.47 per million white males.” There is clear cut evidence of racial profiling in policing as blacks who make up a only a small amount of the U.S. population are killed at a much higher rate than whites who make up a majority of the population. This is obvious discriminatory intent by the hands of the police,
In August of 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri, an 18-year-old African American boy by the name of Michael Brown, was shot and killed by an on-duty police officer during the investigation of an alleged, strong-arm robbery (Clarke & Lefte, 2014). The incident ignited protests and violent riots that continued for several weeks throughout the United States. Similar high profile deaths of Eric Garner in New York City, Tamir Rice in Cleveland, and Freddy Gray in Baltimore, have resulted in mass protests against law enforcement. For many, a deep divide was forged in the relations between law enforcement and the public; trust was lost on both sides. “Normally, official accounts of police fatally shooting black teenagers rest largely on the words of
This particular incident caused very intense riots against the police all over the city of Ferguson. There were shootings, vandalism, and massive destruction. The event happened in Ferguson, Missouri back in August 2014. Publisher Brent Wilkes says, “minority communities were left wondering how to work with a criminal justice system that continues to protect its officers over the welfare of citizens.” (1) Since the death of Micheal Brown, a large amount of people, nationwide, began to ask who they could trust. Police are supposed to be there to help you and protect you when needed, but the fact that they were killing innocent people was very
The imagery and symbolism are rich and fluid, but they follow a pattern, the pattern of the sefirot. The Zohar rarely describes the entire sefirotic system. It even avoids the term sefirot and instead speaks of lights, levels, links, roots, garments of the King, crowns of the king, and dozens of other images for the individual sefirot. The reader must interpret the symbolism and identify the corresponding sefirah. The term originally meant “numbers” or numerical potencies, but in medieval Kabbalah the sefirot became stages of God’s being, aspects of divine personality. Their pattern and rhythm inform all the worlds of creation. Prior to the release of the sefirot, God is unmanifest, referred to as Ein Sof, Infinite. God as Infinity cannot be
Systematic racism within education Institutions, such as the lack of adequate funding as well as subtle discrimination, continues to be the root of the problem that plagues this nation. Even though segregation was abolished in 1964, the lingering effects that remain are significant and cannot be passively mended. Although it is tempting to think that this prejudice is caused by a select few and not the many, it is clear that this problem holds more depth. Recent studies conducted by the National Education Studies (NEA) have proven that even in school’s African American students are often times targeted and punished at a significantly higher rate when compared to their white peers. The study states “Black students make up almost 40 percent of all school expulsions [in the] nation, and more than two thirds of students referred to police from schools are either black or Hispanic” (Blacks: Education Issues). This study conducted by the Department of Education, cabinet-level department of the United States
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
Public education has faced many extreme challenges and obstacles historically. Based on the films I’ve viewed I think the top issues were segregation and poverty. Segregation in schools started in the 1800s and continued until the 1960s. I learned mostly about the problems with segregation in the film A Struggle for Education Equality. In the film, it explains facts and statistics about children and how their lives were like. From around the time period of 1950-1980 schools were very much segregated and only ⅗ of students graduated and 50% of them went to college. The fight for equality in schools began in Topeka Kansas where high schools became integrated. Elementary schools, however, were not integrated and still segregated. The NAACP tried to have 13 parents try to enroll their kids into white school but of course, it failed because of segregation. Linda Brown was one of the children in the experiment and that’s when the Brown v Board of Education of Topeka of 1954 was created which banned the inequality in schools. The southern states still had segregation problems, unfortunately, but the Elementary and Secondary Education Act gave 4 billion dollars of aid to disadvantaged children and around 9 years after that, 91% of southern black children attended integrated schools. Segregation had clearly gotten so much better but was a major problem for a long time in terms of public education. Poverty, in my opinion, is another major problem facing public education today. In
Colleges are vastly known to have people who bring in their ideas and cultures to campuses. However, there are sometimes when people from two different cultures conflict with each other and it causes problems for not only a college campus but for a society as well. Take the racial conflict between African American and Caucasian Americans, their feud has been going on in America for the past two decades. In 1992, Rodney King was beaten by L.A. police which started the “L.A. Riots” (Biography.com, 2015). During 2012, Trayvon Martin was killed by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman (Biography.com, 2016). In August 2014, unarmed teenager, Michael Brown, was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson (Buchanan, 2014). These events have two significant things in common. The three victims were killed by white individuals and they were killed on the basis of discrimination and mainly direct racism.
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)
According to my class presentation about racism, teachers play a big role in how race is seen and handled in schools. It’s important that, in their classrooms especially, teachers allow all races of students feel included, and that they teach students about the world beyond their classroom. One way to do this is by making sure that their posters, pictures, books, and dolls are made up of different races. Also, everyone knows that children are curious. When a child asks a question related to racism or differences in a race, their teacher should answer the question directly and honestly, instead of pushing it the side or changing the
What is racism? The definition is prejudice or discrimination to another race. Unfortunately, racism is evident almost anywhere especially in a high school. Name-calling, bullying, verbal abuse – are all forms of racism and can be seen in high schools, where all different backgrounds –teachers, pupils or staff – face with negative backlash of racism. Students of different race groups find it extremely tough to bond with their classmates from other “races circles”. How damaging is racism to schools? To society?, is it all black and white or are we blind to it? In this essay I will discuss racist incidents in schools specifically in America and Britain, who are infamous for racial incidents, and how it will affect the students and any others involved in those situations in the future
One of the biggest contributors to the development of the gene therapy approach within medicine was the completion of the Human Genome Project that gave scientists and doctors critical information about the nature of human genetics. It thus became possible to gain a better understanding the connection between certain genes and the development of diseases and disorders linked to them. However, despite the progress that has been made since the completion of the project, there remains a lot still unknown about the human genome and its intricacies. The next generation of medical treatments that will explore this genetic realm will be sophisticated to a level never seen before. The promise and potential that gene therapy has for
If there was any one person walking today that I would love to have an interview with, it would surely be Oprah Winfrey. Oprah Gail Winfrey was born January 29, 1954 in a rural impoverished town of Mississippi where she lived with her grandmother in her earlier years of life. Her mom was a teenage single mother. This coincides with my life which in some instances mirrors Oprah’s life in early childhood. My mom married at the age of 14 and had her first child at 15 years of age.