Racial Discrimination In The Case Of Colten Boushie In Battleford

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Summary In Battleford, Saskatchewan an Indigenous man, Colten Boushie, was fatally shot and murdered by Gerald Stanley, a caucasian Saskatchewan farmer in August of 2016. A group of young, Indigenous adults along with Colten Boushie were consuming alcohol during the day and attempted to break and enter a truck on a nearby farm. They were unsuccessful in following through on their attempt to commit breaking and entering due to a flat tire. In an effort to find help, this group went to the Stanley property in hopes of getting help with a flat tire. Gerald Stanley believed that his ATV was being stolen and fired warning shots believing it would scare the young adults away. When Stanley reached into the vehicle to take the keys, he claims that ‘his gun “just went off”’ (Graveland, 2018). The case came to trial this year, 2018, and the jury came to a verdict of not guilty which upset Boushie’s family, the First Nations people, and many …show more content…

The incident in which Colten Boushie was shot by Gerald Stanley is an example of an interaction of 2 different groups in society and their behaviour towards each other. In “[exposing] racial tensions”, that examines the racial discrimination which might have created a bias for members the jury to find the man of a similar social class or background not guilty. As a minority, Indigenous people are small in number compared to the rest of society and as a result are seen as a lower class on the social hierarchy. This case displays the idea that when minorities face sociological problems within the legal system or in general, society, they are less able to ensure the justice being served. A sociologist would be interested in studying the response to Boushie’s death and what general patterns of human behaviour arise from the Indigenous

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