During these hard times a lot is going on in the world. The death and injustice for George Floyd sparked an outrage not only all over the country but all over the world. Protests were held in major cities like London, Berlin, Tokyo and Rio de Janerio. With the Black Lives Matter movement growing exponentially the world wants justice and change once and for all.
We need to stick together. All minorities need to stick together to beat their oppressor. It is the same person. If we are divided the system wins. When people say Black Lives Matter they aren’t saying ONLY Black lives matter, they are saying that black people need to stop dying at such a high disproportionately rate in the hands of police with little to no consequences. They are fighting to stop police brutality and have police be monitored more.
According to Protecting Civil Rights: A Leadership Guide for State, Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement, “the federal government has responded to such situations in the rare, but urgent circumstances where allegations of pattern or practice civil rights violations have arisen. The passage of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Public Law No: 103-322) enabled the federal government to take action to remedy any pattern or practice of conduct by state and local law enforcement agencies “that deprives persons
of rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.” In response to this enabling legislation, the Special Litigation Section of
the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice assumed the responsibility for investigating alleged pattern or practice civil rights violations and for establishing remedies to such violations.”
Moreover, during the last decade, the Special Litigation Section has investigated an array of alleged pattern or practice civil rights violations including the following:
• Unlawful or excessive use of force
• Inadequate training on use-of-force techniques
• Racial profiling
• Illegal stops and searches
• Intimidation by police
• Harassment of civilians in retaliation for reported misconduct
• Inadequate supervision
• Failure to investigate alleged officer misconduct.
This all was information from a report from the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) from 2006. They state that from the publication, 10 years prior they were having problems with various forms of police brutality. We are in 2020, it has been ten plus years since this report and nothing has changed. It has been 20 plus years since the problem, actually started getting recognized by the IACP and still no change.
Did you know that the official launch of the National Use-of-Force Data Collection and the first full data publication year was on January 1, 2019 and is being handled by the FBI. Before this there was no “official” way of knowing the number of people who suffered from police brutality. It was till a year ago that information has been started to be collected. Furthermore, the reports are still subject to review. According to the FBI, “The collection and reporting of use-of-force data will include any use of force that results in the death or serious bodily injury of a person, as well as when a law enforcement officer discharges a firearm at or in the direction of a person. The definition of serious bodily injury will be based, in part, upon Title 18, United States Code, Section 2246 (4). The term “serious bodily injury” means “bodily injury that involves a substantial risk of death, unconsciousness, protracted and obvious disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty.”
Additionally, in the guidebook by the IACP they state “both the investigatory processes and the resolution depend on the nature of the allegations. Investigatory processes may also be affected by the level of cooperation provided by the agency under investigation and may vary as the findings of the investigation unfold.”
This system is flawed not only because of the terms on the degree of injury sustained to be considered a victim of police brutality. Moreover, it is flawed because it is not information that is being forced to be collected by the FBI and how the handle it. They clearly state that data submission is voluntary. Which, I think raises-many concerns. This may have leeway’s to corruption and misinformation to the masses. They might report less cases than are actually involved to seem good. The fact that in order for something to be considered use of force you need to be practically dying is such a horrifying reality because even when they have all the proof, they still don’t get arrested and convicted.
Although we do live in a segregated city, we should not let that segregate us. In Cook County, the Latinx is 25.5% and African American is 23.9%; combined we consists of almost half of the population of this county, according to the Census. If we stand together we can make a difference. We are the “home of one of the earliest examples of political alliance between Latinx and African Americans. In 1983, Black and Latinx voters made Harold Washington the city’s first African American Mayor.” The Hispanic/Latinx and African American community make up 31.7% of the population in the United States, according to the last Census. 18.3% and 13.4% respectively, that is over 1/4 of the population in the United States. Together we can make a big difference, especially here in Chicago.
According to Miri Song, in Ethnic and Racial Studeies Journal Vol 27, No. 6, “In the USA, there appears to be a fairly widespread view, both amongmany academics and the wider public, that white Americans are at thetop of a racial hierarchy, African Americans at the bottom (with sporadic reference to Native Americans as an equally oppressed group), and groups such as Asian Americans and Latinos somewhere in between. Moreover, author Joe Feagin in the book “Racist America” states ‘high level of white effort and energy put into maintaining antiblack racism’ as one of the many reasons why African Americans are at the bottom of the racial hierarchy. In other words, white Americans have simply expended much less time and energy in exploiting and oppressing other groups such as Asian Americans and Latino Americans.” Not saying they have not oppressed these people, just that they haven’t oppressed them as much or to an extent that they have to black people. In the end it’s about showing if we want to continue this social hierarchy or if we want to end it, it starts with each one of us.
As a latinx community we need to stick together in solidarity with our black neighbors and friends. We have a common struggle and that is police brutality. According to a study done by the Ethnic and Racial Studies Journal Vol 27, No. 1, “often unfamiliar with the system, Hispanics may not use it fully to their advantage; thus, respondents have expressed strong deference to the police and fear of retaliation, particularly when their immigration status is in limbo.” This can contribute to a lot less cases towards police brutality from Latinx people. Fear of retaliation is real in the immigrant community as they feel that they cannot get any help because they fear that their legal status will be questioned and they do not want to get deported, so cases are either left alone or not even started and are brushed off. This needs to end we need to start holding police accountable and not fear that there will be any type of retaliation. Furthermore, all the people and kids stuck in ICE custody are suffering police brutality. ICE IS THE POLICE! We all are fighting for the same causes and reasoning. We all have the same oppressor.
To end this I want to reiterate a couple of things that were previously mentioned. Police brutality happens to all races. The IACP didn’t start recognizing and investigating any type of police brutality or police maltreatment until the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice started investigating because of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. Police brutality on minorities has been a problem in our American society that goes way back farther than people want to realize. Police brutality statistics are BARELY starting to get collected, yet the IACP said this had been an ongoing problem since 1996, YET minorities know that this has been going on for longer.
Do you see how the government tries to silence voices and make it seem that these problems just arise from nowhere, but have been going on for a long time, they just can’t control it at this point. Also, with social media and smartphones, this is another reason that police brutality has been something everyone talks about and is getting more informed. Before social media it was by the news, if it got reported or by word of mouth. Now there are videos, probably of multiple angles; of someone getting beaten or harmed by the police and there is no consequences. We want change and we want it now!
Please stand with your community, stand with your black and brown brothers and sisters. Together we can fight for the change we want to see. The system wins if it sees all the minority groups fighting with each other instead of unifying against the bigotry and ignorance. We can’t fall for it. ¡El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido!
#BlackLivesMatter
#FuckIce
J’s Journal 