Introduction
The United States continues to experience police violence at an alarming rate. A study in 2018 revealed that the police kill more than three hundred citizens every year (Cobbinah and Jan 995). Another research showed that one in one thousand young African American males are likely to die in the hands of the law enforcement in the country (Ehrenfeld and Patrice 2). This information reveals that much of the brutality has a basis in racism.
One of the effects of police brutality is the harm to people’s health. Study shows that the victims of police brutality soon suffer from illnesses after an encounter (Ehrenfeld and Patrice 3). It is suggested that the effects are especially higher when the law enforcement unevenly applies force on African American individuals in contrast to their White counterparts in a community (Ehrenfeld and Patrice 3). For example, a study discovered a connection between living in minority communities with a large concentration of force utilization by police against the public and a greater risk of obesity and diabetes (Holmes IV 4). Nevertheless, the police using force in such communities was also related to the lower risk of poor health (Holmes IV 4). The findings came before the research accounted for the ethno-racial composition of the community.
Police brutality has been known to be a cause of mental illnesses, for example, anxiety. Individuals who have had an encounter with the police officer using force against them have afterward lived a difficult life (Peeples 22). There are those that have reported that as soon as they see a police car or hear the siren, their hearts beat at a higher rate than normal (Peeples 22). Additionally, there are those who still have flashbacks of what happened to them. For instance, a child who witnessed their parent being harassed to the point of death, will forever have those memories. Others have entered into depression with the majority either having suicidal thoughts or committing suicide.
Another effect of police brutality, apart from health issues, is death. A study revealed that the use of force by the law enforcement is a major cause of death amongst the young African Americans (Peeples 23). The findings showed that over the course of lifetime, around one in every one thousand individuals are likely to die, mostly between the age of twenty and thirty-five years (Peeples 23). The researchers utilized information from an impartial, journalist-led program seeking to establish a nationwide database that involves interactions with the law enforcement (Pillay 317). They accounted in total for about eleven thousand police encounters in the analysis which examined at how race, age as well as sex impacted mortality risk (Pillay 317). They discovered that the greatest levels of inequality in deaths are experienced by African American males.
It is critical to note that the risk of dying in the hands of the law enforcement is twenty times as high for males generally as it is for females of any ethnic group. To be specific, the risk is one in two thousand generally for males in contrast to one in thirty-three thousand for females (Schwartz 3). Moreover, African American males were nearly twice more likely to die than white males, while females from that community too were at the same rate. The same is for the other minority groups (Knopf et al. 460). This is alarming when police brutality is compared with other death causes. Trailing behind cancer, HIV, accidents, homicide, suicide and heart diseases, it is the leading cause of death.
Nonetheless, more young African Americans died due to the police violence than they due to health conditions such as influenza, pneumonia, respiratory illnesses, and diabetes. When examining the same statistics, the ranking remains almost similar with diabetes overtaking the three law enforcement brutality mortality rate (Schwartz 5). According to CD, police brutality still accounts for more death cases every year than chronic lower conditions, influenza, pneumonia and cerebrovascular.
Potential Solutions to the Issue of Racism (Evidence, Statistics, Example)
The issue of racism is one that has led to police brutality that has been witnessed in the American society for a long time. There have been cases of White individuals in the police force using their power to mistreat or harass African American individuals. For instance, in the last two years, there have been more than two cases that received nationwide attention as they were recorded and the videos went viral on social media (Stelkia 2). It has reached a point that even young children have learned words that seek to cause others feel underappreciated. It is possible to stop the issue from continuing through certain measures as explained below.
The first step Americans can take is learning how to recognize as well as comprehend one’s privilege. Understanding racial privilege and utilizing it to dismantle systemic discrimination are two approaches to start this complex procedure. Nevertheless, race is only a single aspect of privilege (Stelkia 3). There are others, for example, religion, ability status, sexuality, gender, socio-economic status, citizenship and language. All these have the capacity to impact one’s level of privilege. For instance, someone who is rich is treated differently from that who is not. Using a privilege to empower one another instead of discriminating or seeking to undermine is among the ways to deal with the issue of racism.
The other measure to take is validating the experiences as well as feelings of individuals of color. This can be accomplished by supporting people of color and engaging in difficult dialogues concerning injustice and race (Holmes IV 7). Americans should not be afraid to discuss discrimination and oppression for fear of hurting others. Rather, everyone should take action and learn the ways that racial profiling continues to influence the society, for instance, through watching documentaries or reading books. One can liken the issue to domestic violence whereby an advocate learns about it through listening to survivors.
Another step of dealing with racism is by challenging the colorblind concept. This is pervasive misinformation that people live in a post-racial society whereby they do not see each other’s skin color. Perpetuating this contributes to racial discrimination more than the majority think. When Dr. King, Jr. stated his hope for being in a world that does not see color, he did not imply that individuals need to ignore race. It is difficult to remove racism without acknowledging it first. Being colorblind means ignoring a major part of someone’s identity as well as dismissing the actual injustices that most encounter due to their skin color. It is important to see color first in order to collaborate for equality and equity.
The other step to take for Americans is calling out statements or jokes that appear racist. It is important to let everyone understand that racist comments are not right to make. If one is uncomfortable or does not feel safe being confrontational, they should attempt to explain their thought process and ask questions. For instance, explaining to someone that their joke might be funny but it means something else to a person of color. People should escape from the fear of having conversations with colleagues, friends and family. Failing to say anything about it means agreement which may be fatal in future.
Another step is finding out how a company or educational institution is working to expand chances for minority groups or treating those from such communities. The AAPF stated that in 2014, a twelve-year old encountered criminal charges and expulsion from her school for writing on the walls of a locker room. Campaigns such as #BlackGirlsMatter address issues of under protected and over policed African American females within the education system. It is essential for organizations to address such matters and foster a culture or equality and equity.
To fully understand how police brutality is affecting the society and how to fix the situation of racism, an interview was conducted, as detailed below, to help confirm some of the information available. The interviewee is a police officer who asked for his personal details not to be revealed for fear of losing his job. He has worked in the law enforcement for about fifteen years. Thus, he is experienced and information he provides is dependable.
Interview
The aim of this interview was to identify the effects of police brutality on the society, racism and the solutions to both. The interviewee detailed that police violence for a long time has been part of the culture in the United States law enforcement. Upon starting to work, one is forced into choosing either to stay with the good side or the bad side. He claimed that not everyone is courageous to say no to the bad side recruiters especially when there are top leaders in that category. At the start of his career, his then boss approached him and asked him which side he chose. He did not understand initially until he went for patrol. His first experience defined his career for the next ten years.
The interviewee shared that for the police involved in brutality, it reaches a point it seems as a sport which explains why the cases continue to increase as detailed in the first section of the paper. They view their victims as preys and they are the predators. The section of the officers that do not allow this to happen in their presence are isolated and can even be denied a chance to enter into certain groups or places such as police bars. Ninety-five percent of those that act wrongly are White officers while the remaining comprises of those from the minority groups. Majority of the latter were forced into that life due to fear. He detailed that they would have meeting s and set target for every one of them on how many people they would arrest wrongfully. If the individuals refused to comply, they would be encouraged to shoot them as the Police Union would defend them in Court.
Upon inquiring what might have been the motive behind all this, the interviewee claimed that the violence stems from racism. He claims that all the wrong acts he has witness, are against the African Americans. In a year, he counted between three hundred and four hundred deaths resulted from violence according to their national meetings they hold annually. This is accurate since a study in 2018 revealed that the police were responsible for the death of more than three hundred people every year (Cobbinah and Jan 995). The interviewer questioned the officer desiring to understand the reason behind his choice away from that life.
He detailed that he has been part of an incident that led to the death of his son’s friend and basketball teammate. This was his turning point as he thought about the situation as if he had killed his child. Additionally, he stated that some of the people especially the youth that they had harassed in the past, do not seem healthy psychologically. He explained of an incident that when he was heading home one evening and a young boy got a panic attack. After abandoning the life involving working against the public, he chose to join a group that deals with social issues. He claimed that he has met many cases of depressed individuals especially from the minority groups. This information is essential as it supports the argument on the effects of police brutality on the society.
Conclusion
Police brutality is an issue that has been affecting the United States for a long time and it seems that the rate of cases continues to rise. It is not right that individuals in power let the situation worsen. It is important that the root causes be understood and solved. For instance, racism, which has been identified as one of the reasons the police officers have been involved in violence against the public, needs to be solved first.
Works Cited
Cobbinah, Stefania Sarsah, and Jan Lewis. “Racism & Health: A Public Health Perspective on Racial Discrimination.” Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, vol. 24, no. 5, 2018, pp. 995-998. Web.
Ehrenfeld, Jesse M., and Patrice A. Harris. “Police Brutality Must Stop.” American Medical Association, vol. 29, no. 1, 2020, pp. 1-4. Web.
Holmes IV, Oscar. “Police Brutality and Four Other Ways Racism Kills Black People.” Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 39, no. 7, 2020, pp. 1-7. Web.
Knopf, Amelia, et al. “A Review of Nursing Position Statements on Racism Following the Murder of George Floyd and Other Black Americans.” Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, vol. 32, no. 4, 2021, pp. 453-466. Web.
Peeples, Lynne. “What The Data Say About Police Brutality and Racial Bias—and Which Reforms Might Work.” Nature, vol. 16, no. 5, 2020, pp. 22-24. Web.
Pillay, Anthony L. “Basic rights caught in the web of racism, classism and police brutality.” South African Journal of Psychology vol.50 (3), 2020, pp.316-319. Web.
Schwartz, Stephan A. “Police brutality and racism in America.” Explore (New York, NY) vol.16 (5), 2020, pp.1-10.
Stelkia, Krista. “Police brutality in Canada: a symptom of structural racism and colonial violence.” Policy Brief vol.10 (72), 2020, pp.1-4. Web.