Police use more brutality towards African Americans than any other race this (1) originated with "slave patrols" on missions to capture and punish so-called runaway slaves; (2) the racist mentality of such groups still persists in modern police departments that's indicative of a wide range of law-enforcement brutality cases ranging from (3) Arthur McDuffie and Rodney King decades ago to (4) Sandra Bland and Michael Brown quite recently. Police brutality originated with "slave patrols" on missions to capture and punish so-called runaway slaves (Iyamah, 2015). Police brutality and racial profiling is not a new problem. The current situations in which people of color are the subjects of violence and policing is culturally, institutionally, and
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Arthur McDuffie was an African American Marine Corps veteran and a salesman that was successful at his job. In the morning of December 1979 a high-speed chase occurred. Police officers claimed that McDuffie died as a result of injuries he experienced after crashing his motorcycle (“The Story of the Movement-26 Events”, 2006). However, it was soon revealed that this was a cover-up: in reality, McDuffie was beaten to death at the hands of the officers. There was evidence against the officers, and the trial was moved to Tampa, with the hope to garner sympathy. However, the officers were cleared of all of the charges that they were facing. The case included all white jurors (“The Story of the Movement-26 Events”, 2006). In addition to this, the videotaped beating of Rodney King was made public in 1991. The chilling video showed L.A.P.D officers, using brutal force in the beating of Rodney King, and its release resulted in the outbreak of riots (“The Legacy of Rodney King”). In fact, these riots were caused when the officers involved in King’s beating were acquitted of the crime. This brought concerns of police brutality and racism to the forefront within the …show more content…
Officers used aggressive force when arresting Sandra Bland. She was an advocate for civil rights from Naperville, Illinois. She was ordered by an officer to put out her cigarette and she refused. The entire situation was caught on the officer’s body camera. Bland was taken to the Waller County Sheriff ‘s Office jail and held for about 3 days where she was found dead in her cell (Sanburn, 2015). Circumstances of Bland’s death are shocking and difficult to figure out. Bland was hung by a black trash bag in her cell, but many people including her friends and family did not think that she could have killed herself when she had a lot of things going good in her life (Sanburn, 2015). They also believe that the police were responsible for her
Arthur McDuffie was an African American Marine Corps veteran and a salesman that was successful at his job. In the morning of December 1979 a high-speed chase occurred. Police officers claimed that McDuffie died as a result of injuries he experienced after crashing his motorcycle (“The Story of the Movement-26 Events”, 2006). However, it was soon revealed that this was a cover-up: in reality, McDuffie was beaten to death at the hands of the officers. There was evidence against the officers, and the trial was moved to Tampa, with the hope to garner sympathy. However, the officers were cleared of all of the charges that they were facing. The case included all white jurors (“The Story of the Movement-26 Events”, 2006). In addition to this, the videotaped beating of Rodney King was made public in 1991. The chilling video showed L.A.P.D officers, using brutal force in the beating of Rodney King, and its release resulted in the outbreak of riots (“The Legacy of Rodney King”). In fact, these riots were caused when the officers involved in King’s beating were acquitted of the crime. This brought concerns of police brutality and racism to the forefront within the …show more content…
Officers used aggressive force when arresting Sandra Bland. She was an advocate for civil rights from Naperville, Illinois. She was ordered by an officer to put out her cigarette and she refused. The entire situation was caught on the officer’s body camera. Bland was taken to the Waller County Sheriff ‘s Office jail and held for about 3 days where she was found dead in her cell (Sanburn, 2015). Circumstances of Bland’s death are shocking and difficult to figure out. Bland was hung by a black trash bag in her cell, but many people including her friends and family did not think that she could have killed herself when she had a lot of things going good in her life (Sanburn, 2015). They also believe that the police were responsible for her