Differences in the application, severity, and outcome of police interactions with people of color, most notably Black Americans, has a longstanding history in the United States. While arguably multi-layered and morphic, the context and character of policing towards both individual people and communities of color, has been undeniably disparate. The disparity has become such commonplace knowledge not just domestically but also on the global stage as evidenced by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council’s recently published Universal Periodic Review report assessing the United States of America’s human rights record.
Conducted over the course of two years, the UN report outlines 343 recommendations, the majority of which urged the U.S. government to take greater measures to end the country’s persistent track record of racial discrimination, racial profiling, and racially disproportionate use of excessive force by police officers. The recommendations, submitted by numerous UN member countries, were greatly influenced by a rash of fatal police encounters, nationwide, that occurred during the review period, most notably the much contested deaths of Eric Garner, 12-year old Tamir Rice, …show more content…
As alluded to earlier, Tamir Rice’s premature death reflects the confluence of these factors when he was killed within 2 seconds of patrolmen Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback arriving at the park and while the police vehicle was still in motion. Upon fatally striking Tamir, the officers radioed the police dispatch operator, reporting: “shots fired, male down, um, black male, maybe 20” , aging Tamir a sheer 8 years older than his mere 12 years of
Conducted over the course of two years, the UN report outlines 343 recommendations, the majority of which urged the U.S. government to take greater measures to end the country’s persistent track record of racial discrimination, racial profiling, and racially disproportionate use of excessive force by police officers. The recommendations, submitted by numerous UN member countries, were greatly influenced by a rash of fatal police encounters, nationwide, that occurred during the review period, most notably the much contested deaths of Eric Garner, 12-year old Tamir Rice, …show more content…
As alluded to earlier, Tamir Rice’s premature death reflects the confluence of these factors when he was killed within 2 seconds of patrolmen Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback arriving at the park and while the police vehicle was still in motion. Upon fatally striking Tamir, the officers radioed the police dispatch operator, reporting: “shots fired, male down, um, black male, maybe 20” , aging Tamir a sheer 8 years older than his mere 12 years of