On July 10, 2015 the Confederate Flag, a symbol of Confederate racism, was lowered. The racist associations with the Confederate Flag still remain today, even after its removal. Directly, the removal of this flag is caused by the nation’s disgust at the actions of one man: Dylann Roof, who entered the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church on June 17, 2015 and murdered nine African Americans. Although Roof’s actions led to the removal of the flag, the continuous police brutality and the way mainstream culture views African Americans led to Roof’s brutal massacre, which in turn led to the removal of the Confederate Flag. Police brutality occurs against those of all races and genders. A new form of violence between civilians and police …show more content…
Garner was murdered about two weeks before Michael Brown, but his death was not as widely known until the video footage of him begging a police officer to stop choking him was released, but especially not until mass protests in Ferguson and around the country began. The cultivation of disdain for the brutality African Americans faced in America grew more and more as more information about Eric Garner’s death surfaced. The released video showed footage of Garner being forced down onto the ground in a chokehold, followed by multiple New York Police Department Officers who held Garner down as he repeatedly said, “I can’t …show more content…
The misuse of authority by police officers in the murders of Michael Brown and Eric Garner as well as the negative view society holds for African Americans, gave Dylann Roof and still gives other people like him the idea that it is possible to get away with murdering minorities. These societal judgments and misconduct by authority figures are what caused Dylann Roof to go to the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC and shoot nine innocent people. Roof’s deep-rooted racist views and a culture that supported these views led to the deaths of Reverend Clementa Pinckney, Tywanzza Sanders, Reverend Sharonda Singleton, Cynthia Hurd, Reverend DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Ethel Lance, Susie Jackson, Myra Thompson, and Reverend Daniel Simmons