Police Brutality Shaping America's Gun Laws
When there is a police shooting, we automatically assume it is interracial. In June 2016 Dylan Noble's death was claimed as "suicide by cop". The boy was nineteen years old but his death never reached the same amount of attention as other deaths by police have. This lack of interest is due to Dylan being white and not black. A few days later, another police shooting had taken place. This time, it was between black men in the towns of Baton Rouge and Falcon Heights, Minnesota. The public went outraged and sparked up a nationwide protest for them.
Who ever said racism is gone in America was wrong. It never has and probably never will. America is a democratic republic and where there's many races and ethnicities in one country there will be differences and opinions as well.
As noted by the Washington Post "...there are nearly 160 million more white people in America than there are black people. White people make up roughly 62 percent of the U.S. population but only about 49 percent of those who are killed by police officers. African Americans, however, account for 24 percent of those fatally shot and killed by the police despite being just 13 percent of the U.S. population. As The Post noted in a new analysis published last week, that means black Americans are 2.5 times as likely as white Americans to be shot and killed by police officers."
It's not that white lives do not matter, it's due to white lives having an advantage or a privilege over minority lives. Also, due to that fact that white people make up a highly more percentage of the United states than African Americans they are among the minority who don't receive as many rights leading to the public being furious and standing up for rights when acts like these have been occuring against police these past few years.
Numerous cities are now requiring that police officers have on body cameras and microphones due to the incident that that happened when a man was shot and the picture was blurred not clearly identifying what had happened. America's decisions lies in the hands of people today. Whatever decision we make now, will impact the greater of us in the near future.
Also, according to an article on the Economist deaths from police shootings between three different countries were shown. Japan had zero, Britain had zero, Germany had eight and the great United States- home of the free, land of the brave had 458 in total. What is the real argument being made here ? Is America in need of gun control ? or is the National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) the one in need of help ? Whatever it may be, the future of America is in great risks and if the rates do not lower down, we will all take the risks for that decision.
Your article is very well structured and detailed. All the information strengthens your points, and adds to the credibility. The statistics added was a good choice because it shows the point you are wanting to make on the injustice. It is also interesting how at the end you ask the readers if gun control or other measures are needed. Very strong and informational post.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up very important data as part of this argument/issue. White people (for a little while longer) will be the majority of citizens in the country; however, they're not the majority of those shot by police. There are many complex reasons for this, and one has to be a discussion of bias on the part of those officers (and some, by the way, who are minorities as well). I'd see what I can find on research into the training and environment prevalent in police departments across the country; I'd also be interested in seeing if there are particular departments that have good reputations amongst minority communities and to see what they might do differently?
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