In an attempt to look beyond the issue of race in the Brown and Garner incidents that have captured the nation's attention you might want to check out this slideshow the Los Angles Times put together that not only bring attention to the racial aspect but socio-economic factors, gender factors and perhaps even the simple issue of the level of training and/or expertise that police officers are given with regards to the use of lethal force in incredibly stressful situations.
Inspired by Kaya's post on the Garner case.
http://graphics.latimes.com/towergraphic-controversial-police-cases/
Interesting. Only one out of the 10 victims was female, and only one out of the 10 was white. It seems that the black man is most often stereotyped to be dangerous and shady, and therefore needs to be kept on watch. This reminds me of an episode of the ABC Primetime show "What Would You Do?". Three different actors one black man, one white man, and one white woman were put in the same situation: after a businessman (also an actor) left his car unattended, the actor would go to the car and begin to take out contents. Bystanders were mostly upset by the black man, but some people actually helped out the white woman when she asked for help to carry out a huge stand. This supports the fact that people are inclined to suspect males, especially men of color, much more than any other person.
ReplyDelete"Just Walk On By: Black Men in Public Spaces" was a fantastically insightful piece we read in English class last week, and I think it really sheds light on the issue of racial profiling. The author, Brent Staples, describes the experience of others crossing to the other side of the street when he approached, being mistaken for a criminal in his own workplace, and having to hear the sound of car doors being locked every time he passes by in vivid detail. As someone who will never truly experience this unique point of view, I found the fact that we as a society inflict such emotional trauma without thinking about it quite disturbing.
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