In the United States of America, members of the police force in every state take an oath before they begin their professional careers. In this oath, they solemnly swear to follow the law and to uphold the Constitution. However, the relationship between these sworn protectors of communities and the community they serve is strained at best. A quick internet search will reveal photos, videos, and article upon article detailing yet another case of an unarmed black man or woman being harassed, punched, kicked, tasered, and too often, murdered. A man or woman with more melanin in their skin than another should not face racial profiling, intimidation, or police brutality simply based on the social construction that minorities are more likely to commit crimes and be dangerous.
President Richard Nixon initiated the “war on drugs” in June 1971. He stated that drug abuse was the number one enemy to the public, and thus began a movement that, while rooted in good intentions, led down a dark path. Police began employing brand new tactics and really taking a stand against illegal drug activities, especially in areas that were known to be drug-affiliated. Unfortunately, it was not until later on that it became clear how misguided these attempts at waging war on illegal drugs truly were. “Evaluations of specific tactics, such as raids on crack houses and crackdowns, suggest that their effects on drug availability are minimal, decay rapidly, and may displace drug activity to other areas and increase drug-related violence” (Cooper 1188). All that the “war on drugs” really did was further reinforce the stereotypes that black men and other minorities were to blame for drugs and the violent crimes that were often associated with it. Due to these reinforcements of social constructions of young black men, specifically in low-income neighborhoods, discrimination from police officers and disdain from the public slowly grew and festered until it finally reached a boiling point on March 3rd, 1991.
George Holliday, a resident of Sacramento, California witnessed and filmed a crime that turned a nation on its head. Rodney King was a construction worker in California, and was no Saint. He had previously spent time in jail over a robbery, and early in the morning on March 3rd, 1991, King was driving under the influence after a night of spending time with friends. When police attempted to pull him over, he fled. An eight mile car chase ensued, and King was eventually corned and ordered to step out of the vehicle. After he exited the vehicle, Holliday began filming, and witnessed King being tazed multiples times, hit with batons 33 times, and receiving six kicks. King suffered numerous injuries including a broken ankle and a fractured facial bone. Holliday took his video to a news station in Los Angeles, KTLA, who then aired the video. The infamous video of Rodney King being beaten by police officers immediately went viral, and the entire country was up in arms over the excess used of force against somebody by the police force that is sworn to protect and serve its citizens.
On April 29th, 1992 a Los Angeles jury consisting of nine white people, one bi-racial male, one Latino, and one Asian American found the four main officers in the beating not guilty of assault. Los Angeles was in an uproar, particularly the black community who had felt looked down upon and unfairly treated for far too long. The signs for what was about to unfold were all there for years. Songs like “Fuck Tha Police” by N.W.A clearly outlined how much of the black community in California, especially areas like Compton and Crenshaw, where the population is predominantly African American, really felt about police and their “war on drugs”. It was not confined to N.W.A however, songs like “Batterram” by Toddy Tee talked about the infamous battering rams Los Angeles police used to break into and raid houses where drug activity was expected. Civil rest was in the air, and unwisely, Los Angeles assumed everything would be fine after the officers’ trial and was not prepared at all for a riot. Following the acquittal of the officers, looting, arson, violence, and destruction of property ravaged Los Angeles. 63 people were killed during the LA Riots, and nearly a billion dollars in material losses also occurred. In response to LA on fire, the United States realized just how large the police problem on their hands really was, and they decided to take action.
Congress passed Statute 14141 in 1994 in response to the wide outrage and riots in Los Angeles that occurred after the beating of Rodney King. Statute 14141 gives the U.S. Attorney General the power to initiate structural reform against police departments who have engaged in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional behavior such as racial profiling, police brutality, and unlawful uses of force. While some criticize that this law has not been properly followed or upheld due to lack of funds or resources, there is not enough research to really see how much of a difference the passing of this law has really made. However, thanks to things like statute 14141 and the implementation of body cameras, police brutality and other instances of police abusing their power are now able to be documented and further investigated on a regular basis. The law was implemented to try and bridge the gap between the citizens of the United States and the police presence in the United States. By holding police officers and their departments more accountable, the hope was that policing as a whole would become better and the relationship between officers and citizens would be less toxic.
I do not believe that all police officers are bad. I also do not believe that all of them have the correct people skills for their line of work. It is a problem that if I am riding with my black friends after a practice and we get pulled over, they are happy that I am sitting in the front. Because when the officer walks up to the window and sees a white face amidst what he thought would be all black faces, he visibly breathes out and his posture relaxes. Obviously, he is more comfortable since a white guy is around, he has an ally, and these black kids can’t be that bad. After all, they have a nice white friend. Sometimes, the officer may not even realize what he or she is doing. It has just been so ingrained in our culture that black men and minorities as a whole are more likely to have illegal things on their person or are more likely to be up to no good. The sight of a well-groomed and comfortable white man sitting in this car with the rap music on must mean that these black folks are good to go, right? It’s pitiful.
After years of police being trained to seek out and thwart potential criminals, police officers became desensitized to the social construction that black men are more likely to commit crimes and be carrying illegal firearms or drug paraphernalia. It just became common knowledge to them. “A police officer sees a suspicious bulge in the pocket of a passing pedestrian and deliberates whether to stop and search. While the bulge is not necessarily proof of carrying an illegal firearm, it is certainly a legitimate indication. The pedestrian is also a young, black man, and from past searches and convictions, the police arguably know that such men are much likelier than other people to carry an illegal firearm. Should the police officer be instructed to take this information into account” (Chakravarti 175)? Racial profiling, in and of itself, is rooted in assuming causation. To say that being black causes a predisposition for doing crime is false and ignorant. Most people would agree that having black skin does not cause you to be a bad person. If that is the case, and having more melanin than others does not cause you to be a bad person, then why do black men and women have to fear that the police will assume they are dangerous or they are up to something just because of how they look? A few bad apples may spoil the batch, but that is no excuse to not visit the orchard.
Social media and film have portrayed racial injustice and police brutality for years. The 2015 movie directed by Felix Gary Gray, Straight Outta Compton, is based on the rise of rap group N.W.A. The film told unfortunate tales of racial profiling, gang violence, police brutality, and other issues through the unique lens of the rappers themselves. Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, two former members of N.W.A, helped produce the movie and ensure its authenticity. The movie takes place in the 1980s-1990s, the time period leading up to the LA Riots. Not even 20 minutes into the movie and there are already scenes depicting racial profiling, police brutality, racial slurs by both white and black police officers, and the infamous battering rams used by police to bust down doors and gain entry to houses where suspected drug activity was happening.
Throughout the movie, some of N.W.A’s most famous tracks such as “Boyz-n-the-Hood”, “Dopeman”, and “8 Ball”, play over the movies scenes and pivotal moments. The movie represents the identity of black men in Los Angeles and the growing racial tensions before the LA Riots in 1992. More than once, every member of N.W.A is profiled and harassed in the film simply for the color of their skin and the idea that they “look like gangsters”. Unfortunately, the stories and experiences of the members portrayed in the film are entirely true; it’s based on these experiences that the song “Fuck Tha Police” was written. This scene where the group is harassed outside of their studio and then come back inside to write and produce this is pivotal and shows just how frustrated and angry black America was with their treatment by police officers. I personally have seen and heard stories of my friends who are black or latino getting treated differently by police over 20 years after the events leading up to the beating of Rodney King.
While racial profiling often leads to unfair treatment by police, there are arguments that racial profiling can be useful. If public safety is the number one priority, then perhaps racial profiling can serve to do good. “First, we posit that there is a significant correlation between membership in certain racial groups and the tendency to commit certain crimes. Second, we assume that given this tendency, police can curb crime if they stop, search, or investigate members of such groups differentially. That is, we assume that such measures eliminate more crime than do other measures for equivalent disruption and expenditures of resources.” This train of thought works in theory, but in practical application this practice leads to unjust searches, pat downs, and harassment. Nobody should be “guilty until proven innocent” because police have been taught to search out and specifically target certain groups of people.
Black men and women have been
socially constructed as more likely to be criminals for decades. They are
treated differently by police and often regular citizens. Trayvon Martin,
Michael Brown, Dontre Hamilton, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and an unfortunately
long list of others come to mind when discussions of police brutality and
racial profiling arise. The media has covered these situations and movements
like “Black Lives Matter” are fighting back against unfair treatment and bias
against minorities from police. Not all police are bad, but those who are sworn
to protect and serve are there to do that just that. More melanin should not
equal murder. America needs to do better, and we absolutely can.
Works Cited
Chakravarti, Aravinda. “Racial Profiling in Medicine.” Nature Medicine, vol. 19, no. 7, 2013, pp. 808-808.
Cooper, Hannah L. F. “War on Drugs Policing and Police Brutality.” Substance Use & Misuse, vol. 50, no. 8–9, 2015, pp. 1188–1194. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3109/10826084.2015.1007669.
Cube, Ice, et al. “Fuck Tha Police.” Fuck Tha Police Lyrics, www.lyrics.com/lyric/32423399.
Gray, Felix Gary. “Straight Outta Compton.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 13 Aug. 2015, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1398426/.
Risse, Mathias, and Richard Zeckhauser. “Racial Profiling.” Philosophy & Public Affairs, vol. 32, no. 2, 2004, pp. 131-170.
Rushin,,Stephen. ”Federal Enforcement of Police Reform.” 82 Fordham Law Review, 3189 (2014).
