There are corrupt officers all around the U.S that are committing intolerable crimes, and the government is blind to it. If these crimes continue to go unnoticed by the system, citizens who are conscious of these crimes will no longer trust police officers to “serve and protect” them.
Racial profiling has been a consistent occurrence when it comes to colored human beings, male or female. The problem is policemen/women who take their advantage for granted and use it in dreadful ways. The book Dear, Martin by Nic Stone is a perfect example. Towards the end of the book, one of the main characters, Manny, was fatally shot. The cause of Manny’s death was because of some song lyrics that had the word gun in it. The officer that killed Manny, Officer Garrett Tison, mistakenly thought that Manny had a gun and used “self defense” as his motive to shoot and kill Manny. Although Manny’s story is fictional, it is stillit still related to real world issues, generally police brutality.
The death of George Floyd triggered the United States to go into an uproar. Citizens sawseen the brutal force those officers used on him, which resulted in protestsprotest for Black Lives Matters and the repetition of the words “I can’t breathe.” The protest for BLM promptly turned into a protestinto protest for all of the African American men, women, or kids who had lost their lives to police brutality. Imagine how their families felt to see their loved one’s name on cardboard signs at a protest with well over 100 people. Citizens at those protests protest made their names knownknow, brought them justice.
The occurrence of police brutality towards colored men/females has made people scared to come outside. They ask themselves if what happened to the other victims of police brutality could possibly happen to them just because of the color of their skin. The thought is terrifying. Imagine you had a teenagerteenage, and he or she went to go play ball with their friends in a fresh pair of new kicks. You thought nothing of it. Then you get a call from your kid’s friend and they’re saying that your child got arrested. How would you feel?
Me personally, as an African American female and teenager, feel that the system isn’t working fast enough to try and fix the issue, if they’re trying to fix it at all. There are still killings and brutal beatings toward colored people from people “in charge.” It’s funny how the people in charge are the ones making the unreasonable decisions and they’re supposed to lead by example. Those “leaders” are who influence adolescents who want to be like them. It’s like a repeated cycle. One goes out, the other one comes in.
On a final note, the United States needs a positive change. One that stops police brutality and corrupt police officers. A change that brings Justice to those who lost their lives in discriminatory ways. This country needs leaders who will will provide what America needs.
Maje Davis
DePaul College Prep – DMSF Class of 2026
Photo by Alessandro Biascioli on Adobe Stock