Let's begin with some hard facts about police brutality in the United States: from MIC.com website
In May, the Washington Post analyzed the 385 fatal police shootings in the United States that had occurred so far in 2015. The Post noted its number, which came out to two officer-involved shooting deaths per day, was more than twice the rate that the government had recorded over the past decade.
2. That same report found blacks to be killed at three times the rate of whites or other minorities.
3. It also found that almost a quarter of those killed were identified as mentally ill by police or family members.
4. The youngest victims at the end of May, according to the Washington Post, were 16 years old (though at the time, nine ages were unknown).
5. Another Washington Post investigation from August found that black men — who constitute 6% of the nation's population — account for 40% of the 60 unarmed people who had been fatally shot by police by that time.
6. The Guardian's The Counted project, which crowdsources and reports on police deaths, analyzed the first half of 2015 to find that an average of three people were killed daily during that time.
7. Mapping Police Violence found that black people living in Oklahoma were six times more likely to be killed by police than in Georgia.
8. It also found 98% of these events did not end with an officer being charged with a crime.
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In 2015 the police killed at least 246 black people in the U.S. In 2016 the police have killed 160 and counting. Black people are three times more likely to be killed by police than whites. 30 percent of those blacks killed in 2016 were unarmed. Unarmed black people were killed at 5x the rate of unarmed whites in 2015.
To really understand police brutality and fatal shootings of black people, we need to understand the history of the relationship between the police and African Americans. This history directly relates to why modern-day police appear to find it so easy to take a black person's life. History tells us clearly that nearly everything that white people have done to other races involved the conquest of land, the taking of resources and the accumulation of wealth. No educated white person could argue this point. Back in the day they called it names like, "Manifest Destiny" or the Great Westward Expansion beginning with the Louisiana Purchase by Thomas Jefferson from France for fifteen million dollars. For white people, it has ALWAYS been about wealth, power and the control of resources. Skip to the late 1800's right after the very first civil rights act was signed into law: 1865. As a result of the Civil War, and the Emancipation Proclamation, "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free" many whites simply ignored the proclamation and in their anger they started an epic campaign of lynching, murdering of black men, and rape of so many innocent African American women. All of this under the auspices of the various local police precincts in the South. The Ku Klux Klan operated during these times almost completely unhindered and was responsible for the murder of thousands and blacks while the police stood by and did nothing - and often helped the KKK in their killing sprees. Please see: Here for detailed information on this phenomenon.
Why do we give them this kind of power, yet do not hold them responsible when they are wrong? Two reasons: First, most people are just scared. Scared of violent confrontations because they are not accustomed to them - especially whites. I know very few white guys who can actually handle themselves if they were to get into a physical confrontation. Moreover, I sincerely believe that most whites actually don't think black lives matter as much as white lives. In fact, it has been proven scientifically through research done by Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt of Harvard University. This bias is clearly shown in our court system when black men get longer prison sentences than whites for the same crime with the same or similar criminal background! Most Americans think blacks are not being discriminated against in rental housing, buying a car, buying a home, getting insurance, yet study after study have show blacks are discriminated against in all of the above mentioned situations and more, like education where it has been proven that black youth get kicked out of school more than whites for the same type of behavior, are reprimanded more harshly for the same type of behavior exhibited by white youth. These are facts. Most white people's perception of blacks is skewed by the media portrayal of blacks being lazy, unmotivated, and violent, i.e. Black Rage.
Let me answer the black rage question. Blacks, or any other normal individual would not have rage if what happened 400 years ago wasn't still happening. Not slavery obviously, but discrimination and latent racism. Now, whites, ask yourself this question: If someone brutally killed your parents and your entire family a long, long time ago would you be able to get over it after say... 60 or 70 years. You would at least be able to function normally on a daily basis, and chances are pretty good you would be able to move on by now and not let it keep you down. But what if that person lived next door to you and constantly verbally reminded you of what happened, people look at you funny in the store because they think you might lash out in rage at any moment, you see commercials on t.v. that remind you of it, you hear it on the radio, you keep getting reminded of how it happened and how much that person doesn't care that it happened because it was so long ago. That would make it extremely hard to forget, and definitely impossible to forgive. It might even affect your ability to do other things like work effectively, or study if you happen to be in school.
Compare the police force to the supreme court: courts conclusions changed over time because the justices are voted into office and their opinions can evolve based upon evolving public mores, congressional laws and changing interpretations of the constitution. Police are accountable to no one, are not voted into the position, have the power to kill, and bank of the average person's fear of violence to justify violence they administer. They have a history of hunting and killing black people - all they need is the media to keep creating images of blacks as dangerous and they can continue killing us in the name of public safety. That is why Black lives don't matter to the police!
In May, the Washington Post analyzed the 385 fatal police shootings in the United States that had occurred so far in 2015. The Post noted its number, which came out to two officer-involved shooting deaths per day, was more than twice the rate that the government had recorded over the past decade.
2. That same report found blacks to be killed at three times the rate of whites or other minorities.
3. It also found that almost a quarter of those killed were identified as mentally ill by police or family members.
4. The youngest victims at the end of May, according to the Washington Post, were 16 years old (though at the time, nine ages were unknown).
5. Another Washington Post investigation from August found that black men — who constitute 6% of the nation's population — account for 40% of the 60 unarmed people who had been fatally shot by police by that time.
6. The Guardian's The Counted project, which crowdsources and reports on police deaths, analyzed the first half of 2015 to find that an average of three people were killed daily during that time.
7. Mapping Police Violence found that black people living in Oklahoma were six times more likely to be killed by police than in Georgia.
8. It also found 98% of these events did not end with an officer being charged with a crime.
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In 2015 the police killed at least 246 black people in the U.S. In 2016 the police have killed 160 and counting. Black people are three times more likely to be killed by police than whites. 30 percent of those blacks killed in 2016 were unarmed. Unarmed black people were killed at 5x the rate of unarmed whites in 2015.
Implicit Bias
Implicit bias studies have become popular of late because people are asking why. Why in a post-modern era are black men being brutalized, shot and killed by those who are supposed to "protect and serve" Our men in blue have a legacy of violence towards blacks that I believe is so ingrained that in situations that appear to be non-life threatening to everyone else (via webcam) can be a reason for a police officer to pull out his gun and start shooting. Add outdated training to that scenario and a black man usually ends up dead or shot several times. This is fact. A white police officer is still only a white man whose position gives him the power to kill when necessary. It would be absolutely idiotic to believe that a white guy in or out of a police uniform is somehow immune to what most other whites believe about blacks. We have given them this power and we should be able to hold them to a higher standard of behavior when it comes to fatal interactions with an unarmed civilian. Instead, the police are given the benefit of the doubt to the point that they are nearly always exonerated for any kind of excessive force, police brutality or fatal shooting of a civilian. A prime example of implicit bias is the police officer who recently shot a black man on the ground with his hands up in the air in surrender. When the man asked the police officer why he shot him, the officer answered, "I don't know"Why do we give them this kind of power, yet do not hold them responsible when they are wrong? Two reasons: First, most people are just scared. Scared of violent confrontations because they are not accustomed to them - especially whites. I know very few white guys who can actually handle themselves if they were to get into a physical confrontation. Moreover, I sincerely believe that most whites actually don't think black lives matter as much as white lives. In fact, it has been proven scientifically through research done by Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt of Harvard University. This bias is clearly shown in our court system when black men get longer prison sentences than whites for the same crime with the same or similar criminal background! Most Americans think blacks are not being discriminated against in rental housing, buying a car, buying a home, getting insurance, yet study after study have show blacks are discriminated against in all of the above mentioned situations and more, like education where it has been proven that black youth get kicked out of school more than whites for the same type of behavior, are reprimanded more harshly for the same type of behavior exhibited by white youth. These are facts. Most white people's perception of blacks is skewed by the media portrayal of blacks being lazy, unmotivated, and violent, i.e. Black Rage.
Let me answer the black rage question. Blacks, or any other normal individual would not have rage if what happened 400 years ago wasn't still happening. Not slavery obviously, but discrimination and latent racism. Now, whites, ask yourself this question: If someone brutally killed your parents and your entire family a long, long time ago would you be able to get over it after say... 60 or 70 years. You would at least be able to function normally on a daily basis, and chances are pretty good you would be able to move on by now and not let it keep you down. But what if that person lived next door to you and constantly verbally reminded you of what happened, people look at you funny in the store because they think you might lash out in rage at any moment, you see commercials on t.v. that remind you of it, you hear it on the radio, you keep getting reminded of how it happened and how much that person doesn't care that it happened because it was so long ago. That would make it extremely hard to forget, and definitely impossible to forgive. It might even affect your ability to do other things like work effectively, or study if you happen to be in school.
Compare the police force to the supreme court: courts conclusions changed over time because the justices are voted into office and their opinions can evolve based upon evolving public mores, congressional laws and changing interpretations of the constitution. Police are accountable to no one, are not voted into the position, have the power to kill, and bank of the average person's fear of violence to justify violence they administer. They have a history of hunting and killing black people - all they need is the media to keep creating images of blacks as dangerous and they can continue killing us in the name of public safety. That is why Black lives don't matter to the police!
