Dear Martin, a novel written by the author Nic Stone, Dear Martin has some very real world problems. A main problem in the book is racism which is also a problem in today's world. Racism is seen as bad by society, but people continue to judge and stereotype people because of their race. In the novel racism is shown in hurtful ways with different situations that are mostly based off race. Demonstrations of racism includes racial bias from the public which leads to police brutality towards people of color and causes constant violence and negativity between people.
Bias can create multiple different outcomes, but three key relations and creations that come from it stand out the most these three include, stereotypes, skin color and physical
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Police brutality is caused because society creates stereotypes and is racially bias, this makes select police officers racially profile people, suspect gang activity, and act out in different ways.
Racial profiling from police can be extremely obvious, especially if the officer makes questionable remarks that seem racist. For example, “I know your kind” (Stone, 8) is only one of the racist comments in the book. This quote was said by a police officer while arresting, and handling Jus who is also a person of color.
In general racial profiling is bad but there must be a reason for it, this reason could very well be gang related as we know that some or most gang members carry weapons. Gangs generally cause violence and chaos, but also fear in people when they know how dangerous some members can be. An example of this type of fear can be found in the book “The guy with the gun smiles at Jus. “You and the rich kid can sit with us if you want to” All the black jihad guys laugh” (Stone, 44). After Jus was arrested he has had a deeper fear of weapons and seeing the gun makes Jus feel threatened, he even felt a flare of pain around his wrists reminding him of the handcuffs that were on
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In the story Jus finds himself questioning why people always doubt, “Can you explain why everywhere I turn, I run into people who wanna keep me down” (Stone, 65). This quote also proves that Jus is starting to doubt himself because if everywhere you go someone keeps you down, eventually you'll start to believe them, that's if you don’t have a strong mental state.
Another side effect of doubting yourself is losing your abilities and talents while destroying your mind. “ As much as he wants to turn on his heels, and bolt but he can’t seem to move.” (Stone, 85). Jus’s mind and abilities are withering away all because of how he let the others get into his head, he starts to struggle making decisions on when he should leave or stay in place, again due to his mental state. Those who don’t doubt themselves will succeed.
An overview of this is how negative expectations and doubt will cause you to lose abilities, and can also spark negativity between people and within someone own mind, these should all be avoided to keep
However, research demonstrates that often times men of color are treated harshly which leads to negative perceptions of police officers. Police brutality is a crime that is has been surfacing in the news recently. Some people are just starting to realize that these injustices against the black community really occur, while others are well aware. The recent shootings, different run-ins with officers being filmed while doing such harmful actions against African American men is an example of police brutality and, that reminds us that as a society work needs to be done to improve police and community relations. A black male cannot even walk down the street on a cold night because he might be a suspect from something or he may be of danger to the people around.
An example of how cops automatically make people of color threats and result into murdering them/using physical violence is the act of “stop and frisk” and getting pulled over for license and registration. When the person resists or even when you oblige, it leads to violence because you’re suddenly seen as a threat for “reaching for a weapon” and end up getting killed or hurt. These stops were reasons to target people of color to get searched and questioned without any probable cause until it became illegal (only to stop and frisk). Getting pulled over is still an issue today and every day that passes a black person becomes a statistic due to the culture of violence police have with firearms or the type of weapons that they overuse like tasers and pepper spray or even the excessive physical abuse/ force. “In court, Mr. Schmidt depicted Mr. Spear as a nasty and recalcitrant inmate who had started the physical dispute with Mr. Coll.”
Police Brutality and Racial Profiling in the 21st Century In modern day society, racial discrimination and stereotypes are common and unavoidable. Especially in African American cultures and societies, they struggle with racism nearly everyday. Author Angie Thomas addresses these societal issues in her novel, The Hate U Give. Thomas describes the effects of such issues through Starr Carter and the death of her best friend Khalil Harris due to police brutality.
Police brutality is often directed towards Black people and other people of color, who are more likely to be stopped, searched, and arrested by law enforcement officers. This discrimination is a result of implicit bias, which perpetuates the idea that Black people are more likely to commit crimes and are therefore more likely to be subjected
Racial profiling by law enforcement is an overwhelmingly useless and prevalent expression of hate and ignorance to this day. Internationally, a wide variation of races are unrightfully discriminated against by the enforcements who are supposedly there to protect them. Jim Crow policing is an issue that undoubtedly continues, no matter the amount of riots or unjustly arrested/ murdered civilians. Cases like Trayvon Martin, and Mike Brown, as well as Bob Herbert 's article Jim Crow Policing published in the New York Times, February 2nd 2010, explain first hand accounts and statistics to give examples of the fact that racial profiling from the police force consistently takes place.
There is a point in everyone’s life where they are scared of a police officer pulling them over. The fear is usually getting a costly ticket or taken under arrest; However, darker skinned citizens now have to worry about police brutality. Police brutality is the use of excessive and unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians. Over the years, the country has been exposed to the truth about what minorities face when pulled over by a racist police officer. Most of the victims from the police mistreatment are from minority groups, therefore, race plays a key role in police brutality.
There are many other methods can be used in place of racial profiling. One method that could be used is called the "call-in" approach which was created by Professor David Kennedy who is a criminal justice professor at John Jay college. The "call-in" approach is when law enforcement or community leaders request meetings with gang members, and drug dealers. During these meetings families of gun violence and ex offender victims are there to talk to these gang members and drug dealers. They give them a chance to stop committing crimes or they will not only arrest them they will also arrest anyone else involved in their crimes.
This form of police brutality often manifests as racial profiling and biased treatment. Black people who have encounters with the police may experience harsher treatment, unwarranted aggression, etc. The injustice
Racial profiling can cause feelings of humiliation and worthlessness and lead to self-esteem problems. (Racial Profiling) Something that may not seem as a big deal to some may be it for others. Nobody deserves to have to be humiliated by something they couldn 't
In continuing this vicious cycle, it sets the stage for tragedy and further catastrophe. As a result, this creates the feeling of anxiety that can lead to pretense and creates the nature of suspicion that surrounds people. This leads to the misconception and misjudgment that leads not only to police brutality, but feeds the beast of systematic racism. It enhances the spirit of racism that is prevalent across society. Within our police departments and system of justice, the issue of police brutality has been erected in ways that disproportionately impact poor, minority communities.
Racism harms individuals and communities, and its root causes must be addressed to combat this pervasive issue. “Dear Martin” by Nic Stone is a perfect example of how black people are affected by racism as it greatly affected Justyce throughout the novel. Justyce got arrested by the cops for no reason, he was targeted for the colour of his skin by Jared and Blake, and he and his friend, Manny, got shot by a police officer Firstly, Justyce first experiences racism in the novel when he was trying to help his drunk friend Melo into her car so he could drive her home but a police officer thought he was up to no good and arrested him. “I know your kind; punks like you wander the streets of nice neighbourhoods searching for prey.
With cameras and video recording devices more easily accessible, documentation of these incidents has become more frequent. Racial profiling is not a new terminology, yet it is something that occurs daily in the United States, becoming almost a normality. Law enforcement is meant to create a sense of security and safety, yet there seems to be a growing mistrust and anti-cop mentality, especially among minorities. Cases such as the infamous Rodney King scandal, or the most recent murder of Michael Brown, only give communities further reason to be wary of police. With numerous incidents of police misconduct and use of excessive force that results in the death of an innocent victim, you can no longer ignore this
Police brutality is still a prevalent issue today, and police brutality is when police abuse their powers towards minorities for harm. An example of this was when a man Stevenson helped, Lourida Ruffin, was attacked by the police and denied further medication which he needed. “When he arrived at the city jail badly bruised and bleeding, Mr. Ruffin told the other inmates that he had been beaten horribly and was desperately in need of his inhaler and asthma medication.” (37). This is an example of how the police harmed a man, which was unjust.
Police brutality remains a common yet controversial topic around the world. Police brutality is “the use of excessive and/or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians” (thelawdictionary.org). It’s a topic that segregates communities and makes each other their enemy. Specifically, a white officer has been the enemy of the black community. Unfortunately, the tension between police and blacks grew over the past few decades.
Bias is prejudice about someone or something which has been created based on incomplete information. More often bias has a negative effect as it affects other people, our way of thinking that could be driven into stereotypes frame. Every day we face with a huge number of biases and some of us even do not know about the existence of them. If it gets to that point when something suffers from it, people need to overcome biases. There are a lot of examples of biases in our world.