Mia A. California

Police Brutality and Racism Hand in Hand

Police Brutality is often triggered by Racism. People are often judged, mistreated and stereotyped due to ethnicity and due to the color of skin.

10/14/16

Dear Future President,

Some of the major social issues in this country and in most societies are racism and Police Brutality. Police brutality and racism go hand in hand because police brutality is usually triggered by racism. Nowadays white police officers have been taking advantage of the power they have over people. Officers know that they will not get in trouble if they commit murder or if they brutally hurt someone while on duty .The people who are usually victims of police brutality are usually the people of color such as African Americans, Latinos etc. Racism also takes part in police brutality because police officers tend to put stereotypes on people. For example most officers would have more suspicion on the people of color than the people with white skin. Most officers view the people of color to be inferior to them and they believe that all people of color are criminals and should be always suspicion. An example of racism and police Brutality is witnessed in Texas. A racist Texas cop made an African American man pull over for supposedly running a stop sign without stopping and for speeding. The cop also accused the man for holding drugs in the car which is when the cop forced the man out of his vehicle and had physically and verbally assault him. The cop got furious because the man was recording his own actions.

The problem affects the city because many people die every day due to police brutality whether or not a person is guilty. Police brutality also infringes the 8th amendment that prohibits cruel and unusual punishments. The actions of Police officers has been cruel and unconstitutional and immoral because they end up killing and hurting a guilty/innocent person . Racism on the other hand violates the Declaration of Independence. “All men are created equal..” has no more meaning to it if police brutality goes on, because the treatment of police officers are way different to the non colored folks than to people of color. Statistically 78% of Black males have once experience police brutality and verbal harassment from white police officers. Only a small percentage of Whites have experience cruel treatment. People have died because Police Officers have brutally hit, stabbed and shoot people without getting in trouble. Police officers have been thinking that they were just doing their jobs but that is not always the case.

One of the solutions that could lessen police brutality is to have a person know people’s rights first before getting a job as a police officer. Police should also have a limit on gun usage and should also have a certain spot to shoot such as legs/arms so that a person won’t have a high chance of dying. A police should only use their guns if their life is in danger and if a real criminal is not cooperating and if the suspect is getting away. They shouldn’t use their guns on people they are unsure of because they could end up hurting and killing innocent people.

Sincerely Yours,

Mia Abegail O

Franklin High School, Los Angeles, CA

U.S. History Period 2

Students will write letters to the next president about issues that affect themselves and their communities.

All letters from this group →