African Americans and the Law

African Americans have dealt with the downside of law enforcement since slavery.  Whether it was the slave catcher,  the Northern police, the Southern sheriff during Jim Crow, or the angry patrolmen of today,  we have endured negative policing with the battle scars to prove it.

The desperate relationship between African Americans and the police,  which seems to have worsened in recent years, won't get any better as long as law enforcement refuses to do a full-scale inspection or see nothing wrong,  which means we must divide and conquer to succeed.

I am not advocating violence or massive resistance to bring about change in the country's legal system or that we get caught up in the hype of fighting law enforcement in the streets.  Instead, bad officers must be rooted out by the courts or internal affairs with irrefutable evidence in conjunction with community policing.  Peaceful marches to uphold the Constitution could also prove helpful even in a country bitterly divided. 

Appealing to the U.S. State Department or United Nations may be another option to dramatize police brutality in the U.S.  Other people or nations utilize such bodies to bring about international pressure or changes in human rights.  It would embarrass the U.S. in the eyes of Russia, China, N. Korea, and other adversaries.

Lastly,  we must condemn violence in the black community, which leads to improper law enforcement tactics.  Many law enforcement officers,  black or white,  see the black community through a tainted lens of crime, unemployment, and broken families instead of areas suffering the effects of years of neglect.  As a result,  they may employ undue pressure to restrain suspects or other forms of disrespect. 

Law enforcement represents the last vestige of Jim Crow in America or the mistreatment of a group of Americans seemingly based on color.  It will only end with the proper tactics or efforts needed to effect change,  such as pitting good officers against bad ones and exposing corruption where it exists.  It is a fight we must never give up when the cards are stacked against us.

In retrospect,  there is a movement in America right now aimed at teaching young black men how to react when confronted by cops that I would like to touch on.  Yes,  they must respect the law, but why aren't white or Asian young males being taught the same lesson?  Black men deserve the respect of other races of men when stopped or questioned by officers of the law because anything less than that is a return to slavery.