Right now, we’re afraid of what’s further away from us. We fear ISIS and terrorists, immigrants from Mexico or Syria, nuclear attacks, and communism. Maybe we fear something a little closer, though equally valid, such as economic collapse or volatile elected officials. Yet all together closer is our police force and the growing justification for distrust between citizens and criminal task force. Compared to other nations, they have killed far more citizens. In England and Wales, there have been 55 fatal shootings in the last 24 years. Within the first 24 days of 2015, 59 people have been shot and killed (Larey, 2015).
“A house divided against itself cannot stand”, and the same goes for our cities (Basler, 2015). The entire purpose of our police …show more content…
This is actually founded in truth; black people are three times as likely to be killed by police than white people (Singyawe et al., 2016). In 2015, within the sixty largest cities in the United States, police have killed only black people in fourteen of them (Singyawe et al., 2016). This includes St. Louis, the seventh largest city. Yet this is not the sole factor in police violence. In 2016, 509 citizens were killed by police. Surprisingly, 238 of those were white, 123 were black, and the other 148 were those of other ethnicities (Durden, 2016). As well as that, about 58.7% of inmates this year are white and 37.8% …show more content…
There are some who oppose this, but the evidence gathered here points to this conjecture. Reducing violent crime rates will not directly affect police violence; rather, it will likely serve as a byproduct of improved law enforcement (Singyawe et al., 2016). To those who would still attribute it to black-on-black crime, those communities will only become safer after targeting “poverty, [increasing] economic opportunity and [improving] education” (Noman, 2016). Organizations including Black Lives Matter should still strive to have their voices heard and there should still be a force working towards racial equality. Yet we cannot allow ourselves to turn to violence even for another moment. Each civil rights movement in our nation is held to the great standard of our first leader, Martin Luther King Jr. He described two forces to avoid: complacency and hatred (King, 1963). Despair could not let one buckle . In shorts, both sides of this argument in America will have to learn
“A house divided against itself cannot stand”, and the same goes for our cities (Basler, 2015). The entire purpose of our police …show more content…
This is actually founded in truth; black people are three times as likely to be killed by police than white people (Singyawe et al., 2016). In 2015, within the sixty largest cities in the United States, police have killed only black people in fourteen of them (Singyawe et al., 2016). This includes St. Louis, the seventh largest city. Yet this is not the sole factor in police violence. In 2016, 509 citizens were killed by police. Surprisingly, 238 of those were white, 123 were black, and the other 148 were those of other ethnicities (Durden, 2016). As well as that, about 58.7% of inmates this year are white and 37.8% …show more content…
There are some who oppose this, but the evidence gathered here points to this conjecture. Reducing violent crime rates will not directly affect police violence; rather, it will likely serve as a byproduct of improved law enforcement (Singyawe et al., 2016). To those who would still attribute it to black-on-black crime, those communities will only become safer after targeting “poverty, [increasing] economic opportunity and [improving] education” (Noman, 2016). Organizations including Black Lives Matter should still strive to have their voices heard and there should still be a force working towards racial equality. Yet we cannot allow ourselves to turn to violence even for another moment. Each civil rights movement in our nation is held to the great standard of our first leader, Martin Luther King Jr. He described two forces to avoid: complacency and hatred (King, 1963). Despair could not let one buckle . In shorts, both sides of this argument in America will have to learn