“Until the killing of black mothers’ sons becomes as important as the killing of a white mother’s son, we who believe in freedom cannot rest until this happens” - Ella Baker, African American civil rights activist.
On the 25th of May, George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police. ‘I can’t breathe!’ he shouted. ‘Don’t kill me!’. This sounds all too familiar to the last words of Eric Garner, strangled to death in July 2014 by members of the New York City Police Department. In August of 2014, Michael Brown was shot dead by a Ferguson police officer. Similarly, Ryan Twyman was fatally shot by Los Angeles police in June 2019. These are only a small handful of deaths African Americans have had to endure as a result of police brutality in the United States. Appallingly, roughly one in every thousand black males die in the hands of law enforcement and black people are three times more likely to be killed by police than white people. These statistics don’t even take into account the abundance of unreported cases of police abuse. Virtually 60% of those killed by the police didn’t have a gun and weren’t involved in activities that should require police intervention. African Americans have been a target throughout history, and dismally even in contemporary times, black people have to live in fear of the very people who are supposed to be protecting them. How many black people need to be killed by the police before enough is enough?
African Americans have suffered all throughout history from police violence though awareness of this really began to escalate during the Civil Rights Era as a result of increased access to televisions and radios. Notable events such as the Birmingham Campaign of 1963 and Bloody Sunday of 1965 in Selma, Montgomery caused international outrage as people finally saw for themselves the shocking scenes of non-violent unarmed black rights protestors being unnecessarily attacked by police forces. Following this period of struggle, police brutality was not hindered - in fact, it became normalised. Law enforcement targets black people for searches and interrogations without any evidence of criminal activity based on racial profiling. In Los Angeles, a 2019 report revealed that black drivers and passengers were four times more likely to be searched by the police than white people. Likewise, despite the fact LA’s population is only 9% black, nearly 30% of people pulled over were black. The post 9/11 ‘war on terror’ only made the police more comfortable using threats and abuse with their increased police powers, eroding accountability mechanisms as the police could justify their racism as actively working against terrorism. In Tennessee v. Garner of 1985, the Supreme Court ruled that the Fourth Amendment prevents police from using deadly force on a fleeing suspect unless there is good reason, although four years later Graham v. Connor ruled that the reasonableness of police using force should be based on their viewpoint at the time meaning police cannot be punished if they claim to have been using self-defence. Alarmingly, seven in ten black people say they are treated less fairly than white people in their dealings with the police, this is not to be taken as a light issue.
The Declaration of Independence outlined that America would be a nation with equal justice for all yet this has not been achieved. It is abhorrent that a country built on migrants, a country where black people have been present as long as white people believes that the lives of black people mean less. It’s as if the US has two separate justice systems for black and white people. George Floyd was suspected of forgery and killed by the police while Dylann Roof, a white man, murdered nine people and was arrested peacefully. Additionally, the black police officer Mohammed Noor got twelve and a half years in prison for accidentally shooting a white woman whereas the murderers of Floyd have received paid administrative leave. In fact, Derek Chauvin (Floyd’s killer) has shot unarmed civilians before and never had any repercussions. Yet another death of a black man at the arms of the police, yet another week of outrage plastered all over social media, yet another set of protests and petitions. It is time for a change.
Common incidents of police brutality can leave us feeling hopeless, as though change is completely inaccessible but we must not lose hope. Following the murder of Breonna Taylor by Louisville law enforcement, the Louisville Metro Police Department announced it would require all officers to wear body cameras and there would be stricter no-knock warrants. Furthermore, over 107 new laws have been enacted from 2014 to 2019 addressing police violence. Movements such as Black Lives Matter and Campaign Zero have been working tirelessly to create a more equal nation, fighting for black rights with demonstrations, lobbying politicians and petitions. Looking ahead, there is an urgency for a more effective civilian oversight structure with a Civilian Complaints Office in all police departments nationwide to address the issue that less than one in every twelve complaints of police misconduct results in disciplinary action against the officers. The use of force needs to be limited to a point where deadly force should only be used when there’s an imminent threat to the life of a police officer or someone else, and officers who do use deadly force unnecessarily should be held accountable.
As white people, we need to be incredibly aware of our privilege, we cannot simply stand back and watch black people fighting for their lives and take a ‘non-political’ stance. Ignorance is dangerous, and by refusing to acknowledge the troubles of black people you are working hand in hand with racism and keeping it alive. If you can’t lobby, demonstrate or use your voting rights to vote for political figures who want to fight against anti-black procedures, sign petitions and join social media campaigns to build them up in numbers. Sign this petition for the Minneapolis Police Officers who killed George Floyd to be charged for murder (chng.it/zyLhmLDj). Police brutality should not exist in 2020, let's make sure it does not exist in 2021 and the years to come.
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