Looking Beneath America Surface
One important problem that we have been facing in America is institutional racism also known as systemic racism. Systemic racism is a system that have procedures or processes that disadvantage minorities but mainly African Americans. Many families have ripped apart because of this issue, innocent people have been losing their lives due to police brutality, and people have been treated badly while being incarcerated. We are all blinded by what we see instead of paying attention to the things that are hidden beneath the surface of America. I am going to point out things that’s going to surprise you and things that’s going to make you want to stop systemic racism. My argument is that we need to stop systemic racism and become more aware of how the system is treating minorities.
Systemic racism has many causes, but it all started after the thirteen-amendment abolished slavery in 1865.The thirteen-amendment in the United States abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. This means that if you commit or charged of any crime your freedom and rights are taken away from you. The government had to find a way to have slaves, so they created a system that takes people freedom away once they are taken to jail. Once that system came in place America started locking up minorities for any possible reasons. There are 2.3 million people in jail in the United States. Another thing that plays a part in systemic racism is politics. Politics play a huge part in systemic racism because they create processes and bills to control minorities. For example, during Ronald Reagan presidentry, he created a process “Law and Order” to fund the police departments to have more police officers on the streets. When he did this the number of minorities incarcerated dramatically increased. We need to become aware of this issue because innocent people are dying every day, families are getting torn apart because their loved ones are getting thrown in jail, and police brutality is breaking down the minorities. We need to open up our eyes and pay attention to the things that are going on in front of us.
When people get put in jail their rights are automatically taken away from them. The system takes advantage of that and treat them very inhumane. Minorities are treated very poorly, and some are even dying. On August 11, 1970 inmates at Manhattan House of Detention of Men took over the prison so that the governor can listen to them. The inmates took the guards as hostages and wrote a list of grievances and made the governor listened. The list highlighted the major problems which was “the quality of food, the facility’s pest infestation, the lack of access to the jail’s law library, the dearth of clean clothing and the irresponsible practices of the medical staff. Lastly, the authors had requested that inmates involved in ‘this protest’ not face repercussions”. At the end of all this the governor took a look at the inside of the prison and noticed the poor conditions the inmates had to live in. He then wrote an article and said “The lid on the garbage can is lifted. We look inside, see and smell the muck we’ve probably known was in there all along.’ But the public had already begun to move on to other issues while the window of opportunity was closing. Thus, Rivera concluded: ‘after spending hour after hour inside the Tombs and speaking with hundreds of inmates, I’ve come to the conclusion that perhaps there is only one meaningful reform: Let them out.” He pointed out that we as society have just skipped past this issue like it was trash on the street. We watch many tv shows that show prisons that are safe for criminals for example the show 60 days incarcerated. Those shows really just paint a fake picture to make us believe in what we see.
A question I had while doing research was why can’t we do anything about racism and police brutality? While searching for answers I came across this article that said “In the wake of the uprising following the 1992 acquittal of the white Los Angeles police officers who were videotaped beating Rodney King, Congress passed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. This law authorizes the Justice Department to step in when police engage in “a pattern or practice of conduct” that deprives people of their constitutional rights. These cases allow the Justice Department to enforce rights defined and protected by the Constitution in addition to other federal laws.” This explains why police officer have to wear cameras on them at all times. We as citizen feel helpless sometimes because all we can do is protest but when we protest it gets out of hands. For example, when some people were having a peaceful protest for Breonna Taylor the police officers started spraying flash bangs in the air. A pastor who organized the march said “We were nonviolent. We were peaceful,” he told CNN’s Jason Carroll. “We were exercising our constitutional right.” He said there were seniors and children in the crowd. An official with the Louisville Metro Police Department said officers shot two flash bangs in the air because the crowd was told to move onto sidewalks and did not”.
While I was doing research trying to look for answers I came across an article that talked about how the government funds the police department but does not require enough training. This article provided a case that an African American died in a police officer custody. “Mehserle stated during the trial that the shooting was an accident and that he intended to reach for his taser because he thought Oscar Grant was reaching for a gun — a claim that has proved to be untrue. He was ultimately charged with manslaughter, a misdemeanor, which by law is defined as a reckless disregard for human life”. Taylor wrote about how this man’s life was taken because of police brutality. With improper training of officer Brat, he took a life of an innocent man. Instead of the government focusing on having more police officers they should fund proper training for police officers
Jack Taylor made an argument on how since the cop was white, he got the minimum sentence for first degree murder. Jack Taylor compared the difference on how African Americans are treated and whites are treated. This leads me doing more research on seeing many African American males getting brutally killed by police officers. One case I found was Eric Garner he was put in a chokehold until he could not breath by a police officer. Was Mr. Garner being on the ground being arrested he kept repeating “I can’t breathe”. The police officers still put him in a chokehold and continued choking him out. Garner was being arrested for supposedly selling cigarettes. Police brutality is huge part of systemic racism because it shows racism in the police department. This is a huge issue because innocent people are losing their lives.
To become a police officer, you only need a high school diploma, must be a citizen, have a valid driver license, and must be able to complete processing and enter an academy class before reaching their 35th birthday. Nowhere in the job description says you have to be a people person and though the job mainly deals with people. To become a police officer, you do not need experience or any type of training. In my opinion that is not enough training because we trust police officers to protect us from danger and help protect the communities. A little certificate is not enough to certify someone to become a police officer. I think you should have to attend a two-year program school where you educated on how to handle situations properly. Also, to educate them on what type of situations should they use their guns. This would prevent a lot of accidentals deaths with police officers and innocent people.
Looking back on the things I wrote about in this essay it all pointed out all the reasons why we need to stop systemic racism. We have normalized people being killed and we have normalized me going to jail. Nobody being killed should ever be normal because that is wrong especially when it is done by police officers. We have to start speaking up for what’s right and quit looking the other way. We as citizens was given rights and one of those rights is the first amendment which allows for freedom of speech, press, religion, and etc. We have those rights for a reason let’s start using them. After doing research I answered some of the questions I had but it also opened up more questions. How can we come together and make a change?
