Racism Continues to Exists

Santi MansillaManagement 302

Professor Jordi ComasDecember 18, 2014

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page..................................................................................................................................1

Table of Contents.....................................................................................................................2

Executive Summary.................................................................................................................3

Introduction..............................................................................................................................5

Mike Brown Case ....................................................................................................................7

1. Police Department’s Standpoint………….………………………………………………….…8

2. Victim’s Standpoint………………………...…………………………....8

Trayvon Martin Case

.......................................……………………………………………………………………….9

1. George Zimmerman’s…………………………………………………………...10

2. Victim’s Standpoint………………………...………………..................11

Eric Garner Case...................................................................................................................12

1. Police Department’s Standpoint……………………………………………….……12

2. Victim’s Standpoint………………………...………………...13

Recommendations..................................................................................................................14

1. Adopt UK Gun Policy ………………………...………………..14

2. Body Cameras ………………………...………………………..15

3. Police Interaction Education Program………...………,,……..15

References...............................................................................................................................17

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Executive Summary

On April 4, 1968 President Robert F. Kennedy stated,

“We can move in that direction as a country, in greater polarization - black people amongst blacks, and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion and love. What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.” 1

After the death of civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, it appeared that President

Kennedy and our nation were being proactive in regards to eliminating the existence of

racial discrimination issues in the United States. Although efforts from past presidents

and numerous civil rights figures have contributed to significant advancements in

equality for all individuals, it is unfortunate to say that forms of racism continue to exist

in the United States.

As a Hispanic college student, attending a predominantly white university, I have

gained a unique perspective on the evident existence of racial discrimination that

continues to occur in the land of the free. I have experienced racial discrimination on

campus due to my ethnicity, which were minor experiences, but still something that

should not occur in a modern society. After my own experiences I was not surprised

when racial discrimination publically appeared on the anonymous social media

application Yik Yak. This screen shot of the application evidently demonstrates that not

only does racial discrimination continue to exist but more importantly it is present on the

Bucknell campus.

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Although it is unfortunate, but true, racism still continues to exist in this country. My

personal experiences and this screen shot may have been minor demonstrations of racial

discrimination, but recent deaths of black individuals have brought significant awareness

to the existence of this issue, specifically with police affiliated cases.

Although there are two sides to every story, it is hard to neglect that the deaths of

Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin, and Eric Garner were not a result of racial prejudice from

police officials. The deaths of these three individuals have provoked significant protests

throughout the nation in order to demonstrate the existence racial discrimination against

minorities, specifically by police officials. In addition to these killings, police officials

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have contributed to the black incarceration rate being 6 times greater in comparison to the

white incarceration rate. In the United States, this rate has come to increase from 4 times

greater to 6 times greater since the 1960s and is estimated to continue to grow in coming

years2. Today, African Americans account for approximately 1 million of the total 2.3

million incarcerated population. Blacks are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of

Whites; if Hispanics are included in this minority group the rate is increased to 58% of all

imprisoned individuals in 2008.

For those of you who believe there is no form of racial discrimination still existent

in our country due to our policies, I hope this white paper will shed on some light about

the many issues that are significantly present within our own borders. The purpose of this

paper is to promote recognition and change in policies for the improvement of our

society.

Introduction

Within the past two years, the ironically multi-cultural accepting nation of the

United States has experienced perhaps three of its most controversial police cases

involving racial discrimination. The three victims involved in the cases were Mike

Brown, Trayvon Martin, and Eric Garner. All three cases involved black individuals that

were killed by a police officer. The result of the deaths of the three individuals has led to

the emergence of other blacks and even non-blacks protesting against these attacks of

racial discrimination. Most recently, on December 13, thousands of individuals from all

races marched on the streets of Manhattan, New York in the Justice For All Rally in

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order to combat racial discrimination. One specific protestor, Cynthia Howell shared her

thoughts on police officials and their racial prejudice actions by telling Al Jazeera

reporters that, "Enough is enough. This country cannot still allow these same police

practices and let cops get away with it. We love our loved ones as much as they love the

ones they go home to. It's not just an issue of black or white, it's about abuse of

authority."3 Howell’s aunt was killed about a decade ago after a police officer had thrown

a concussion grenade into her apartment during a mistaken drug raid. Events such as the

death of Howell’s aunt are the reason why today one of every six black men has been

incarcerated since 2001 and why 1 of every 100 African American women are in prison.4

If trends such as these continue, statistically one of every three black males born in 2015

can expect to spend time in prison at some point during their lifetime; and 10 of every

100 African American women will also be in prison at some point during their lifetime.

Although it is difficult to exactly determine that the actions of police officials that

contributed to these statistics were all due to racial prejudice motives, three specific cases

can be examined that do demonstrate the modern existence of racial discrimination,

specifically from police officials.

Mike Brown

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On August 9, 2014 an 18-year-old black male, Michael Brown was shot and

killed by a white male police officer, Darren Wilson. The shooting occurred in the town

of Ferguson, Missouri at approximately noon. The altercation between Brown and

Wilson was the result of an emergency call regarding a robbery that took place in a

convenience store. Officer Wilson was within the vicinity and responded to the call after

receiving the description of the suspect. As Officer Wilson made his way to the

convenience store, he encountered Brown and his friend Dorian Johnson not knowing

they were the alleged offenders.

Brown and Johnson were asked to move to the sidewalk after Officer Wilson has

found them walking in the middle of the street. Both Brown and Johnson refused officer

Wilson’s demand, which resulted in Wilson reversing his vehicle to pin both individuals.

This shortly led to an altercation between Wilson and Brown that resulted in the firing of

Wilson’s gun. Brown was able to flee the scene, but was pursued by Wilson. During the

pursuit of Brown, officer Wilson fired a total of 12 rounds. Eight of the rounds struck

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Brown, which resulted in his death. Various witness reports differ on whether Brown had

his hands raised surrendering himself or whether Brown was moving towards Wilson to

attack him after the shots had been fired. Although it may not be clearly evident that

racial discrimination was a motive in this event, both sides of the story must be

examined.

1. Police Department’s Standpoint

In defending officer Wilson, there are a few aspects of the event that the police

department argues. To begin, the commencement of the event was after Wilson had

approached Brown from his car for walking in the middle of the street. This led to a

dialogue between Wilson and Brown, which resulted in a physical entanglement. Brown

had assaulted Wilson and this provoked a battle for the grasp of Wilson’s gun. The gun

was inadvertently fired and resulted in Brown fleeing, at which point Brown could be

found as guilty for physically harassing an officer and trying to manipulate his weapon.

After Wilson had chased Brown and asked him multiple times to stop, Wilson released

fire several times. Wilson then commanded Brown to go down, but Brown appeared to

continue to charge Wilson. At 6’4’’ tall and 290lbs, Brown may have significantly

intimidated Officer Wilson as he continued to charge. This concluded with Wilson firing

a few more times and the death of Mike Brown. However, was it the correct decision of

Wilson to kill Brown in this situation?

2. Victim’s Standpoint

Although there are a few aspects of the event that can be argued in favor of

Wilson, there are many more that can be argued in favor of Mike Brown, which

demonstrate a form of racial discrimination. To begin, Wilson chased Brown with his gun

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opposed to simply his baton or mace, which demonstrates that he never intended to stop

Brown, but possibly seriously injure or kill him. After initially shooting Brown, various

suspects state that Brown approached Wilson with his hands raised, surrendering himself.

Wilson had used a total of 12 rounds to kill Brown, but officers are only authorized to use

deadly force if they truly believe their life is in danger.

Even more shockingly, after the death of Mike Brown more racial discrimination

continued to be de displayed. At approximately 12:07PM Mike Brown had been

pronounced dead and it wasn’t until 2:30PM that the forensic investigator arrived but was

unable to take pictures of the scene because his camera batteries were dead. Not only was

it unusual that the investigator was unable to take pictures, but that Mike Brown’s body

was not escorted until 4:37PM. Therefore, his body was lying in the middle of the street

for approximately 4 ½ hours. Most importantly, the most significant display of racial

discrimination was showed when the police report of the event was not filed until 10 days

after it had occurred. The report was then approved and released as a solved case the day

following its report.

Trayvon Martin Case

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On February 26, 2012 a 17-year-old black male, Trayvon Martin was also shot and killed

by a police official. The event occurred in the town of Sanford, Florida where Trayvon

Martin was killed by neighborhood watch official George Zimmerman. Before the death

of Martin, Zimmerman was reporting a call to the police regarding suspicious activity

within the Florida neighborhood. Zimmerman continued the phone call with the police,

but as Martin began to ran Zimmerman pursued him. Within the chase Zimmerman ended

his phone call with the police due to an outbreak of a physical altercation that took place

between both suspects that resulted in the death Trayvon Martin.

1. George Zimmerman’s Standpoint

Although this event attained the most public attention regarding racial

discrimination, first the standpoint of George Zimmerman must be examined. To begin,

Zimmerman was working as a watchman for a neighborhood that frequently reported

criminal activity. Zimmerman had spotted Martin as he appeared to be committing some

suspicious activity. When Martin began to run, Zimmerman felt responsible for not

allowing Martin to leave after acting suspiciously. Zimmerman then chased Martin, but

was told by the police officer he was speaking to over the phone that it was unnecessary.

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Zimmerman was attempting to do the right thing, but perhaps he did too much. When

Zimmerman found Martin, a physical altercation began. In the physical altercation,

Zimmerman feared for his life after being punched in the face and drew his firearm. He

shot Martin once, which resulted in his death.

2. Victim’s Standpoint

Although Zimmerman claims that Martin may have been guilty of acting

suspiciously through the neighborhood, was simply because he was a black male?

Additionally, that does not mean that Zimmerman was racially motivated to catch Martin.

Prior to the Trayvon Martin shooting, Zimmerman had made nearly 50 phone calls to the

police regarding break-ins, loud music, and disturbances. However, in each of these

phone calls Zimmerman specifically reported the race of all suspects. Before the shooting

occurred, Martin had been visiting his father’s fiancé who lived in the same

neighborhood of where the shooting took place. When Zimmerman called the police from

his phone he was asked to provide the address of the location, but never asked to pursue

the suspect. Zimmerman did not follow orders and continued to look for Martin until he

was found. Essentially, Zimmermann instigated all that followed. Also, would

Zimmerman have pursued the suspect if he were white? Upon the meeting of both

individuals a physical altercation erupted. Martin was unarmed throughout the entire

altercation and was perhaps provoked due to Zimmerman being racially motivated to

catch his suspect. However, Zimmerman claimed that his life was at risk against an

unarmed man, which resulted in shooting Martin.

Eric Garner Case

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The last case involves the death of a black male named Eric Garner who was also killed

by police officials. Eric Garner was choked to death on the streets of Staten Island, New

York after he was surrounded by numerous police officers for allegedly selling cigarette

packs without tax stamps placed on them. Garner was originally approached for

suspiciously selling these cigarettes so he began to be questioned by police officials.

Garner denied the accusations and began to make a scene by yelling in response. After

the yelling, officers began initial attempts to arrests Garner. The 43-year-old black male

resisted the arrest, which drew the attention of numerous officers towards helping in the

arrest of Garner. White Officer Daniel Pantaleo was the individual who placed his arm

around the much taller Garner and began to choke him onto the ground. As Garner was

choked towards the ground he repeated 11 times the words, “I can’t breathe.” This

resulted in Garner becoming unconscious and led to his death about an hour later in the

hospital.

1. Police Department’s Standpoint

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To begin, Eric Garner was a 6’4’’ tall and 350lb black male, which can be

understandably intimidating. Prior to the altercation, Garner yelled and complained,

which drew much public attention. After the altercation began between Garner and the

officers, one may assume that there was something suspicious regarding the victim. After

the yelling, Garner proceeded to be choked and although he did mention he could not

breathe, police assumed he could because he was still speaking. No officer performed

CPR at the scene because they believed Garner was able to breathe because of his

speaking, but he shortly died an hour after the event.

2. Victim’s Standpoint

Eric Garner was perhaps the most innocent victim of the three cases and the one

most victimized by racial discrimination. Garner was well known within his

neighborhood as a peacemaker and a good man. Garner who seemed to be minding his

own business prior to the event even stated, "Get away [garbled] for what? Every time

you see me, you want to mess with me. I'm tired of it. It stops today. Why would you...?

Everyone standing here will tell you I didn't do nothing. I did not sell nothing. Because

every time you see me, you want to harass me. You want to stop me [garbled] Selling

cigarettes. I'm minding my business, officer, I'm minding my business. Please just leave

me alone. I told you the last time, please just leave me alone." After this statement by

Garner, Officer Pantaleo began to apply a chokehold. However, this had to be evident

racial discrimination because chokeholds have been banned from the New York Police

Department since 1993. If you need even more clarification that Eric Garner was a victim

of racial discrimination here is the video of the complete event.

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http://time.com/3016326/eric-garner-video-police-chokehold-death/

Recommendations

These three cases all demonstrate some form of racial discrimination. This form

of discrimination is specifically from police officers against black males. Although the

United States prides itself as a multicultural accepting country, the three cases prove that

not all individuals are accepting of others. Due to these unfortunate truths, I propose

three changes in polices in order to help reduce deaths due to racial discrimination.

Although it would be difficult to change or terminate all racial discrimination with a

single policy, the purpose of these policies would be to avoid the end result of racial

discrimination such as death.

1. Adopt UK Gun Policy

The first policy would be to adopt the United Kingdom’s gun policy. Opposed to

most developed countries, the majority of British police officers do not carry firearms.

Officers simply carry batons and maces in case situations do become hectic. Additionally,

attaining a gun in the United Kingdom is much more difficult than it is in the United

States. The process is significantly more complicated and very few citizens actually own

their own guns. If individuals do become allowed to own their own guns, a police officer

can evoke their rights if they feel they can no longer be trusted with possession of their

weapon. By adopting the United Kingdom’s gun policy this would mean that attaining

gun for all individuals would also become much more difficult. After the adoption has

been made the goal would be to reduce the quantity of guns and firearms owned by

individuals, which could eventually lead to our own police force decreasing the quantity

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of guns American officers would carry. As seen from the three cases, two of the deaths

were caused because of the use of guns. If these laws were instated the homicide rate in

the United States could be significantly reduced. Due to these laws the United Kingdom

has resulted in having one of the lowest gun homicide rates in the world. Additionally,

gun homicides accounted for 2.4% of all homicides in the year 2009 for all nations.

2. Body Cameras

The second change in policy would be to require police officers to wear body

cameras at all times. The purpose of this policy would be to have all of police officer’s

actions consistently under surveillance. This would prevent inaccurate testimonies of

criminal events by providing proper evidence that could not be disputed during the

occurrence of an event. This would also propel police officers to carry out the best course

of action in order to prevent any criticism of their actions.

3. Police Interaction Education Program

Similar to sex education programs, a Police Interaction Education Program should

be implemented into high school education curriculums for the purpose of educating

individuals on what actions they can legally do, cannot do, and what they should do when

interacting with a police officer. The initial step of the program would be to teach

individuals their constitutional rights so that they are properly equipped when confronted

by government entities. This could be educational program could be supplemented by

adding a scenario-based learning component to its structure. The scenario-based learning

would incorporate teaching individuals what are the appropriate actions to be taken given

a set of circumstances in a given situation. The ultimate goal of the program would be to

provide individuals with appropriate steps to take when they are placed in situations of

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adversity with a police officer, such as in the Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin, and Eric

Garner Case. This would eliminate any sort of unpredicted altercation that could possibly

save an individual’s life.

In conclusion, by adopting and or incorporating the mentioned recommendations

into current policies, individuals of all colors and ethnicities would be more protected

against acts of racial discrimination. In taking into consideration the statistics of black vs.

white incarceration rates and deaths caused by firearms it would be in the American

society’s best interest to improve its current state by adding these recommendations. The

implementation of these policies would not create an immediate change, but as the

policies become more developed and acknowledged there will be a reduction in homicide

rates due to reducing the variables that contribute to the deaths of minority individuals.

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References:

"Behind the Video of Eric Garner's Deadly Confrontation With New York

Police." Time. Time, n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2014

"Criminal Justice Fact Sheet." Criminal Justice Fact Sheet. N.p., n.d. Web. 14

Dec. 2014.

"Gun Control and Ownership Laws." BBC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec.

2014.

Ian fisher (November 24, 1993).”Kelly Bans Choke Holds By Officers”.

NYT. Retrieved December 6, 2014.

McLaughlin, Eliott C., Joe Sutton, Faith Karimi, Mayra Cuevas, Ben

Brumfield, Catherine E. Shoichet, and Jason Carroll. "What We Know about

Michael Brown's Shooting." CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 15 Dec.

2014.

“NYPD Strips Badge, Gun From Cop Involved In Fatal Chokehold, Gothamist.” July 20, 2014

"The Actual Facts of The Eric Garner Case." Breitbart News Network. N.p.,

n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2014

"Trayvon Martin Shooting Fast Facts." CNN. Cable News Network, 22 Feb.

2014. Web. 15 Dec. 2014.

Sullivan, C. (July 18, 2014). “Man dies after suffering heart attack during

arrest”. New York Post (New York City: Jesse Angelo). Retrieved August 10,

2014.

“Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Holds Media Availability With Police

Commissioner Bratton On The Death of Eric Garner” Nyc.gov. Retrieved 13

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December 2014.

“UNODC Homicide Statistics”. United Nationals Office on Drugs and Crime.

Retrieved 8 August 2013.

Waldren, Michael J. (2007). Armed Police, The Police Use of Firearms since

1945. England: Sutton. p. 224

United Kingdom – Gun Facts, Figures and the Law. Gun Policy.

"Gun Control and Ownership Laws." BBC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec.

2014.

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1 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/heroesvillains/transcript/g6cs4s1t.htm22 http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/09/06/incarceration-gap-between-whites-and-blacks-widens/33 http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/12/enough-us-anti-racism-protests-2014121472141788252.html44 http://www.naacp.org/pages/criminal-justice-fact-sheet