In the past two years, there have been two instances where the lives of innocent teenagers have been taken over nothing. Both 17 year old Trayvon Martin and 18 year old Michael Brown were killed by Caucasian males despite the fact that they were both unarmed at the time. Both shootings have created unrest within the African American communities across the country, and if justice isn’t served for the victims we will never see a period of peace and rest within those communities.
Michael Brown was the 18 year old son of Michael Brown Sr and Lesley McSpadden. Brown was a recent graduate of Normandy High School, a school with a high poverty rate, in St. Louis, Missouri and was to attend Vattercott College two days after he was slain. He lived in
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The night following Brown’s shooting, police dressed in riot gear came to break up an unruly crowd following a prayer vigil held in Brown’s memory. The following day, officers had to resort to using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a massive crowd at a local convenience store that had been burned down and looted earlier. On August 13, the local government instated a mandatory curfew due to the reoccurring violence from the preceding days. I don’t believe the protesters are justified in looting the stores in the area, however I do believe they are justified in protesting the local government on not providing justice for the situation. Whether Michael Brown fought the officer or not, he still had his hands up when Wilson’s gun was drawn. When someone’s hands are up in the air that usually means they are surrendering themselves from the situation. The autopsy shows that with the way the bullets hit his body, he was more than likely in a hands up position. This is the second time fatal violence against and unarmed black teenager has occurred, the first being Trayvon Martin. With the way that case turned out, it’s safe to infer that Wilson will face no justice for shooting Brown. Our government claims to “protect” us under law, however it fails to do its job. We aren’t honoring Michael through the violence and looting, but we are through the peaceful protests in order to gain justice for his
In John Edgar Wideman’s article, “Looking at Emmett Till” shows Emmett’s horrific murder as the living proof of the racism that occurred at that time in history and how it has revived its way back to distress our country with the same racism that existed 61 year ago. Today, more than ever, African Americans are facing another battle for equality. It seems as if the phrase, “history eventually repeats itself” has been prove by the continuous breaking news of African Americans been murder by white police officers. The murder of Emmett Till happened 61 years ago, but his loss has found new significance, as reaching back to the lynching of a 14-year-old boy in Mississippi has stretched into the murders of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown in recent
There were no charges made against officer Wilson even with the suspects that claimed Michael Brown didn't do anything wrong . Police brutality has made black people take a stand and they formed the Black Lives Matter Movement.The Black Lives Matter movement started in 2012 after George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch coordinator for the gated community, shot and killed Trayvon Martin. Following Martin’s death protests, rallies, and marches were held all across the nation. The Black Lives Matter movement includes all the ways in which black lives are less powerful at the hands of the state, it is a call for action against brutality by police and vigilantes, people who take the law into their own hands by trying to catch or punish someone in their own way. Politicians are also trying to straighten gun laws to prevent homicides like Bernie Sanders. Sanders wants stricter background checks so guns won’t be in the wrong hands. He also wants to ban assault weapons to citizens that were made to kill people. I personally think this can help improve our nation because it will give people with a criminal history less chances of owning guns but it also gives a right to people without a criminal background to be able to own guns for their own
A classic case of race. Trayvon Martin, a young black teen, walked down the street one afternoon with a bottle of tea and a pack of skittles, before encountering a man of a different ethnic background- George Zimmerman. That tragic day was the last one Mr. Martin would ever see and it brings about the question, “Is his death justified by law?” Some may argue Zimmerman acted out of self-defense. Still others say a boy lost his life due to acts of racism. Sounds similar to the case mentioned in Twelve Angry Men, does it not? Jurors in that story were ready to send someone to their grave because of their color. In all honesty though, when the judicial system is served correctly, justice will be dished out no matter if an individual is black, white, blue, or yellow. Throughout the Zimmerman trial and the case told in Twelve Angry Men only one verdict could be reached based on evidence. Due to a plethora of personalities, one can conclude that coming to a ruling was not an easy task for either jury.
Is people going to forget what happen in Ferguson? How about George Zimmerman being proven not guilty? Or that Eric Garner was screaming “ I can’t breathe” before his death? There are lists of African Americans all over the world who were not given the justice that they deserved. In todays, news African Americans are being treated unfairly compared to any other demographic groups. America is the greatest country in the world, but it is difficult to believe that being in the 21st century racism still does exist. For instance, when it was time to remove the confederate flag, some demographic groups had a hard time letting go. People who argue that “blue lives matter,” which states that police are justified when using force and being unfair. These reasons are not justifiable enough to kill someone. Black Lives Matter alleges that police target and use
The family of Michael Brown wanted justice for their son in which they felt was an unjust shooting. His mother was quoted expressing mistrust towards the police, "You 're not God. You don 't decide when you 're going to take somebody from here.” (McLaughlin, E. C. (2014, August 15) The family was obviously hurt by the shooting and wanted justice and support. The community began protesting the shooting and Officer Darren Wilson. Chaos broke out in Ferguson and a State of Emergency was issued. The community felt that the shooting was unjust and did not trust police officers. The community response to the shooting often attracted attention and made many political statements. Darren Wilson’s family were interested in maintaining his innocence. They hoped that the investigation would prove to the world that Wilson acted out of self-defense and did not violate Brown’s rights. The Criminal Justice system’s interests all hoped to create reforms and eliminate racism in police departments. On the local level many had to maintain safety in the community and assure proper police procedures. The state had to step into issue curfews and State of Emergencies to keep the state safe despite protests and riots as well as make sure Darren Wilson did not violate any laws of the state of Missouri. The state also hoped to create reforms to better race relations. On the federal level was the investigation which hoped to find out if the
On December 14th 2012, just 11 days before Christmas, an awful tragedy happened in Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty-six people were shot at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. This awful event left a lot of unanswered questions and rumors about that day. The reason for that is because the shooter killed himself after shooting twenty young children and six adults. This tragedy open the eyes of everyone; made you want to hug your loves one just a little tighter, appreciate what you still have and never take a day for granted. Even our president Barack Obama felt the pain of all those who lost their loved ones in this event. He insured everyone that he will do everything in his power to make sure a tragedy like this will not happen again. However, did you know that there have been over 44 school shootings since the tragedy of Sandy Hook Elementary shooting? I know as a future teacher and mother I want to make sure my children are safe in this world and even at school. I want to be able to make a difference in this issue and have some knowledge to have I can do that. The society should understand what really happen during the Sandy Hook event, the reasons behind why school shootings/violence are rapidly increasing each year, and have some knowledge about what we, as a society, can do to help in order for us to start seeing a decrease of these events.
“I have a dream that one day right here in Alabama little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.” –Martin Luther King Jr. (Atkinson). Racism is believed to be a part of the past. In many circumstances it is, such as the desegregation of the army and schools. In light of this fact, tensions between whites and blacks have been increasingly seen in the recent shootings of unarmed black boys. This is determined in many different scenarios such as: George Zimmerman shooting unarmed Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old playing with a toy gun being shot by a city police officer, and one of the most recent and controversial, Michael Brown being shot down by a
On April 20, 1999 in a suburban town called Littleton, Colorado one high school was about to have one of the most tragic and deadly days in US history. Columbine High School was in the forefront of this tragedy. Two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, opened fire on their fellow classmates and teacher. These two students cut the lives short of thirteen students and one teacher. They then turned their guns onto themselves leaving the nation with no answers as to why? They did leave videotape. This videotape contained Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold planning their attack on Columbine High School. This piece of evidence showed two students that were not part of the "in crowd". They were outsiders, losers, as some would consider them. They were taunted, humiliated, and disrespected by their classmates. But how can two intelligent students do something as deadly as they did. Was it because they had bad parents? Not at all, they even went out of their way to save their parents the blame by repeatedly saying that it was not their fault that they were about to do what they did. So what was the cause of all this tragedy and how can it be stopped so it can never happen again in our middle schools and high schools? Elliot Aronson a social psychologist wrote a book called Nobody Left to Hate, Teaching Compassion After Columbine. This book represents his ideas on how to use certain strategies to have a better school environment that teaches compassion, tolerance while putting education in a winning situation.
One of the most horrific tragedies that could ever happen in one of our nation’s elementary schools occurred on December 14, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. Around 9:30 a.m. a heavily armed lone gunman, blasted his way through a window located to the right of the front door of Sandy Hook Elementary school using a Bushmaster .223 caliber rifle. It only took six .223-caliber bullets to shatter enough glass to create a hole big enough for him to enter through. The name of this lone gunman was 20 year old Adam Lanza, a former student at Sandy Hook. In addition to his rifle, Adam also brought with him, two pistols (a Glock and a Sauer); which he kept inside a pair of military-style cargo pants he was wearing. He was also wearing a utility vest that contained ten magazine with thirty rounds each in its pockets. Once inside the school he entered the school’s main office and nurse’s office. He did not see the staff members who had been hiding, so he headed back out into the hallway.
According to Apel (2014), on August 9,2014, Michael Brown,18, an unarmed black man of Ferguson, Missouri was shot and killed by a white police officer named Darren Wilson. Considering the evidence, a grand jury decided not to indict Wilson. This sparked a nationwide protest. People came from near and far to protest the judge’s decision. It was no peaceful protest, it might have appeared to start out as a nonviolent protest, but like many protests, it quickly turned violent. People wanted justice and the people felt as though the system once again had felled them. Barnett (2014), a reporter says that after the shooting groups such as the “New Black Panthers,” demanded a rebellion against the officer who shot Brown. For a while the head of police was not going to reveal the name of the officer who killed the Brown, but after a series of violent protest, the head of police released the officer’s name. If violence was not used during the protest it would not have received worldwide attention. Furthermore, the public would not have known the officer who killed Brown. Due to the amount of attention the Michael Brown’s case received and because of the amount of passion the protestors had and how they were willing to die to get their point across sparked attention. Requiring many people who were in the political spotlight to
The Columbine High School Massacre happened on April 20, 1999. The Shooters were Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, two senior students who wanted to destroy the world they lived in. Their motives:
Brown, was unarmed, and shot on August 9, 2014 by a white officer. The shooting and result in his death caused a “firestorm of protests and re-animating national conversations on issues of race, policing, and violence in the U.S”, according to Vice News (2014). Brown was shot and his body was left on the ground dead for nearly four hours before he was taken. His funeral was conducted two weeks after, according to USA Today, the Reverend sadly mentioned that Brown was laying on the ground dead for four hours like his “life… didn’t matter” (2015). I do admit the death threats that the Ferguson Police Department received from families, was dangerous. However, one can only put up with so much discrimination and inequality before they snap and say or do terrible
It should never be a case that a harmless, unarmed person must lie down on their back, die and receive no justice for us to want to get up and support racial equality. We must rebuild the Black liberation movement. We have to promote racial equality when African American children are serving years in jail for possession of marijuana, but privileged White children get 6 months on a rape charge. We have to also promote the minor injustices in the Black community; we cannot wait until the next death to decide we want to speak out. We have to take action now to speak out for the rights and freedom for all people. To give the next generation, who may even be your own children the benefit to not have to fight this fight of racial inequality and they could have the opportunity in seeing everyone as
In 2014, the death of Eric Garner in New York City raised controversial conversations and highlighted the issues of race, crime, and policing in neighborhoods that tend to be poor and racially isolated. Garner, an unarmed black man, was killed after being tackled and held in a “chokehold.” According to the AP Polls in December 2014, “Police killings of unarmed blacks were the most important news stories of 2014.” The problem is that young black men are targeted by police officers in which they have responded with the misuse of force and policy brutality. It is evident that this issue affects many people nationwide. The civilians do not trust the police department and the justice system because they hold the perceptions that police officers are immune from prosecution despite their actions. In particular, black individuals, specifically black males, do not feel safe in the presence of police officers because they are not held accountable for their mistakes.
In the national registration of exoneration, 2111 people being released for a crime they didn't commit. Out of the 2111 people, 985 were black and the other 1126 were a combination of caucasian, hispanic and others. The statistics shows that, almost half of the people exonerated were innocent black people. A black person that is convicted of murdering a white victim is 50% more likely to be innocent of that crime. The law enforcement targeting black males, as caused society to see black males in a dangerous point of view. The story Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old boy who was gunned down because his killer George zimmerman chose to not listen to the police instruction. On his way home after buying a bag of skittles and a can of iced tea from 7-eleven Trayvon was approached by Zimmerman. Zimmerman confronted Trayvon because he suspected him of doing something, which resulted in both men fighting on the floor. Tayvion was killed during this altercation by Zimmerman’s gun, and zimmerman was arrested for it. Even after ignoring the police instruction of not to approach Trayvon, he was released on the plea of self defense. According to Blow (2012), “One other point:Trayvon is black Zimmerman is not.” In making this case, Blow acknowledge the theory of how the death of black males are not taken seriously by law