Justice or Just Us?: Black People’s Contentious Relationship With Law Enforcement
Justice or Just Us is the namesake and first segment within the topic of Justice or Just Us. The focus of this discussion is centered on Black’s contentious relationship with the criminal justice system as a whole and how that impacts in the Black Community.
The 3 Questions
1. Does the Black Community have a legitimate beef with the criminal justice system as a whole (law enforcement, courts, etc.) or are the feelings of mistreatment exaggerated and or a figment of Our collective psyche?
2. Do you feel a heavy police presence in impoverished or predominantly Black Communities is necessary or a ploy against poor and Black people, why or why not?
3. How would you characterize your personal interactions with the justice system and what do you feel is the biggest problem with it?
FRONT STREET
Jaywalking….that’s the crime that got an unarmed black teenager killed by the police in Ferguson, Missouri. People can slice it however they want to justify what happened, but in its most basic form, a child was killed for not walking across the street within a crosswalk. The outrage over this and other similar situations has brought to the forefront the injustices faced by Black and poor communities since the end of slavery. The dirty and unwritten truths believed in these communities is the entire system wants to destroy, defile, and disrupt any progress our possibility of progress for Black people and people in these impoverished communities. But this line of thinking, even if justifiable, only leads to more questions and more confusion. Is there a conspiracy against Black people from law enforcement? Is there really a vested interest in seeing the poor population remain in dire situations? If not, why are police so quick to over police Black people and impoverished neighborhoods? This line of thought is the starting point to a new way of addressing an issue as old as America and question as tough to answer as any that We currently pose. With that being said, let’s discuss if the attitude of just Us is contributing to the destruction of the Black Community?
Please write in and response to our 3 poll questions or post some questions that you would like to see asked. These question and more were addressed on 8/2/2014 during the discussion which is now airing on YouTube.
1. The justice system is flawed like most man made institutions. People should acknowledge that this is the case but also understand the overall purpose. There should be beef with the individuals that abuse power and corrupt the system but the anger should be focused on those individuals and not the whole system.
2. Poor people of all races commit more crimes. This is not a race issue for me. It’s a reality of the world and human nature. I don’t think the heavy police presence in poor areas is based on the statistics and crime rate. It’s necessary.
3. I have had positive and negative (relatively) experienced with law enforcement and the judicial system. I have been racially profiled. And I have also encountered genuinely good people who have helped me out. The biggest problem to me is personnel and screening. If you’re a dirtbag before you’re a cop, lawyer or judge, you will be a dirtbag as a cop, lawyer or judge. So…personnel is the biggest problem to me.
1. I feel that black people have a legitimate beef with the criminal justice system because in a lot of ways, the criminal justice system was created to keep whites safer when black people were granted freedom at the end of the Civil War. White folks, in particular the white, male, landowners that created this country and in effect this system, have long feared retaliation for their crimes against humanity and in particular against black people. This fear has led to gun laws pertaining to black people, harsher sentences directed towards black people, and a greater police presence in black neighborhoods. That’s why we are the usual suspects, warn our kids of how to act around the police, and why I feel that the beef is legit!!!
2. I feel that it’s necessary only when the residents want it and not just based on the ethnic or the economic make-up of the community. However too often I feel that they put cops in some places to appease some politicians get tough on crime strategy, using these poor disenfranchised people and places as stat stuffers.
3. I have mixed interactions with the police. Often times I feel that they are just trying to do their job. However, on far too many occasion I have been harassed, suspected, and falsely accused of things by law enforcement frankly just based on the way that I look or because I am in a place that the cops don’t think I should be. This brings me to my biggest problem with the police, their unwarranted suspicion of black people. Yes we have a criminal element but so does everyone else. We aren’t committing all the crimes!!!!
1. I do believe that black people have a legitimate beef with the legal system in this country. Case and point look at the jail population, many blacks go to jail for minor violations at a higher rate than all races combined. The system was not made for our achievements, but for our demise. They start perparing for our burial the moment we are born. We are harassed everywhere we go from shopping to driving in our cars. They fear us and because they fear us they set up a system that works against us. We are animals to them , so they cage us. If we can not be tamed they kill us. Look at Martin and Malcom, Walter, and Mike and many more who could not be controlled by the system all dead.
2. No I don’t think it’s necessary for a heavy police presence in all black neighborhood or impoverished communities, unless the people can not police themselves. The way that we are structured within our own communities as individuals oppose to a village; we tend need outside help. If we as people pull together and monitor and control crime there would be no need. Look back during the times of segregation we were once like that.
3. I have mostly positive experiences with law enforcement officers. I have yet to ran into a crocked cop. I do believe the biggest problem with law enforcement as with all people is they see race and sex first, and ask questions later.