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Peter Lawal
November 20,2018
5th Block
Major Assignment #3: Argument

The Injustice Of Our Justice System

As a society we entrust our safety to the individuals who undertake an oath of loyalty to

the public, a vow never to break their integrity, and a promise to uphold the community they

serve. However these proclamations do not apply to African American citizens who consistently

fear for their next encounter with the police. According to Vann Newkirk II of The Atlantic, "By

the math, every two days a black person of some age—14 or 18 or 43 or 37—armed or unarmed,

sober or under the influence, resisting arrest or providing officers with identification will be shot

and killed by an officer or officers. Video of the incident will likely be circulated. Protests will

likely follow. But any sort of end to this violence remains truly unlikely." This attests to the

justice system of The United States being prejudice and unfair to the African American

population.

Mike Brown, Philando Castile, Sandra Bland, Freddie Gray, and Terrence Crutcher are

several victims of the unjust system towards African Americans. Their day began as usual and

was normal until their encounter with the police. Their encounter then turns into tragedy when

the police unconsciously act in a manner of extreme violence. The news of their tragedies

quickly spread throughout the country and an outcry for justice ensues. Riots, protests, and

investigations are then followed. The cases then go before a grand jury but the jury decides not to

indict the officer or officers. As a result more riots and protests occur until their tragedy is

forgotten amongst the American people. The end result of these cases are always the same,

neither the victim nor their family is given the justice they rightly deserve.

The justice system is a set of processes established by the government to punish the
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guilty, protect the innocent, and provide moral support to the victims. The police officers are the

protectors of this justice system making sure it functions fair and accordingly, however this is not

the case for African Americans. In "The Big Question About Why Police Pull Over So Many

Black Drivers," Kim Soften highlights several statistics that show African Americans in several

parts of the country where they are the minority race, but they still manage to be stopped and

searched by the police twice as much as any other race in the region. What is more evident is that

most of the police stops have no validity, instead are based on prejudiceness against their race.

Writer Kim Soften also explains that some statistics show blacks are more likely to be stopped

for searches because of their race being more likely to carry contraband, while other stats show

the outright prejudice that black people are searched more often because the police have an

antagonism towards them.

The antagonism from the police is the cause of several decades worth of blacks being

portrayed in a negative light. The antagonism comes from term "ghetto" which has been attached

to the African American people and their communities. The term ghetto when used towards

individuals of the black community creates a stigma of people who are loud, of ill-repute, and

without any moral. Furthermore the perception of black communities residing in the ghettos

contribute to their negative portrayal. The ghettos are seen as places filled with crime and

constant violence, therefore these places are heavily scrutinized and monitored by the police. The

ghetto people (African Americans) who reside in these communities are often racially profiled by

the police because they are seen as the sole causes for the high crime rate. As a society we tell

every citizen to trust our police, but it is hypocritical of society to tell African Americans to trust

the same individuals that see them as only criminals.

Due to the lack of trust between African Americans and the police it causes the police to
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predetermine their response instead of assessing the situation. As a result of this majority of

African Americans fear for the outcome of a police encounter. In "Taking Freedom: Yes, Black

America Fears The Police. Here's Why," Nikole Hannah-Jones writes that "Young black men are

21 times more likely to be shot and killed by police than young white men. They are more likely

to face ongoing everyday slights and indignities at the hands of police." For this reason when

they do have that encounter the anxiety of what will happen next is so high that a fight or flight

response is triggered within them. This response causes a reaction from them to either runaway

from the danger or to act hostile towards the police. The police then reacts in a manner of

aggression due to the notion that their actions are proof of them being guilty of something. The

aggression causes more fear within African Americans therefore they counteract with more

resistance. The police fearing what the suspect is capable of acts abruptly and either shoots to kill

or wounds them severely. Consequently the fear of the unknown causes people to act without

thought, most police shootings and police brutality cases are situations where the police act

based on that fear instead of using their logic and reasoning.

Throughout time The United States has relied on its justice system being fair and honest.

It has given us the concepts of due process and being judged by a jury of our peers, thus as a

society we tend not to question justice being served in our justice system. However this notion

that the justice system gives justice to every victim is nothing but a lie. African American

citizens have experienced this lie first hand. In March 1991 Rodney King was beaten severely by

several officers of the LAPD, nonetheless none of the officers were initially found guilty of the

assault. Consequently, riots ensued until there was a conviction, but only 2 of the 4 officers were

convicted leaving the other half not accountable for their actions. Moreover we would think that

a conviction would follow an unjust police murdering, but that is not the case. Numerous cases
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of police killing African Americans have been tried and taken before a grand jury for indictment,

but rarely do we see the grand jury indict. According to a study done by Jasmine C. Lee and

Haeyoun Park, the study shows that of the 15 prominent cases since 2014 in which blacks were

killed by the police only 3 officers have been convicted. Ultimately African American citizens

ask themselves where is the justice supposedly being served, it is not punishing the guilty nor

protecting the innocent, the justice system is just as culpable to the shootings as the police

officers are.

Some may argue that the job of being a police officer can be so dangerous and crucial

that they have a license to shoot first and ask questions later. Police officers are under so much

scrutiny to be the shield for society thus they have no room for lapse in judgement. It is there job

to protect the individuals they promised to serve from any imminent or immediate danger. In

spite of the perception of officers being perfect they are still humans, and can be prone to make

mistakes just as any other human being would. Furthermore most have a family of their own they

must think of everytime they enter the field, therefore they must protect themselves so they can

be able to return to their families. The intense situations they face in the field can be nerve

wrecking, any sudden movements can result in the death of innocent civilians or their own death.

For this reason our justice system cannot convict officers for protecting themselves and others

from any perceived danger because it would create a hindrance on their ability to do their job

effectively. As spectators who are not under the same amount of pressure in the most intense

situations, society fails to realize the burden they put on officers daily.

Although the pressure on police officers to protect society is enormous it still does not

give them the right to kill innocent individuals. They are trained at the police academy for six

months before they receive their badges so they are well prepared for the responsibilities that
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come with being an officer of the law. With the rigorous training they endure an unarmed African

American who is running away should not pose a threat to the police officer. In the event where

they do face an armed individual there are other weapons instead of their guns that can be used to

deescalate the situation. Even when they use their guns the notion that an officer must shoot to

kill is misguided there are options such as shooting to wound or tazing to stop that are just as

effective. Therefore saying that the justice system would be punishing officers for doing their job

would be false, instead they would punishing the officers for their negligence. Officers take an

oath to protect and to serve, so society and our justice system must hold them to a higher

standard of scrutiny when they fail to fulfill their duty.

Under the Fourteenth Amendment every citizen white or black has the same right to

protection under the law. However throughout the country African Americans fear the same

individuals and system that are there to protect them. Members of the African American

community have been beaten, slaughtered, and racially stigmatized by these officers of the law.

The justice system has failed them countless of times by not holding those individuals

accountable for their actions. From 17th century slavery to the 19th century system of Jim Crow

Laws, the system has been set up and adapted to oppress African Americans. In today's society

this same system is used to justify violence and racially profiled acts by the police towards the

African American community.

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Works Cited

Hannah-Jones, Nikole. “Taking Freedom: Yes, Black America Fears the Police. Here's Why.”

Pacific Standard, Pacific Standard, 10 Apr. 2018, psmag.com/social-justice/why-black-

america-fears-the-police.

Lee, Jasmine C., and Haeyoun Park. “15 Black Lives Ended in Confrontations With Police. 3

Officers Convicted.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 May 2017,

www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/17/us/black-deaths-police.html.

Newkirk II, Vann R. “When Will the Killings Stop?” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 7
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July 2016, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/07/officer-involved-shootings-

castile-sterling/490349/

Soffen, Kim. “The Big Question about Why Police Pull over so Many Black Drivers.” The

Washington Post, WP Company, 8 July 2016,

www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/07/08/the-big-question-about-why-

police-pull-over-so-many-black-drivers/?utm_term=.0b923bddf5ce.