Alanna Andrisse

Nov. 21, 2017

8th Hour
Major Essay 3: Argument

Who’s Life Means More?

Every month within the United States young black people are losing their lives due

to police violence. According to the Mapping Police Violence website, Police officers have

killed 1,026 people in the United States this year. In Vann Newkirk’s claim he mentioned

“every two days a black person of some age - 14 or 18 or 43 or 37 - armed, or unarmed,

sober or under the influence, resisting arrest or providing identification will be shot and

killed by an officer or officers”.

The famous, widely used, and most trending hashtag that causes people to be WOKE

on the topic relates to #BLM (black lives matter). February 26, 2012 Trayvon Martin was

fatally shot. The unarmed teen death then caused the movement of Black Lives Matter. This

movement has reframed the mindsets of African Americans and how they now view the

treatment of police towards people of color. Although Martin was not killed by a cop, but by

a older white man George Zimmerman, local news stories air the shot was due to self-

defense. Florida jury exonerated Zimmerman of murder or manslaughter July 2013.

On August 9, 2014 a innocent black young man lost his life in my backyard. His name

was Michael Brown. Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson killed Brown. A St. Louis grand

jury made up of nine whites and three blacks, decided to not indite officer Wilson. What

happened next? Protests, rallies, looting, and riots all break out. Wilson set off a wave of

anger. Gathering outside the Ferguson police department lasted for months. “NO justice, NO
peace.” “Hands up, Don’t shoot.” filled the streets of Ferguson. For a small town in Missouri

to cause a world wide conversation is speechless.

Being from a low income community similar to Ferguson, there seems to be a high

rate of white officers. Officers knowing the scenery of our community and the type of world

we live in they continue to petray the same actions. With the out breaking of Michael

Brown’s death the police responded with tear gas and a SWAT team. I am now emotional

scared by knowing my close friends who choose to protest were being assaulted while

peacefully protesting. Not to mention they were unarmed.

My next door neighbor has been a police officer for the last 20 years. He’s white

man. Growing up having a police officer next door I knew I was safe. But recently with

everything going on I have a hard time dealing with police brutality. Considering if another

police officer that looks similar to my neighbor doesn’t have a problem in killing innocent

black men, why wouldn’t my neighbor feel the same. I begin to think negatively about the

police and the men I grew up with.

Driving through highly populated areas of white people causes my mind to wonder.

When going to St. Charles for a simple shopping spree should it feel life threatening not

knowing will I make it home or not. White police officers fill the roads of St. Charles, St.

Peters, and Clayton. By me simply getting pulled over I feel as though I have to change my

entire demeter and seem to fit in to the environment I am in. I seem to change up my voice

and use “yes sir” more than I would normally to not upset the officer in which I might not

live for tomorrow. Does a white teenager life mean more to them than mines? More than

likely when a white teenager get pulled over for something probably far as worst than
mine. Hen they are likely to drive away with a warning. But I am outside my car getting

searched since I didn’t use a signal while turning.

Say the tables turned. Black men are now the police officers and white men were the

ones dying. Or not even that, lets say white men were still the police and black men does

the killing. A black man has a interactment with the police, things get physical, the police

officer puts his hands on the black man. Ten minutes later the police officer is dead and the

black man did the killing. The black man will be held responsible and may be charged with

1st degree murder. But it was self-defense. The Supreme Court and the justice system are

not made for a black individual.

Personally if this police violence continues then the United States are soon on

the verge to having a race war. Yes, there are a lot of unreported cases but 9 times out of

10 the police officer gets off the hook, and use the term “I was scared for my life” to justified

what they did was right. Maybe if they’re scared to do their job, they should reconsider

what they want to do for a living. A young black male life shouldn’t be jeopardized because

they were scared to do what they signed up for.

 Works Cited

Herald, Miami. “A teen was shot by a watchman 5 years ago. And the Trayvon Martin case
became a cause.” Miamiherald, 28 Feb. 2017,
www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article135413214.html. Accessed 19
Nov. 2017

Lowery, Wesley. “Black Lives Matter: birth of a movement | Wesley Lowery.” The Guardian,
Guardian News and Media, 17 Jan. 2017,
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/17/black-lives-matter-birth-of-a-
movement. Accessed 19 Nov. 2017

“Police killed more than 100 unarmed black people in 2015.” Mapping Police Violence,
mappingpoliceviolence.org/unarmed/. Accessed 19 Nov. 2017