Increasing Awareness of Unjust Police Shootings Through The Hate U Give The Chicago Police Department kills African Americans at an annual rate of 8.9 per million and Caucasians at 0.4 per million (Police Brutality Center). It is saddening to think that there is such a statistical difference in murder rates just because of the color of their skin. In Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give, she writes a story of a character named Starr that goes through her life between her neighborhood which is African American to her predominantly white school where she experiences instances of police brutality and racism such as the murder of her childhood friend Khalil. The Hate U Give, written by Angie Thomas, focuses on the shooting of a fictional character, …show more content…
The case of Tamir Rice is a strong example of how unjust police officers can be when Tamir was shot and murdered for playing around in a park with no remorse. According to an online source “Towards the end of the call, he adds that the person pointing the gun ‘is probably a juvenile.’ Tragically, that crucial information was not relayed to the responding officers (“Tamir Rice”).” The initial incident happened in response to a police dispatch call, Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback were dispatched to the park where a caller had reported that there was a young male seen pointing a pistol at people in the park. According to the same online source “Tamir was by himself, playing in a gazebo when two police officers pulled onto the grass right alongside the gazebo. One officer shot the sixth grader immediately, within three seconds, after arriving on the scene(“Tamir Rice”).” The incident escalated quickly because as soon as the officers saw Tamir was by himself. Also, the caller had said that the gun that Tamir had was likely a toy gun. According to the same online source “That was when police officers tackled Tamir’s sister, handcuffed her, and placed her in a squad car with the …show more content…
According to an online source, “Officer One-Fifteen yells at me, pointing the same gun he killed my friend with. I put my hands up (Thomas pg 24).” In the book, Starr was not allowed to give medical attention to her friend or try and get people to help him Just as Tamir Rice when he was shot his mother was not allowed near him, and his older sister was arrested for trying to help him. Both of these cases show how unjust police can be they can't even try to give medical attention immediately or let the family/friends get their last words with the victims. According to the same online source, “He opens the driver’s door. ‘You're okay, Starr---’ Pow! One. Khalil’s body Jerks. Blood splatters from his back. He holds on to the door to keep himself upright. Pow! Three. Khalil looks at me stunned(Thomas pg 23).” Walter Scott too was a victim of unjustified use of force both getting shot multiple times for not even trying to harm the police or anyone else to begin with. This book will bring awareness that this is not just some fictional story, this is a reality for most African American Citizens being victims of police brutality in their day-to-day lives trying to avoid the people that are meant to protect them. It will cause shockwaves through every
In the past few days another unarmed black male was shot and killed by a white officer. His name was Terrance Crutcher. Betty Shelby, the white officer identified by police as the one who shot Crutcher, was not the only officer to draw a weapon on him. With three officers standing in a line behind Terence Crutcher and at least one more officer standing several feet behind them, the video shows, his body falls to the pavement. The officer 's attorney says she was afraid Crutcher was reaching for a weapon when she opened fire.
Police Chief Driggers made claims that watching the footage from the traffic stop sickened him. As a result of the evidence compiled against him the defendant agreed to plead guilty to 18 U.S.C. § 242, 1 Count of violating Scott’s Civil Rights. The Defendant acknowledged that he shot Scott willfully and unjustly, (Justice, 2017). In this case the federal government wanted to look at all factors surrounding this case to get true justice.
In the article Philando Castile shooting: Dashcam video shows rapid event by Jay Croft. Croft explores the issue of police brutality. Specifically, he takes about the fatal shooting of an African American man Philando Castile who was killed by Minnesota police officer Jeronimo Yanez. This caused an uproar in the African American community because once again a man of color was fatally shoot because the officers assumed that he was going to pull out a gun. Moreover, the role of police officers is to protect members of society from threats.
Tulsa police officer, Betty Shelby, shot an unarmed black man after his car was found abandoned in the middle of the road. Federal, State, and local authorities have launched investigations into the officer shooting. Tiffany Crutcher, the victim 's twin sister, has urged prosecutors to press charges immediately. Terence Crutcher was shot and killed after he ignored direct orders from the officers confronting him, and as officers thought he was reaching for a weapon. There was no weapon found on him, or in his vehicle.
“It's not hard to understand a person; it's hard to listen without bias” (Criss Jami, Killosophy). Media and its bias play a significant role in the novel THE HATE YOU GIVE by Angie Thomas as it showcases the horror and tragedies of black communities: The media shows how biased Khalil’s death is, how it brings negative national attention and how. The traumatic events in the novel THE HATE YOU GIVE by Angie Thomas are identical to real-life scenarios that happen daily in black communities. Media speaks about how difficult it is for black communities to try to get their voices heard due to the lack of information and representation about what truly happens. Media is biased and helps to form negative opinions towards black communities.
A popular story that has recently been in the news is the fatal shooting of 12-year old, African American Tamir Rice. In 2014, Cleveland police got a call that an African American male was at a nearby park waving something around that looked like a gun. The caller reported to the dispatcher that it could be a kid. When relaying the information over to police, the dispatcher failed to mention that the suspect was possibly a kid. When police arrived at the scene they ended up killing the little boy almost immediately after encountering him.
Jason Ke ENG2D1 Ms.Doak 11 March 2022 Racism and police brutality As humanity progresses, we become more inclusive of those who are different from us, but there are still many communities around the world that hold heavy discrimination, and if you add some police corruption on top of that, you end up with Starr’s life from "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas. Have you ever heard of racism? Or uncontrollable police violence? Have you ever witnessed racism?
In today’s modern society, many feel that is okay for a police officer can kill a man armed with a harmful weapon at any cost. On many news channels, there are various amounts of articles and reports about a police officer committing this act. Even though a police officer has the right to take action against an armed man, this could be argued in many circumstances. In the 2013, Sammy Yatim was a young adult with a mental illness and was armed with a weapon on a streetcar in Toronto. Yatim was confronted by Const.
Tamir Rice was a twelve-year-old boy playing in the snow at his local park, making the mistake of waving an air pellet gun at strangers- a mistake that would cost him his life. A bystander made a call to 911, and when the police arrived on the scene, within seconds of exiting the vehicle, Rice was shot. According to an article by the Pittsburgh Tribune, although police have been caught in the act, captured on camera committing a crime, they are not prosecuted 96 percent of the time. November 22, 2014, twelve-year-old, Tamir Rice, was playing and posing with his air pellet gun when a man sitting in the park called 911 to report, “there’s a guy here with a pistol, pointing it at everybody… [The gun] is probably a fake, but you know what,
Although Officer Brian Cruiser Jr. should have been punished for his actions, while bringing justice to Khalil, he was not held accountable, as the system unjustifiably worked in his favour. Moreover, racism through police brutality and a biased judicial system was demonstrated through Khalil's death. As Starr and Khalil went driving after they left a party in Garden Heights, they were abruptly pulled over without cause. The police officer, known as One-Fifteen, was being very aggressive and asked for identification when they did not breach any restrictions or break any rules. As a result, Khalil questioned the police officer to the point in which One-Fifteen asked Khalil to get out of the car and wait for him to come back.
‘THE HATE U GIVE’ inspects the way society uses stereotypes of black people to justify violence and racism against them. Through Starr’s deep understanding of racialized poverty, we see how this Intergenerational Recurring Series is difficult to break because black communities like Garden Heights, where Starr lives do not have requisite access to resources such as education, employment and defence from police brutality. Affection or devotion towards anything going overboard becomes very dangerous than the nuclear weapon. It can be in the name of religion, race, creed or anything which always paves way for the inhumane
Many people, mainly people of color, suffer from police brutality. Coates asserts, “And you have seen men in uniform drive by and murder Tamir Rice, a twelve-year-old child whom they were oath-bound to protect” (9). This shows that although the victim was a child, the police still killed him. 26-year-old Timothy Loehmann killed Tamir Rice because he carried a replica toy gun. Police brutality is still a significant problem in the United States.
With Michael Brown, if the reports are supposed as fact, then being cooperative from the beginning and never reaching in the police vehicle could have prevented any use of force. People need to teach their kids, no matter what race or class they are, how to deal with police officers, and that so long as you are cooperative and respectful, there are usually no issues. While the incident with Tamir Rice, was also unfortunate and could have been handled differently, it also is a matter of knowing what is acceptable behavior around officers. Knowing that, even if a gun is fake, that it can be dangerous to be playing around with in public places and in front of
During the chase of a wounded soldier, a female police officer started to fire upon Hasan. While they both were drawing fire upon each other, the female soldier got hit two times and fell wounded on the ground. Later a civilian officer named Todd shouted at
[ Imagine this scenario: you are complying with the police that are screaming at you, guns pointed at you, screaming “please don 't shoot” and trying your best to do what the police are asking. Daniel Shaver was an unarmed man fatally shot for no good reason. He was complying with the police officers orders and was begging for his life, screaming “please don’t shoot,” before he was fatally shot 5 times. Unfortunately, this is just one example of police brutality, an instance when police use unnecessary force when either they are unarmed or are complying with orders. Today I want to tell you of the injustice of police brutality, the people it affects, and how just asking the right questions could make sure that police are punished for their crimes.