Images and video of Eric Garner’s murder by police generated outrage and protests across the nation. Many wept for the loss of this innocent, but for Black America, it was just another offense in a long series of transgressions against the black body. To them, the pain was familiar—they had known it by many names: slavery, Jim Crow, mass incarceration. Police brutality was nothing new. This situation was different, however.
The deadly shooting of Michael Brown by Officer Wilson, unveiled numerous issues within local law enforcement, that resulted in social controversy aimed at all of law enforcement. According to the BBC news, Brown was unarmed when he was fired upon by Wilson (“Ferguson unrest”, 2015). A projection from this incident has emerged, claiming that African Americans are killed more frequently than other races when confronted by law enforcement. The statistics have revealed that African Americans who are unarmed have been victim to violence with
Where an african american child was shot and killed, only, he did nothing wrong. Even if it was a small mistake, this caused uproar and outrage. The citizens of Ferguson started mobs and burned down shops, while the police fended them off as well as they could, but there was not much government intervention, which is why without a doubt, this kind of outrage may start again in another town. But, from small towns to big cities, the issue spreads. In San Bernardino, two people massacred coworkers at a party and fled the scene, even if the police did their best, people were still upset that this happened, which is totally understandable.
In February 2012 a racial war began. This war was fueled by the bias in the coverage from news broadcasters. This war brought grief, destruction, and unbalance in society. The shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman created unrest in the nation mainly because of the coverage by different popular news broadcasters. This tragedy stretched far beyond a shooting, but became a racial matter.
What made Ferguson a tragedy is different for both sides. Arguably, the death of the two cops in the race riots is what makes Ferguson such a tragedy. Each side wants to appeal to the nation through different means, using the tragedy as a call to action. Unlike the Chicago-Sun Times, which gives a poll of Americans who want to fix the racial inequality, the conservative papers appeal to one’s pathos in order to remediate what has been deemed as a tragedy. “The sad news is that even these cop shootings won’t do anything to get liberal activists and politicians to rethink their instinct to take any anti-cop side… regardless of the facts or consequences for the affected communities” (NY Post).
Police brutality is at an all time high, with the expansion of social media it has made racism appear more prominent. Racism is something that’s existed for generations however social media has given people the ability to see racism first hand for themselves and has also given the public to respond openly to the issue at hand. The Trayvon Martin case was one of the biggest cases that sparked the racial profiling discussion, Trayvon Martin was a African American male walking home from a convenient store at night with a hoodie on when he was racial profiled by George Zimmerman, a Hispanic male who saw trayvon martin as a threat based solely on the color of his skin and the hoodie that he was wearing. Trayvon was unarmed and harmless but do to someone else pre conceived
Ferguson case people realized that they could easily get away with widespread segregation. As time went on segregation became more and more integrated into daily life. “Strict laws were passed to forcibly separate blacks from whites in every sector of the society including education, restrooms, hotels, public transportation, sports, hospitals, prisons, and even cemeteries. African Americans were systematically denied the right to vote, and some cities established a 10:00 PM curfew for blacks” (Johnson) As time went on, more laws were passed denying African Americans access to many things in daily life.
Roar of the Crowd On April 27, 2015,There was a protest about the recent death of Freddie Grey who died while in police custody and following other similar incidents all over the country. There was rioting and looting and burning of business buildings in the communities but the police were told to not to use lethal force. However they were outgunned and outnumbered by Baltimore rioters. Only when a curfew was established and National Guard was brought in, was the riot quelled.
Social problems are described as a social condition that disrupts or damages a society. Racism is a social problem that has been about for centuries in America. It wasn’t until the late 20th century that racism and discrimination no longer became an acceptable way of thinking publicly. There is documentary on Netflix titled “Hate Crimes in the Heartland” this documentary shows just how prevalent racism is in the 21st century as it was in the 20th century. The documentary covered two hate crimes that took place in Tulsa, Oklahoma almost 90 years apart from one another.
On February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by former officer George Zimmerman. Instantly media had blown up with headlines involving the tragic fatality. Protests occurred titled as “Black Lives Matter” during the trial of Florida v. Zimmerman. These protests led to distrustful actions toward American government and American Law Enforcement. This protest wasn’t just a segmented time period event, it’s lasted from 2012 to present day and occurs daily and is expanding rapidly.
On my way back to Miami, waiting for my flight at La Guardia Airport in New York and was eager to board my plane, I decided to watch the nearby television to pass time. That’s when I learned about who Michael Brown was. He was an unarmed black teenager, shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, in Ferguson, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis. On the TV screen were countless vivid images of the scene of Brown’s death and almost instantly it became ground zero for local outrage. Devastated to hear that yet another another teenage boy was killed by law enforcement, it was clear to me that there was an urgent need for justice in the US.
Para 1.) “After police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old. The fatal gunshots, fired by a white police officer, Darren Wilson, on 9 August 2014, were followed by bursts of anger, in the form of protests and riots. Hundreds and then thousands, of local residents, had flooded the streets. The killing of Michael Brown created a new generation of black activists, with thousands taking to the streets, and a hashtag used more than 27m times.
Police officer’s reputations are reduced and they lose the public’s trust as protectors. Specifically, society talks about the act of a white police officer savagely attacking a black citizen. The black population was enraged by this act and formed activist movements to prevent any police brutality brought upon them. As the controversy rise, society starts picking a side to defend. In this case, the nation is split into two sides.
UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, JAMAICA COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES CARIBBEAN SCHOOL OF NURSING, UTECH Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Conflict Theory Submitted in partial fulfillment of the module SOC 1001: Sociology Submitted to: Mrs.Rená Blackwood-McIntosh (Lecturer) Prepared by: Michaella Pryce ID #: 1402203 Date: September 26, 2014 Montego Bay, Jamaica Conflict Theory A conflict may be defined as a disagreement resulting from an individual or groups of individuals due to a difference in attitude, beliefs, values or needs with unwillingness to conform. Conflicts may be interpersonal, intrapersonal, intergroup or intragroup conflicts.
John Galtung recommended that conflict could be observed as a triangle, with contradiction (C), attitude (A) and behaviour. He explained that all three aspects must be there in a full conflict condition. Contradiction is an important factor of a conflict which mentioned through the parties, their intentions and the clash of interests between them. Attitude comprises the parties’ views and misunderstandings of each other and of themselves. Behaviour is the third factor which can involve coercion or cooperation, gestures defining conciliation or hostility.
