Bella & Olivia Oklahoma

Police Brutality is Social Injustice

Our nation is torn apart by police brutality, but better police training and supporting Black Lives Matter can help.

Dear Future President,

Over the past few years, there have been many cases of police brutality directed towards the African- American community. Every time we as a country hear or see a shooting by the police of an innocent person, it tears our country apart. It is social injustice when a person is shot just because of their race and/or appearance. Everyone in our country wants to feel safe and protected, and by focusing on police brutality we can overcome the fear of social injustice.

There have been a large number of African-American people being shot, even when they weren’t posing as a threat to anyone or anything. Statistics show that the police killed over 100 unarmed black people in 2015. Police should be trained more to assess the situation before shooting out of fear. Only 10 police were charged with a crime out of 102 police that killed an unarmed black person. The verdict of the majority of the police trials were found not guilty based on the police’s fear and their position in making sure that no one breaks the law. Many people in our country, including ourselves, deem it to be unfair when a police can get away with killing an unarmed/innocent person and get away with doing so. We believe that a fair punishment would be at least ten years to teach a lesson, but it should be determined based on each case. We hope that this won’t happen, preventing social injustice and large numbers of people in prison.

On August 9th, 2014, an 18-year-old unarmed black man was shot in Ferguson, Missouri. This man’s name was Michael Brown. His death sparked a wave of protests, but died down after a while. Then the police officer was found innocent this is what started the Black Lives Matter movement. This movement has grown over the years and continues today. Now, there are many people in the country that support this movement and many people who are also against it. We think that this movement is extremely important and should have everyone’s support. The Black Lives Matter movement is getting larger and larger every day. We believe this movement is important because it brings our nation together and that’s very crucial for the growth of our country.

In conclusion, our nation is being torn apart by police brutality, but trying to be brought together by Black Lives Matter. Our nation can benefit by focusing on better police training and the support of Black Lives Matter. We hope that after reading this, you will consider making a change for the benefit of our country.

Sincerely,

Bella and Olivia

Classen School of Advanced Studies

Classen SAS 8th Grade English

Students from Ms. Sutton's 8th grade English classes in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

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