In response to the recent murder of Trayvon Martin in Florida, I felt we should touch on this issue. I have included an interesting, yet potentially controversial article, I found while reading CNN. I have included this article below. The question I have for you is a simple one, yet complex: Do African Americans overall trust the police? Take this question and respond as you like. My only request is to be respectful in your responses.
Police Article
15 comments:
Oh geeze. Okay well I think that trusting the police is not necessarily different between the races in general because there are plenty of people, Caucasioan and African American, who do not trust the police. I know from expereince of growing up in a family with many city cops and firemen that trust is not always there when dealing with others. In the not so great areas of cleveland...there are more African Americans thatn white people. I have heard so many stories of completely disrespectful and uterly untrusting African Americans from my family member who are police officers but that is not to say that African Americans overall do not trust the police. (and that is not saying I am racist because for every negative sotyr I have heard of an African American criminal, I have heard at least two good stories about family friends or co-workers who are African American. Just because we live in Cleveland, a lot of people tend to think that African Americans do not trust the police and that they feel that the police are only out to get them because being of their race "must" make them criminals. I do not see it this way. There are plenty of people of any other race who feel the same way and I think it depends mostly on the areas at hand. I do not believe the police force descriminates against those of color and sure that may be because of my family and me seeing how respectful they are, but it's what I truly believe. I think there will always be some African Americans who feel descriminated against no matter what day in age and they will therefore descriminate against whites. It's still the case in todays society and I do not seeing it ever ending.
I don’t feel like I can accurately answer the question as to whether or not African Americans trust or not trust police officers anymore. This has to do with many different variables. It depends on what kind of neighborhood you live in and the people who live there as well. I don’t believe that you should judge all police officers based on what one officer has done. Yes I do agree that some police officers are still racist against African Americans and treat then badly, however that doesn’t seem to be the case with most officers. The mission of officers is to protect citizens and serve justice and I believe that most police officers try to do that. It seems like we always here about the negative when it comes to scandals involving police officers, however I know for a fact that there have been many inspiring actions that police officers have attributed to in the past. I totally do not agree with the way that these certain African Americans were treated, however I don’t believe that all African Americans should lose hope in police officers. There are many good officers out there, but unfortunately there are also some bad ones. It was extremely unfair for those who spoke out in the article of their mistreatment by officers and I strongly believe that that should be changed. There are definitely high standards for becoming a cop and if you are not respectful of all people then you have no right being there. I believe that it is ridiculous for this mistreatment to be going on and that many African Americans have a right to be mad.
I think it depends on how they grew up in their homes. I believe a lot of African Americans do trust them because many of them are cops themselves and respect their duty. There are some, however, who believe the police are just out to get them, especially because they are African American. Many will try to make it seem that the cops are trying to be racist toward them when they are actually doing their job. I am not saying this is just how African Americans feel but literally anyone and it does not have to be a minority group. Many whites may feel threatened by the police too and therefore not trust them either. It can all come back to how they grew up. If someone grew up in a home where their parents let them do anything they want, did not teach them manners or respect, and did not treat law enforcements with respect themselves, would be examples of why people may treat the police the way they do. Drugs and alcohol definitely come into affect in some cases. There are always reasons as to why people act the way they do, like in any situation, but to not trust the police is disrespectful to all the men and women who risk their lives protecting us. I really do not believe it is just African Americans who do not trust the police because everyone may find it hard to trust the police at times, depending on certain situations you may be in. I think that there might be some cops who have strong beliefs about race and may discriminate, just like law enforcement can be corrupt but the overall body of police respect and give everyone the same, equal treatment regardless of what color, gender, or ethnicity one is.
I feel that in this day and age everyone mistrusts cops. The news has scared too many of us with their stories about cop abuse, and tv shows make it worse. Also, I think that it is not right to blanket statement all blacks, because now record number of that race are now IN the police force. African Americans are no longer just the lawless but the law keepers. The times have changed and the social atmosphere has changed as well. There also has been a change in the criminal climate as well. No longer is it mostly white on minority crimes but black on black (etc) crimes. Violence is no longer race related, but has crossed the threshold of senseless violence. I think that there is no "race" that distrusts the police, but that this writer is trying to profile his race. If anyone has read the comments below his article, some of the writers identified themselves as blacks and slammed this article. I believe that this shows that it is no longer acceptable to try and blanket statement something, especially if people of that group disagree.
I would have to say that the majority of African Americans do not trust police. There are many who do, but however, overall (as the questions asks), I feel that they do not. They have many, many reasons to feel this way. All we have to do is take a look at our history, as the article suggests. There have been countless times that racism has been apparent in our society and the history of our society. Even if police are being kind and helpful, I think many African Americans do not trust them. One extremely obvious example is Trayvon. It was apparent that this case was not handled properly. The police barely gave information to the family. If I was in the family's position, I would not trust the police either. When I went to shadow at the courts, there were two people on jury duty who were asked to leave because they said they did not trust police and therefore could not fairly make a decision in the case. They explained previous run ins with the law and said they were dissatisfied with the police work. They were both African American. I do know of many policemen who are fair and only want justice, but sometimes there are some who slip up and even the government slips up sometimes. For example, the Tuskegee experiment was run by the government. In this experiment they purposefully gave African American males syphilis and studied the effects. They lied to the men and said they were curing them, however they were not. Obviously our country has had so many run ins with racism and other happenings that it is probably hard for an African American to trust the police. On the other hand though, the police may be stereotyping, but who does
not? They are just being observant and doing their jobs. SO, as you can see, this is a very argumentative and controversial subject that will probably not go away for a very long time.
I feel in this day and age that many people do not trust the police not just African Americans. The majority of African Americans may mistrust the police, but there are many more people that do. There have been many instances where the police were at fault, and many other times they make mistakes because they are human. I do think it is important that the article mentioned that they respect, sympathize, and appreciate the work they do because they are working to protect the neighborhoods we live. There have been many officers who have died in the line of duty and should be honored. However I think the fact that this article accused the police of firing their weapon at blacks is not because they are on the police force, it is because they are racists. Just because a person is a police officer does not mean that they are human beings like I said and judge people based on the color of their skin. However, I don't like how this article faults the police because a volunteer neighborhood watchman killed an African American. He is not a member of the police force. In this circumstance the only reason to not trust the police is because they did not investigate the 911 tapes. Yes, there are police officers that abuse their authority and should not be trusted, and in our world today that seems to happen more then it should, but I also think it is important to recognize the people who truly work to keep the streets safe.
Although I cannot really answer this in a completely straight forward way considering I am not an African American, I would say that no, African Americans do not generally trust the police. However, many other people don't either, whether they are Caucasian, Asian, Indian, or any other race. There were some pretty good points in this article though. One that was really interesting was about the Chardon shooting. Everyone knew about the shooting the morning of, but Trayvon's case only became public due to the lawsuit his mother filed. By reading about other events stated in this article, and with my own opinions, I do think that African Americans are treated unfairly more than Caucasian people. Obviously not all police are mean, but let's face it, we've all come across that cop that is unnecessarily rude and extremely cocky. I think cops are so quick to cuff and pull over African Americans due to their race's horrible stereotypical reputation, as bad as that sounds. I am by no means racist at all, but when I happen to drive through a bad neighborhood, I am very quick to lock my doors. Also, if I'm walking down the street and a middle aged man comes walking toward me, I get more nervous if the man is African American. I know that sounds horrible, but I also feel that it is an instinct of just being a teenage girl. Sorry, I've kind of gotten off topic. In summary, I feel that African Americans do not trust the police overall, and rightfully so from their past experiences of being treated unfairly by cops. Although civil rights isn't that big of an issue anymore like it was in the '60's, racial profiling and quick judgment/accusation still occurs, unfortunately.
Because I'm not African American, it's not fair of me to say or assume that all African Americans either trust or don't trust the police. I do know that there are some police officers who don't trust African Americans and treat them poorly based on their assumptions. Moreover, it goes both ways. Because of all the scandal and mistreatment of blacks we hear about on the news, I understand why they may not trust the police. However, there are people who trust them because they might live in a close-knit area. Therefore, it depends on the area in which they live in. For example, Cleveland is an area where the police officers are a mixture of different races. I think it's fair to say that most would trust the officers because of the adversity they live in and I would hope that the same goes for police officers. I don't think Cleveland is a racist city overall since there are so many different races that live in this city and the police officers who work here seem to be fair since they've probably lived here with the variety of different races for quite a while, but then again, anywhere you go, any minority will always face some type of discrimination , which is just how society unfortunately is today. Discrimination will always exist and there will always be the select few who are more sensitive on this topic than others. Therefore, it really just depends on the area you live in and how you were raised as a child.
I am not an African American. I have no clue what it is like to be shot at for no reason, to be arrested just because I "look suspicious" or be the subject of unjust prosecution. But I do know that I have grown up doing community theatre of downtown Cleveland, where nearly all of my friends have been African American. I have heard some of their horror stories of being chased down by the cops when they were just walking to the store, and I have heard firsthand a story from my friend Jason, who was followed by 4 cop cars his entire bike ride home from the library. He got off of his bike in his driveway and was surrounded by the uniformed men, who asked to look through his bag, only to find a bag of books. I can tell you that every single one of my friends that live in the not-so-nice area of Cleveland do not trust the cops one bit. The cops always seem to think that they are shady and up to no good. And this issue happens everywhere.
But when I think about it, I guess that it is not only African Americans that agree with this. I know that I don't trust the cops always. I don't really think anyone in this day and age fully does. The cops always seem more worried about pulling you over for a speeding ticket than coming to your house if you think something is wrong. My neighbor came home one night to a robbery and called the cops immediately. It took them THIRTY MINUTES TO GET THERE. The people were in danger, criminals were getting away, and it took them 30 minutes! I don't see how they can be trusted if they are not doing their job to the full ability that they could.
Basically, the cops don't seem to keep you completely safe. They seem to target certain races as well, as I have heard from friends, and I just don't think that anybody really fully trusts them. Cases like the Trayvon story just back up how this prejudice occurs. I feel bad for the cops. They try so hard to do their job well, and yeah they will make mistakes that effect the justice system. But this still causes mistrust from nearly everyone. It's sad, but I don't really see it ending any time soon.
I think this is a very difficult question to answer. I would like to start by asking:does anyone really trust the cops? In our world today, most people want to try to get by them, don't want to deal with them, and do not truly respect the work they do. We all try to speed on the highway and get annoyed when we see a cop car that forces us to slow down or even get pulled over. Also, sometimes it can be hard to trust the "cops". What I mean by this is there are many fake ones out there. Each day we see horror stories on the news or in a forward email of people trying to act like the police to steal cars, money, rape women, or even kill people. It is sad and depending on the area you are in, you must be very careful. My parents always taught me if you are getting pulled over, go to a place like a gas station where there are witnesses around if you are unsure. That way if they are not the cops, bad things will not happen. I think that the question do African Americans trust the police is very controversial. I think it all depends upon the experiences they have had. For some, I can see why they do not trust the police. Honestly, it depends on the cops too. Some can be racist and mean to African Americans while others do not let that effect their judgement. I think the area and the level of suspicion a police officer has plays a role in whether or not they find someone to be doing something wrong. No one is perfect and we all make mistakes, but cops are out there to help the common good of the people. So all in all, African Americans do trust the police and some don't. It depends upon their personal situation and the opinion they formulate. We can't give a percentage of which do and which don't. It is hard to say, but I really do believe that many people do have some sort of respect for the police no matter what race the person is.
Well I thought this blog was supposed to become a free for all, so I'm disappointed that we have a question. Anyways, I'm not African American, as everyone else said. I have no clue if they do or don't trust the police. In general, most people don't trust the police. Therefore, most African Americans probably don't trust the police. I don't really see how Trayvon's death relates to this question. There are many cases where police can abuse their power. Many people think that police watch minorities more actively, or are more likely to arrest minorities. I really didn't like this blog question at all. Please look at Maggie's emails about the blog or do a free for all. Thanks!
As many of my classmates have said, I do not really know if African Americans trust the police because I am not black myself and do not associate with a large group of African Americans regularly. Because of many situations like this, I think that many people today, including myself and both black and white Americans, do not trust the police completely. I do think that many people officers, particularly those in urban areas and especially those in southern cities, engage in this form of stereotyping because this is what they have been taught by their parents for generations since the time of slavery. Sadly, racial profiling is something that is done by many people on some level whether they realize it or not. Although some white police officers may engage in racial profiling, African Americans who do not trust the police are also stereotyping the police for the actions of a few members of the law enforcement. I think that some African Americans probably do not trust the police because of stories that they have heard where racial profiling occurred. Cases like that of Trayvon Martin cause more distrust to develop between law enforcement and racial minority groups.
As many people have already said, I think this is a very complicated and controversial topic to discuss. In general, I think African Americans overall do trust the police because police are considered a higher commanding officer in the local and state governments. I feel very comfortable with the police probably because I have no reason to fear them due to the fact I have done nothing, nor plan to do anything, that would break the law. I think it is a personal, physiological mind set that will determine if one does or does not trust the police. I have no right to say that in general African Americans should fear the police more because they commit more crimes, when a large amount of white American's commit the worst criminal crimes. I think both whites and African Americans well conducted citizens should hold the same amount of trust for police for they know the police are doing their job keeping those who are a danger to society in line. Some of my friends father's are police officers in Westlake and Bay Village and I know how proud they are of their parents because each day their parent goes to work they are putting themselves in danger of being hurt due to a mishap they could encounter with a criminal. As trust is considered a mutual thing, I think that the same amount of trust we, as African Americans and Caucasioans alike, give the police is the same amount of trust the police give back to us. From both sides there is always the possibility of betrayal or abuse of power. I think it is the responsibility of the people and the government to keep both sides in check, such reasons as why we established the system of checks and balances in high systems of government. So going back to the question, I do think African Americans overall trust the police because of the high authority and honor the police hold in society.
Well I don't think that I am in any place to say whether or not African Americans trust the police because, as most of my classmates said, I am not African American. But after reading this article I would say that no, in general African Americans do not trust the police. Unfortunately it is becoming more difficult for anyone to trust the police. We should all be able to trust police officers completely but it's hard, especially for African Americans, because our country as a whole has singled out African Americans before and it may seem at times that they are still targeted and treated unfairly. In some places, like in the work force for example, African Americans are actually still discriminated against and although we like to think that we broke the barrier between the races we can not change what happened in the past and there are always going to be some people who hold on to the beliefs many people had in th past and think that its ok to treat African Americnas with less respect then they treat everyone else. I like to think that everyone is treated farily and equally and was very surprised while I was reading this article that actual racial prejudice still exists today and in these extreme cases. Everyone should be treated equally under the law but it is still going to take some time before there is no racial prejudice against anyone in this country and we can truly all break the stereotypes and be equal.
Before I start I would like to say how upset I was when I saw this wasn't a free for all. Also, I would like to say that I am very excited for next week's Obama FREE FOR ALL!!
As many of my classmates said, I am not African American so I cannot actually begin to describe what they feel when they interact with the police. Also, since my interaction with the police is also minimal (my one friend's dad is a cop...) I do not have much expertise in how anyone feels when they are with the police. I think that people in general have begun to mistrust the police in this present day with abuse of power that has been going on and the exposure to the "behind the scenes" of the police that can be seen in television. While tv is incredibly over exaggerated, the public may not realize that. Also, I think that labeling an entire race with distrust of the police is taking civil rights and jumping back a couple of decades. If we were to pose this same question say in the 50s or 60s, it would be a straightforward answer: yes African Americans distrust the police. But as time goes on the racial lines of who mistrusts the police continued to be blurred. It is no longer a distinct group of people. It now overlaps. Yes, there may be some African Americans who do not trust the police, but you cannot label all of them with that statement.
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