Tienna Fenton
Armed and Dangerous? An Examination of Fatal Shootings of Unarmed Black People by Police
1. Major Themes This article focuses on the ever present discrimination of African Americans in the United States and the recent increasing number of blacks killed by police officers. The first theme viewed is the perception of blacks in the media as well as the perceptions blacks have of law enforcement. Blacks in America seem to be viewed as older than they actually are, children and teenagers are looked as adults that are able to make competent decisions, even if they are just young children. A staggering statistic is that African American children are 18 times more likely to be sentenced as adults than their white counterparts. Minorities …show more content…
White supremacy is defined as being “a historically positioned and institutionally embedded system of exploitation of people of color across the diaspora rooted in the premise that individuals who are racially-classified as ‘White’ are inherently superior to individuals who are non-White”, it also is a comprehensive condition whereby interests and observations of White subjects are continuously placed center stage and assumed to be “normal”. This causes whites in America to have an overwhelming control of power and resources, which enforces their unearned privileges and the oppression of people of color. White supremacy is maintained in four ways in the US. One way white supremacy is supported is by the increasing number of killings of unarmed African Americans by white police officers; this can be looked at as a parallel to when blacks were enslaved, castrated, whipped, maimed, and lynched, which was used frequently in the South as a method of policing the activities of African American men from 1880-1950. Juries denying the humanity and victimization of blacks also help to maintain white supremacy, since the jurors are mostly whites in most trials they share the same views of blacks that the police officers that are trial have, which severely minimize the chance of the officers being indicted. The aforementioned fact that whites in America tend to view African Americans as sub-human and dangerous also maintain white supremacy. Michael Brown has been called a demon by the officer that killed him, others may say that the black man is “triply dangerous” because of his dangerous mindset, his enormous size, and his race, which is considered inferior to Whites. Ultimately, whites embrace the belief that black men are menace and need to stopped to protect the society as a whole, this may involve murder. The fourth and last way white supremacy is maintained
Armed and Dangerous? An Examination of Fatal Shootings of Unarmed Black People by Police
1. Major Themes This article focuses on the ever present discrimination of African Americans in the United States and the recent increasing number of blacks killed by police officers. The first theme viewed is the perception of blacks in the media as well as the perceptions blacks have of law enforcement. Blacks in America seem to be viewed as older than they actually are, children and teenagers are looked as adults that are able to make competent decisions, even if they are just young children. A staggering statistic is that African American children are 18 times more likely to be sentenced as adults than their white counterparts. Minorities …show more content…
White supremacy is defined as being “a historically positioned and institutionally embedded system of exploitation of people of color across the diaspora rooted in the premise that individuals who are racially-classified as ‘White’ are inherently superior to individuals who are non-White”, it also is a comprehensive condition whereby interests and observations of White subjects are continuously placed center stage and assumed to be “normal”. This causes whites in America to have an overwhelming control of power and resources, which enforces their unearned privileges and the oppression of people of color. White supremacy is maintained in four ways in the US. One way white supremacy is supported is by the increasing number of killings of unarmed African Americans by white police officers; this can be looked at as a parallel to when blacks were enslaved, castrated, whipped, maimed, and lynched, which was used frequently in the South as a method of policing the activities of African American men from 1880-1950. Juries denying the humanity and victimization of blacks also help to maintain white supremacy, since the jurors are mostly whites in most trials they share the same views of blacks that the police officers that are trial have, which severely minimize the chance of the officers being indicted. The aforementioned fact that whites in America tend to view African Americans as sub-human and dangerous also maintain white supremacy. Michael Brown has been called a demon by the officer that killed him, others may say that the black man is “triply dangerous” because of his dangerous mindset, his enormous size, and his race, which is considered inferior to Whites. Ultimately, whites embrace the belief that black men are menace and need to stopped to protect the society as a whole, this may involve murder. The fourth and last way white supremacy is maintained