Racism is the belief that all members of a certain race possess characteristics, traits or abilities that produce an inherent superiority over another race (Webster). The United States of America has struggled with racism and the slavery throughout the course of its existence. During the Renaissance and Reformation periods, slave owners of interpreted a passage in the book of Genesis to justify owning African slaves, stating that Noah condemned black decedents to be servants (Fredrickson). In 1667, Virginia decreed that slaves could be kept in bondage because of their ancestry, thus marking the transition from religious status to a status approaching race (Fredrickson). During the Civil Right Movement in the 1960's, state-sanctioned violence began (Aymer). This violence included police dogs attacking African Americans, firing strategic or random shots at them, and murder (Aymer). This institutionalized racism has continued though the American police force. Police officers are forced to make quick decisions in sometimes dangerous situations. With the power to arrest individuals and possibly changing that individual's life forever, there comes great responsibility. The power the officers have are questioned when excessive and even lethal force is used on citizens that did not deserve it. While physical force is sometimes needed to subdue criminals, excessive force is not needed for unarmed individuals. From April 2009 to June 2010, there were 5,986 reports of misconduct and 382 fatalities that are linked to the misconduct (Chaney). Those are only a few thousands of the many misconducts that have occurred since the Rodney King beatings (Chaney). Most files have either been destroyed or there a file wasn't created for the misconduct at all. A key factor to keep in mind while discussing police misconduct is race. Recent cases of police misconduct and brutality against African Americans in particular have caused an uproar in the United States. The statistical evidence that racism is on the rise and unnecessary and cruel treatment of African Americans supports the main claim that there is indeed racism in the police force. The police are meant to protect the nations streets from criminals. The use of violence only damages the society more by causing tension between police and citizens. To be a functioning society, there must be unity. Corruption and racism in the police force goes against the foundation of which the United States stands on.

In 1968, Illinois Governor Otto Kerner, Jr outlined The National Advisory Commission of Civil Disorders (Embrick). He stated that he believes that the US is moving towards separate and unequal societies, one of them being black and the other being white (Embrick). He is right in this case. Every day in the news, there is some form of confrontation between individuals and most of the time the biggest argument revolves around the fact that one person is black or another minority and the other is white. It is always seeming to be white versus minorities. In a survey conducted by the PEW Research Center in 2014, the percentage of black people that believed black people and white people get along compared to five years ago has dropped from 76% to 64% (Embrick). In a poll conducted by CNN/ORC in 2015, 69% of minorities thought that the US criminal justice system favors whites over blacks (Embrick). This percentage is close to the 42% of white people who believe the same (Embrick). These statistics alone prove that there is at least some tension between races currently. In the archives at Tuskegee University, there are at least 3,445 documented cases of African Americans being brutally lynched in the United States (Tolliver). What strikes fear into African Americans is that the acts of lynching unarmed black people have many things in common with the killings of unarmed black people.

Standing at 6 Feet 3 inches and 350 pounds, a black male by the name of Eric Garner is quite a recognizable individual (CBS). Those who bought cigarettes and other cheap goods on Bay Street in New York City knew who he was, and so did the NYPD (Goodman). Criminals that are violent and ones that have bad intentions may require physical force to subdue and arrest them. Selling untaxed cigarettes is a crime that is not violent nor is it a crime that has bad intentions. In July of 2014, the police let him go with a warning, something that was surprising to others (Goodman). John McCrae, a citizen who saw the police let him go, said that "It was the first time I ever saw them let him go" (Goodman). The next month, one of the officers returned along with his partner(Goodman). The officers, Daniel Pantaleo and Justin Damico approached garner. Garner stated several times not to touch him because he has not sold anything.  The officers then placed him in a choke hold and brought him to the ground (Goodman). Shortly after the first officer put jumped on him, a swarm of officers jumped on him, holding him down as he was being choked out. Garner has asthma, which can make it difficult to breath in normal situations. In the video of him being choked, you can hear him saying that he cannot breathe. The officer did not release the chokehold and proceeded to use force even though Garner was completely subdued. Once his oxygen supply was completely cut off, he died. He was handcuffed on the ground motionless and did not receive any immediate medical aid. When the emergency medical personnel did arrive, he was not given any oxygen. The officers then left out on the first official police report that the police officer wrapped his arm around Garner's neck (Goodman). The officers showed him no mercy and were ruthless. Four months later, a white male by the name of Michael Zekry was busted in New York as well with over 500,000 untaxed cigarettes (Velez). It is astonishing that Zekry was arrested without any brutality for trafficking cigarettes to Virginia every 10 weeks(Velez), but Eric Garner was killed because they assumed he was selling a few packs of cigarettes on a street. Two men, one of them black and one of them black, were being arrested for selling untaxed cigarettes and the white man who was committed a worse crime and admitted to doing more it is give jail time while the black man is now dead. Officer Daniel Pantaleo and another officer were both stripped of their badges (CBS), which brings comfort to many.

Responding to a possible shots fired report, three officers in Trenton, New Jersey drove to the apartment complex where the report came from (Asa). The officers were not in standard uniforms and they were driving an unmarked grey minivan (Asa). While in the complex, they spotted three young black kids walking down the street (Asa). The officers quickly exited their car and that is when 14-year-old Radazz Hearns ran. Thinking from a point of view of three kids no older then 14, and taking into accountability influences from possible gang activity in the area, three men abruptly hopping out of a car can be terrifying. As he was running away, he reached for his waistband and officers fired (Asa). He was shot seven times; five times in the right leg, once in the left leg, and one bullet struck his pelvis (Shea). Samuel A. Anyan Jr. the family's lawyer, says that "He's Lucky to be Alive" (Shea). The officers stated that they believed that he was reaching for gun (Asa). Three separate casings were found on the scene, leading to the conclusion that at least 10 shots were fired (Shea). A gun was not found on Hearns. Rhonda Tirado, a witness who was sitting in front of her home saw the whole event unfold. She said that "They didn't give that little boy a chance" and that "there was no room for no chase" (Asa). She also said that as Hearns turned and ran, he grabbed his red sweatpants to pull them up so he wouldn't fall down (Asa). The officers had to be on edge because there is a possibility someone has a gun in the area, but shooting a kid running away without even pursuing should not be an option. A .22 caliber handgun containing three rounds was found 12 hours later at the scene underneath a vehicle (Asa). Officials stated that the darkness and vehicle impaired the ability of investigators to find it, but an anonymous law enforcement witness stated that it is suspicious that police didn't find the gun until the morning after (Asa). A gun at the scene of the crime should be found shortly after, especially if it is under a car, especially with a lot of law enforcement members looking for it. The officers have no valid reason to have shot that boy. Any kid running away should not be shot. The police do not have the authority to assume the kid has a gun and gun him down for running and they should not have to make up reasons to justify shooting him. 

In Rochester, New York three teens were arrested outside a store on the sidewalk(Clancy). Raliek Redd, Deaquon Carelock, and Wan'Tauhjs Weathers were basketball players for their school, and they were waiting for a school bus to take them to their game(Clancy). The teens were not looking for any trouble, but were still approached by officers (Clancy). The kids told the officers that they were just waiting for their school bus to come pick them up and that is when they arrested them(Clancy). As they were being arrested, there coach pulled up. Coach Jacob Scott, who is also African American, talked with the officers but they would not let the kids go. In a statement made by Scott, the officers threatened to arrest the coach and were joking about arresting the teenagers by saying that they would arrest everyone if they had a "big enough caravan" (Clancy). When the kids were locked up, the officers looked through all of their bags for illegal items (Hand). The kids told them that they have to believe that they were not trying to cause trouble(Hand). The officers had no respect for the coach nor the kids. They approached the kids for waiting to go play a basketball. The officers displayed racial profiling and discrimination by arresting the kids and being disrespectful. Stereotyping people based of their skin color is an action that happens often and stereotyping can lead to violence and death. Research shows that under the best circumstances, people make decisions that go along with their beliefs about society (Tolliver). Under stress, human beings are susceptible to something different (Tolliver). That difference can result in a number of actions, including racial profiling

The shooting of Michael Brown in 2014 is one of the most iconic events that started the rise of awareness of racism. Michael Brown stole a cigar from a store the summer of 2014 (McLaughlin). When an officer pulled up to him on the street, an altercation occurred outside the window of the police car (McLaughlin). Shots were fired that left Brown running. Once there was distance between him and the officer, Michael brown put his hands in the hair and then shot several times (McLaughlin). The officer is justified for shooting in the car because it was self-defense, but not when they were separated. Cops in St. Louis may use deadly force to stop a fleeing subject when they have a reason to believe two things (Troutt). The first one is if the officer believes its "immediately necessary" (Troutt). Second, the officer must determine whether the suspect has committed a felony, is using a deadly weapon, or may endanger life or inflict serious injury (Trout). It was not "immediately necessary" to shoot him once separated. Michael Brown had not shown or used any deadly weapon, and he was in no condition to endanger life or seriously injure someone. The officer already wounded Brown before gunning him down. The police officer is not the judge. He cannot decide the verdict, especially in a situation like so. The city of Ferguson erupted with riots over his death. A Marshall Law was also put in place for some time.  Brown was only 18 years old and it is always tragic when a young soul dies, especially when they had so much in front of them. Police officers are sworn into duty to protect and defend the public. Shooting the poor boy down was not defending the public. He wasn't protecting anyone when Michael Brown had his hands in the air. 

African Americans have been discriminated against and stereotyped because of their skin for a long time. This argument is important because the police force is the safety of the streets or America. There is already a great deal of tension between the police and citizens and The deaths of Michael Brown, Freddie Grey, Laquan McDonald, and Eric Garner has caused riots nationwide. These riots caused by the brutality of the police both unite and divide America. The division will only result in more riots, more violence, and more death. Since 2011, the percent of Americans that believed racism is a big deal has spiked from 28% to 49% in 2015 (Schoichet). Not only is this racism shown in the police force, but also other aspects the American culture, including the school system and politics. Racism in a problem that America much approach in a different way.  A way that is different than what we are used to thinking like. Albert Einstein once said, "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to them". Racism in our police force and in America can be solved if everyone works together 

