In the past, police brutality towards African American women took on a role of moderate importance due to standards of treatment concerning race and gender. Although this issue is not widely discussed or investigated, police brutality does occur often within the community of African American women (“Police Brutality”). Police officers view themselves as superior to African American women for two reasons: their gender and race. The urge to be a dominant and presiding force causes police officers to target African American females. In 2006, twelve year old Dymond Milburn was assaulted by four undercover Galveston police officers who were reportedly looking for three white prostitutes (“Police Brutality”). According to the lawyer for these police officers the assault of Milburn was justified because the twelve year old’s attire could have caused her to be mistaken for a prostitute. The young girl was obviously a victim of racial profiling. Her physical description did not match that of the three white suspects nor did she pose a threat to the police officers that would cause them to restrain her in such an intense manner. A more recent example of police brutality among young African American women occurred on July 13, 2015, when Sandra Bland, age twenty-eight, was found hanging in her jail cell in Waller County, Texas. Bland was arrested following a traffic stop in which …show more content…
The constant issues with police brutality have been a dominant factor in the steady decline of police credibility within in the African American community (Drake). Cases of police brutality have created even more grounds for distrust between police and African Americans . In essence, not only does racial profiling serve as a cause of police brutality, but because of police brutality, the dependability of police in the African American community is nearly