Alfred Du
ENGL 11000
Professor Jean Pierre
27 September 2019
Source-Based Essay of Four Sources on Police Brutality
In the magazine, “Body cam reveal U.S. police use less respectful language with black drivers” by Matthew Hutson, there has been countless cases of African Americans getting attacked and shot dead during traffic stops. Although police traffic stops are quite common, these incidents are mostly happening to African Americans. The government is improvising protective measures, such as requiring body cameras on police officers at all times during their shifts to protect African Americans and police officers. Body cameras allows for the judgment of the nature of events and if the action was deemed appropriate or not. It may potentially lead to increased compliance to officers and officers being more cautious about their behaviors and actions.
In the scholarly source, “1970 Riot-Precipitating Police Practices: Attitudes in Urban Ghettos” by Harlan Hahn, there was an increase of riots in ghetto residential areas. One of many surveys that was carried out in Detroit, 1965 found out that 58 percent of the African Americans felt that law enforcement was not fair. According to the source, “It is doubtful that the injustice of the entire legal system could have played a part in precipitating a riot had not that injustice been reflected graphically and directly in police practices and thus reinforced in the minds of those who have long considered themselves oppressed.”(3, Hahn) The system was designed for police to carry out hate crime without receiving much punishment in return. Thus, leaving a remark on African Americans when faced with police officers in the streets.
In the newspaper, “Staff Editorial: On Combating Racially Motivated Police Brutality”, the families of the victim never filed complaints about police brutality. They envision the police will fire back and do something undesirable to them. One important phrase in the text is “we see and we forget.” The majority of people will acknowledge what has happened but will do very little. They insist that they don’t have the power to change much. Another example, “The prevailing perception in police culture that black lives are disposable has allowed for generations of lives to be stolen.” There is a stigma that police can do whatever they want and receive no punishment for their misconducts.
In a website, titled “How Videos of Police Brutality Traumatize African Americans and Undermine the Search for Justice” by Kia Gregory, African Americans faces backlash of their own kind being killed by police. One example would be Victor Dempsey. Throughout his day, he would always have nightmares about this brother’s death. His brother, Small Dempsey, was having a dispute with an off-shift police officer. The officer said he fired 3 shots in self-defense. Victor said, “I can look at it without looking at it”. He is talking about the footage that shows how Small died and that he can’t erase it from him mind. The footage of the incident would play in his head so precisely because he would pause it and watch it again and again. Another person, Denzell Jackson said, “I’m scared for my life any time a cop is around.” Even though Jackson is just an ordinary civilian, he fears for his life. He went on stating, “To remind myself of what could, can, and most likely will happen at anytime”. This can happen to any African American and other minorities of its kind.
Rhetorical Situations
The author felt the need to write the magazine article because he wants to show the interaction between African Americans and police officers. African Americans receive little to no justice when it comes to legal system. Body cameras were enforced, and it shows the other side of the story. This provides African Americans with more justice and could potentially improve African Americans and officers and their usage of language.
The academic journal writes about how there are no laws to protect African Americans. By the usage of surveys, we find out that there are “about six forms of police brutality, such as lack of respect, insulting language, rousting and frisking, the use of unnecessary force in arrests and beating up suspects in custody.”. We need a better system in America that is willing to protect fellow citizens without racially profiling them.
The publisher writes about being courageous enough to stand up for what is right. He said, “And when an innocent person dies because of the melanin in their skin, fight for them.” This goes out to the parents of loss ones by police shooting. It is very important for the victims to come forward and say this is unfair and continue to fight for their rights. Protesting is one way to go about this. Nonetheless, “When you see a black youth, do not make assumptions based on archaic stereotypes.” You shouldn’t always believe what you hear for the most part because it is untrue. They were set out to make a certain group feel more superior than another.
The need to writing a blog post is that it is wrong to use excessive force on African Americans. For the most part, they are unarmed and just going about their day. When police are questioned with the reason behind excessive force, they will state that “they were scared for their life.” In reality, the driver was probably more scared. Also, numerous shots were fired, making this an act of murder rather than self-defense.
The Purpose
The magazine aims toward exposing police officers that use “street talk” rather than professional language towards African Americans. The way you address someone is very important and it shows the direction of the conversation. If the police officer shows no sign of respect, the opposing side will feed off of it and do things they normally won’t.
The academic journal tries to strive for better laws to end police brutality. The world revolves around laws that are set to be followed. It is no exception if you wear a uniform, you should still follow the laws. Police officers should receive training on a proper approach and view people as one rather than grouping them ethnically.
The publisher, unlike the other ones, really pushes for a social change. It is very important for the victims to come forward and say this is unfair and continue to fight for their rights. Protesting is one way to go about this. Nonetheless, “When you see a black youth, do not make assumptions based on archaic stereotypes.” You shouldn’t always believe what you hear for the most part because it is untrue. They were set out to make a certain group feel more superior than another.
The blog post wants to empathize with the African Americans. People face a backlash of what they witness physically, on media, or live television. It traumatizes them with what happened, and they feel that there’s a possibility it might happen to them. It is a feeling that won’t wash away with time.
The Audience
The audience of the four sources are very similar as it revolves around police brutality. The magazine is drivers and police officers. However, “most data on how police communicate with citizens come from eyewitness accounts—from drivers, outside observers, and officers themselves.” You can’t forget the eyewitness, which is also important because they observe the situation. As stated in the academic journal “the relationship between the white police and the black ghetto…” (35,Hahn). They concentrate on black ghetto communities and white officers. The last two, newspaper and blog, consist of audience similar to Victor Dempsey. They use examples of people that are African American that face adversity.
The Genre
The genre of the magazine is based off of science as you can tell from the top left corner “Science.” It uses charts, data, and researchers to conduct their experiment. On the other hand, the scholarly source is a journal article. It talks about the life of people in the ghetto communities. The newspaper is very brief compared to the others. They push for a social change as it talks about what you should do in scenarios like these. The last one (blog), is black lives movement. The first post is a gun and the trigger are the YouTube logo. You can see videos that are posted online of police shooting African Americas. Also, on the side you can see bold letters in red, reading “Because the images of police violence are so pervasive, they inflict a unique harm on viewers, particularly African Americans, who see themselves and those they love in these fatal encounters.” They act almost as posters, trying to push for a change in society.
The Stance
The magazine was strictly to inform
the reading about the importance of language. Matthew Hutson is a freelance science
journalist in New York City, in his article, he uses example of what police
officers would use to address an individual. The academic journal and the
magazine are both similar as they are wrote to report. But in this journal, you
can hear the voices of the “ghetto residents’ opinions.” According to the text,
“several studies indicates that major urban riots frequently have been blamed
by ghetto residents on police behavior.” (39, Hahn) You can see the numbers of
people who agreed on this, which is an evidential fact. The publisher really
wants to make a difference. He is a strong believer that
you should stand up for one and another. He said, “And when an innocent person
dies because of the melanin in their skin, fight for them.” This goes out to
the parents of loss ones by police shooting. It is very important for the
victims to come forward and say this is unfair and continue to fight for their
rights. Nonetheless, “When you see a black youth, do not make assumptions based
on archaic stereotypes.” You shouldn’t always believe what
you hear for the most part because it is untrue. They were set out to make a
certain group feel more superior than another. You can see his point of view that
he tries to come across in this newspaper. The blog post by Kia Gregory, strongly
believes that with the help of social media, people can view the post and do
something about it. She informs us “It has only been forced to reckon with the reality of
its own bias when a flash of video shows, in soul-wrenching detail, the ease
with which a life can be extinguished” She passionate that the future will be
bright and once again justice will be served.
Work cited
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/06/body-cams-reveal-us-police-use-less-respectful- language-black-drivers Hutson, Matthew, “Body cams reveal U.S. police use less respectful language with black drivers” American Association For The Advancement of Science, Jun 5, 2017
Hahn, Harlan, and Joe R. Feagin. “Phylon: Second Quarter Vol. 31, No. 2, 1970 Riot-Precipitating Police Practices: Attitudes in Urban Ghettos.” Phylon (1960-), vol. 52, no. 1, 2015, pp. 35–46. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43681926.
“Staff Editorial: on combating racially motivated police brutality.” UWIRE Text, 12 Sept. 2014, p. 1. Gale OneFile: News, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A382285100/STND?u=cuny_centraloff&sid=STND&xid=131fd58e. Accessed 19 Sept. 2019.
