Introduction
The story and idea that black communities are perceived as dangerous by the public eye was the story that seems to be the popular belief. A tragic, maybe the worst of its kind, story that exemplifies this was the death of the 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was shot and killed by police officers for looking potentially suspicious and dangerous. Tamir Rice was an innocent kid playing with a toy gun when dispatchers received a notice that there was a minor that was pointing a toy gun at people, but in the end, he was seen and treated as a violent criminal. His simple characteristics of being tall for his age, but more importantly an African American male, led him to being seen as a dangerous criminal.
This narrative frame of black communities being inherently dangerous is important because it is a situation that perpetuates a stereotype of black communities. Politicians often use this narrative to persuade the people during elections. As a result, when situations between blacks and law enforcement arise, the bias is thus already in place, leaving usually the black …show more content…
This is something that black people have dealt with for the entire history of America. It actually started with the first with the first African slaves. White slave masters treated African Americans differently in order to see them less as humans and more as beasts. Beasts that were more of a threat to society. As Molefi Kete Asante stated “debasement of the African, permanent service, prejudice against the religion, manners, and morals of the African made it easier for whites to see Africans as natural slaves” (Asante 2001). This means that whites were able to see African Americans as less than human and more as natural slaves. Over history Africans Americans have always been portrayed in a light where they are deemed dangerous by the public perspective outside their
The story and idea that black communities are perceived as dangerous by the public eye was the story that seems to be the popular belief. A tragic, maybe the worst of its kind, story that exemplifies this was the death of the 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was shot and killed by police officers for looking potentially suspicious and dangerous. Tamir Rice was an innocent kid playing with a toy gun when dispatchers received a notice that there was a minor that was pointing a toy gun at people, but in the end, he was seen and treated as a violent criminal. His simple characteristics of being tall for his age, but more importantly an African American male, led him to being seen as a dangerous criminal.
This narrative frame of black communities being inherently dangerous is important because it is a situation that perpetuates a stereotype of black communities. Politicians often use this narrative to persuade the people during elections. As a result, when situations between blacks and law enforcement arise, the bias is thus already in place, leaving usually the black …show more content…
This is something that black people have dealt with for the entire history of America. It actually started with the first with the first African slaves. White slave masters treated African Americans differently in order to see them less as humans and more as beasts. Beasts that were more of a threat to society. As Molefi Kete Asante stated “debasement of the African, permanent service, prejudice against the religion, manners, and morals of the African made it easier for whites to see Africans as natural slaves” (Asante 2001). This means that whites were able to see African Americans as less than human and more as natural slaves. Over history Africans Americans have always been portrayed in a light where they are deemed dangerous by the public perspective outside their