While previously the holistic development and wellbeing of the population of the United States of America has been thwarted by the social ill of racism, the modern era sees a different kind of problem that might be surmised to have found its root in the long dark history of racial discrimination in the country’s milieu. Legal steps and general awareness have ensured that racism is not practiced or advocated in the country in any manner. Nonetheless, the series of events where people of the black community have repeatedly come to be on the receiving end of undue violence from the police department of the country. A close introspection of the matter in context would enable one to comprehend the various reasons that work to create the problem that is currently haunting the entire American society showing the potential threat to stir the very conscience of the nation. The primary causes of the social issue can be zeroed in as hegemonic view of the white community, lack of intra-departmental whip about the matter as well as the racial bias against blacks.
Now, it needs to be reckoned in this context that the white people constitute the majority of the population of the United States of America. This has been the case for hundreds of years now. The very fact that the blacks are a minority in the society can be seen as one of the major reasons of this latent sense of dominance among the white people. If one delves deeper into the issue at hand, it can be noted that the violence inflicted upon the black victims have all been carried out by the white police officers. Even in the police department, the disparity between the number of white and black officers comes across to be very conspicuous. Under such a circumstance the influence of hegemony on the perspective and psyche of the white police officers plays a major role in channelizing their actions toward the black people. As such, they come across to be more aggressive or proactive while dealing with black offenders or civilians. Many such incidents have been highlighted in the past few years in the United States of America which can only be described as a blatant abuse of administrative power and hegemony on the minority. The white police officers discriminate against the black people and see them as unlike their own selves. According to Joe R. Feagin, there is “willingness to accept more police violence against a black criminal suspect than against a similar white suspect” when the “students were shown videos of police violence.” (Feagin, 2014) While this perspective is extremely erroneous and offensive in nature, it has come to be among the primary causes of the mindless violence that the black people are subjected to in the present times by the police force.
Indeed, the police officers who are found guilty of killing or behaving in an unsolicited manner with black civilians while on duty are punished by the law of the state. However, similar kinds of incidents are occurring time and again with the black people and the police officers being involved. This shows that somewhere down the line, the police department of the states is not proactive or successful to implement its strict whip on the officers. The seniors of the police department have the onus on their shoulders to control their officers and guide them not to act so aggressively while dealing with black people of the society. But, no such initiative can be seen, although the black community has risen up in unison against the discriminatory practices and injustice meted out to them. The police department’s image and credibility is facing a major question in the present times due to such unsolicited incidents against the black people. Many black people have even lost their lives due to offences that would have otherwise attracted simple fine. Hence, the police department’s lack of strictness on the issue is a cause behind its aggravation in the United States of America.
The entire issue has its roots in the societal evil of racism. The country has had a very dark past of racial conflict and subjugation of the black community. It is only after years of civil and political struggle that the blacks have been given their due legal and social status of equality as humans in the society. However, it is quite alarming and even sad to understand that the racial bias and tendency of discrimination has been latent in the minds of the dominant white community. There have been many incidents of such mindless violence. “In November 2006, for example, five police officers in New York City were put on paid administrative leave after firing fifty rounds into the car of Sean Bell, a black resident of the city.” (Peffley & Hurwitz, 2010) The recurrent occurrence and the commonality of victimization of people of the black community has proven the fact that the entire scenario is driven by the latent perspective of racial bias that makes the white police officers react with aggression and stigma against the blacks. The police officers are endowed with administrative power which they abuse at certain times. While racism has become a thing of the past, the actions of the white police officers and the subsequent victimization of the black people can be described as the metamorphosed form of racial bias and discrimination. The black people having faced the ills of slavery at the hands of the white community are faced with the modern day struggle against institutionalized psyche of white dominance and the notion of racial superiority on the part of the white community.
Hence, it would be correct to conclude by opining that a number of pivotal causes have led to the heightened aggression and violence meted out to the black civilians by the police officers in the recent times. It is the paramount need of the hour to zero in on the causes of such a repetitive occurrence so as to pave the way for finding a viable solution to the matter. If the authorities do not take into consideration the grave importance of the scenario and act immediately, it would surely lead to a much more complicated social issue in the future with the gap between the white and the black communities getting widened with time.
References
Feagin, Joe R. (2014). Racist America: Roots, Current Realities, and Future Reparations.
Routledge: New York.
Peffley, Mark & Hurwitz, Jon. (2010). Justice in America: The Separate Realities of
Blacks and Whites. Cambridge University Press: New York.
