BY STUDENT
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Criminalising of Africans Americans have been going since the dawn of time. Started first with slavery then just become more modern as times started to change. Since Martin luther king and various activist started there national movement for equal rights for blacks, whites and different minority groups, the issue still rises today. What can we do as a society to come together and combat this everlasting deep scare?
The reason I put this picture as the start of this topic because this picture speaks volumes to what has happened in history to minority groups and what is still going on till this day. African Americans with regard with the law in many cases have not ended. Depending on the situation some even lose their lives. Not only law enforcement, city and land owners see opportunities when it comes to black communities. In the reading Muhammad: The Criminalization of African American Places part 1, it talks about how low economic places within the african american communities are targets. There targets for land owners to move and for those to move out such as African Americans. In addition, with African americans moving up that would cause some problems and commotions leading to politicians to call on law enforcement. Whether law enforcement does effective or ineffective police work didn't matter, just the fact that politicians saw a problem and “tried to fix it”.
To answer the question that I pose before: What can we do as a society to come together and combat this everlasting deep scare? In my opinion those that are privileged need to recognize that they are first. Then I believe not just black or white but asians and etc should come together and talk about key aspects of there story regarding this probleem. I would like to know your thought and what you think how society should combat this forever issue?
Sources
● Muhammad. The Criminalization of African American Places. blackboard.albany.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-3553828-dt-content-rid-58366571_1/courses/2193-ALCS-283-9972/chapter6_part1.pdf.
I agree with you in the sense that African American have historically been targeted and subjected to slavery and the prison system. This fight for justice will be a forever on- going mission for people of color. With that, understanding your own privilege is hard to do, especially in school settings (middle school, high school.) So in order to come together as a society, we need to not only look upon ourselves but also the institutions that enforce and projected this type of judgement and racist views.
ReplyDeleteThe picture you used reminded me of the pepsi commercial with Kendall Jenner where police brutality is seen as solvable through sharing a beverage. When considering the criminalization of African Americans and people of color overall, Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Mask is applicable. Through my interpretation of the ‘white mask’ it is this pushed norm and way many are told to live their life. It appears differently with time and covers the truth and can only be seen when in does not work in your favor. Through our lectures we see the criminalization and oppressing of people done through using the law and strategic play on words to work against rights for people of color and further dehumanizing them. I think it will take people with power to become a barrier of protection to bring change.
ReplyDelete-Jclarke
The criminalization of people of color will always have an affect on how the people the United States see law enforcement. Based on my experiences and encounters with the law, there's no winning because they will have the power to enforce their laws against you even you didn't do anything wrong. People need to keep protesting the misuse of law enforcement to bring more attention to the problem so cases of police brutality can occur less.
ReplyDelete