critical perspective
Year by year, nothing really changes in America regarding the deadly issue of police brutality within communities of color. Unarmed black and brown people continue to be abused by police officers. This issue is far from anything new to the American society. The so-called multi-colored “tapestry” of America is stained with blood and tears. Unfortunately as each year passes more and more unnecessary blood spills onto the already tainted cloth. Police officers, for generations, and before them gangs of white men, have hunted down black men as if they were wild animals. There needed to be no “real crime”; the color of their skin was crime enough. Black men in America have always been considered as "not welcome."(Solomon Comissiong, 2010).Meaning they are not welcome. This is justification to treat black men as if they were dogs. In several instances, killing a black man will get you less time than if you were to take the life of a dog (Solomon Commissiong, 2010).
When we compare the cases of Michael Vick and the murderous Oakland police officer, Johannes Mehserle, we clearly see a case in which a black man (Michael Vick) received more jail time than officer Mehserle. Vick’s crime was that he was facilitating pit bull fights. Mehserle’s crime, he executed an unarmed 22-year old black man as he lay face down, handcuffed, and on the pavement. Killing a man in that manner should be considered a brutal crime in any justice oriented society, punishable by life behind bars, however this is America, justice does not reside here, especially if you are black or brown (Solomon Comissiong, 2010).
There is no getting around it; institutional racism and white supremacy are the reasons why police brutality runs rampant within black and brown communities. It doesn’t matter if it is MSNBC, CNN or Fox News, none of them could care less. And because they won’t report on it in its gravity, much of the public remains consensually apathetic. Despite America’s complicity regarding the systematic killing of people of color there is a cultural medium that has continually spoken out in the most vociferous manner regarding police brutality (Solomon Comissiong 2010).
When we compare the cases of Michael Vick and the murderous Oakland police officer, Johannes Mehserle, we clearly see a case in which a black man (Michael Vick) received more jail time than officer Mehserle. Vick’s crime was that he was facilitating pit bull fights. Mehserle’s crime, he executed an unarmed 22-year old black man as he lay face down, handcuffed, and on the pavement. Killing a man in that manner should be considered a brutal crime in any justice oriented society, punishable by life behind bars, however this is America, justice does not reside here, especially if you are black or brown (Solomon Comissiong, 2010).
There is no getting around it; institutional racism and white supremacy are the reasons why police brutality runs rampant within black and brown communities. It doesn’t matter if it is MSNBC, CNN or Fox News, none of them could care less. And because they won’t report on it in its gravity, much of the public remains consensually apathetic. Despite America’s complicity regarding the systematic killing of people of color there is a cultural medium that has continually spoken out in the most vociferous manner regarding police brutality (Solomon Comissiong 2010).