The Link Between Racism and Police Brutality

Author: Brooklyn Ruby
Essay topic: The Link Between Racism and Police Brutality

Many people think that racism in the police force is not an issue in today’s society, yet too many people are unaware that people of color are killed in cold blood at the hands of our policemen. Many people would think that racism in itself does not exist in this age as well. But oddly enough, many cases where people of color were killed by policemen due to racial views are overlooked by media and the general public.

    One could argue that racism in the police force really does not exist. That the policemen are merely doing their job, and unfortunately had to resort to lethal force in order to gain control of the situation. To serve and protect is their motto. But is that truly what the policemen believe for America? Or are they simply acting based on their own beliefs?

We take a look at the 43 year old father Eric Garner, a person of color, who was put into an illegal chokehold by Daniel Pantaleo, a police officer, which inevitably resulted in Garner’s death by asphyxiation on July 17th, 2014. Is this a coincidence? Was the police officer really in such a spot that he needed to use lethal force? But in the end, Garner’s case was settled for 5.9 million dollars by New York City for the wrongful death claim.

    Garner was not the only case of wrongful death by police brutality. This next case is much more extreme. Thirty-eight year old Ervin Edwards died on November 26th, 2013 at West Baton Rouge jail. After supposedly resisting restraint, yet cooperating at other times, Edwards was held down by 6 officers and tased to death. After Edwards appeared to be unconscious, the officers slowly backed away from the body and exited the cell. In a 10-minute time frame, officers only peeked into the cell to check on Edwards. No medical help was called for, no CPR was administered- Edwards was left to die in his cell. If that wasn’t enough, police claims actually lied about Edward’s cause of death. Their claims clashed with the video evidence that showed Edwards being tased to death by these policemen as he struggled for his life, but his death was ruled “undetermined” by investigators. They claim his death was caused by a mix of drugs and alcohol as well as some physical issues.

Edwards’ case is hardly unique. Statistical evidence on deaths of American citizens by police officer shows that this year, 915 people were killed. Last year, 1107 were killed by officers. Since the May of 2013, a whopping 2793 American citizens total were killed at the hands of policemen. In 2014, more than 100 unarmed black people were killed by police brutality, excluding the amounts of other people of color killed.

One of these deaths include the tragic death of Tamir E. Rice who was 12 by the time he was killed. Rice was playing at a park with a fake gun, and was even reported by the caller that the gun was “probably fake.” Police pulled up quickly within 10 feet of Rice and no more than two seconds later, he was shot in the abdomen twice and killed.

    After countless wrongful deaths and cases of police brutality, people have risen against this brutality against people of color. For example, after Mike Brown’s untimely death, protests in Ferguson sparked. These protests expanded from just Ferguson to all over the world in just one year. These protests build community and spread awareness towards the racism against people of color in the police force. Another notable protest were the Baltimore Riots. After Freddie Gray died in custody after being given a “rough ride” to the police station, these riots sparked chaos and passion in Baltimore. They bring awareness to racism as well, and demand police brutality to end. They ask for justice for all of the people of color whose lives are being lost to police brutality.

    Racism is also being acknowledged by political figures such as Bernie Sanders in the run for next president. “We are far from eradicating racism in this country. In June, nine of our fellow Americans were murdered while praying in a historic church because of the color of their skin. This violence fills us with outrage, disgust, and a deep, deep sadness. Today in America, if you are black, you can be killed for getting a pack of Skittles during a basketball game. These hateful acts of violence amount to acts of terror. They are perpetrated by extremists who want to intimidate and terrorize black and brown people in this country.” Sanders says on his website.  We must acknowledge that America is not free of racially prejudiced people. Communities are gathering together to fight against police brutality as well; such as the NPAP (National Police Accountability Project) and the CUAPB (Communities United Against Police Brutality) have been organized to focus and fight against police misconduct and police brutality.

    Slowly but surely, awareness towards racism and police brutality is raising. Yet so many are still oblivious to the deaths of people of color whose lives are wrongfully being lost. Stories such as Eric Garner’s, Ervin Edwards, and Tamir Rice’s move people to unite against racism and police brutality, protesting against it such as the Mike Brown protests. If we can gather our own passionate and motivated communities, we can raise awareness against the wrongdoings of police officers who wrongfully killed people of color out of personal racial views.