Police Shooting Lydia Polgreen Summary

In this week’s supplementary reading, author Lydia Polgreen evaluates the recent string of deaths of unarmed black men, all attributed to police officers. The deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Freddie Gray in Baltimore, and Laquan McDonald in Chicago have pushed the issues of race relations and institutional racism to the forefront of societal issues in America. Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that in most of these cases, the officers accused of the unlawful deaths are usually given the benefit of the doubt and found innocent by jurors. This has culminated in the schism in public opinion of the police force. White individuals are more likely to support the officers’ use of deadly force, while black individuals are far more likely to

believe that the sole reason for the use of deadly force is a bias against the black community. Further on in the article, the deadly shooting of a black church in Charleston, South Carolina is discussed as well as its implications analyzed. On the evening of June 17th, 2015, twenty-one-year-old Dylann Roof entered the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church during a prayer service and opened fire, resulting in the deaths of nine individuals and another being wounded. Shortly after the tragedy, the question of why Roof committed the inhumane act had begun being asked.

Did he enact this massacre solely due to mental health issues or was it because of something greater? Many argue that this was due to him growing up in a country with an extensive and dare I say ‘proud’ history of racism. Just as in all cases of mass shootings, the tragedy soon became politicized, with both conservatives and liberals shifting the blame to a number of different perpetrators. The article continues by referencing Bryan Stevenson, a black lawyer who has spent the bulk of his career saving prisoners from the death-penalty and challenging bias in the justice system, and stating his views on the current situation in the United States. “‘This latest violent act is an extreme and terrifying example, but not disconnected from the way black men and boys are treated by police, by schools, by the state. The landscape is littered with monuments that talk proudly about the Confederacy and leave no record about the lynchings of the era.’” Polgreen goes on to state that “America is living through a moment of racial paradox.” She supports this theory by using examples such as the Obamas, Shonda Rhimes, and Lee Daniels to present us with a glimpse of how far Black Americans have come in American

society. Subsequently, she states that “if current trends continue, one in three black men are expected to spend time in prison at some point in their lives.” This disappointing statistic definitely provides a sharp contrast to the idea that racism is ‘dead’ in America. Polgreen continues to list a number of alarming statistics that strengthen the belief that America has designed a system that, at its core, aims to undermine the Black community and hopes to see them fail. Towards the end of the article, she interviews Michaela Angela Davis, a civil rights activist, and ends with a very powerful quote: “‘Younger people are much more ready to have the very hard complicated conversations around structural racism and inherent bias. These are words that my parents’ generation were not using. I hope that this new generation will force a change.’”
I choose this specific reading because the issue at hand is something I feel very strongly about.

My father is conservative and I, a die-hard liberal. This difference in political opinion has often times led to us clash about certain political topics. However, no topic is discussed nearly as much as race and racism is. We often times argue about the subject, him taking the typical conservative, often times racist stance on the issue, whereas I always look at it in a liberal sense. One argument we had in the past that resonates with me the most occurred shortly after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. On the night that a jury voted not to indict officer Darren Wilson, the man responsible for Brown’s death, Ferguson erupted and destructive riots began shortly after. My father and I had been sitting on the couch watching the riots unfold on live TV. My father proceeded to very angrily express his opinion on the actions of those partaking in the rioting. After using a number racist obscenities directed at the black rioters, I started arguing with him about whether their actions were justifiable and things became heated rather quickly. After about fifteen minutes of arguing about the situation, I retreated upstairs but as I was about to enter my room I had heard my dad say something about me that forced me back into the argument. The statement he had made that really set me off was something along the lines of “What does he know? He’s a white kid that knows nothing

about the real world.” This line really resonated with me personally because I’ve spent a lot of my life learning about the world we live in and one of my defining traits is my devotion to seeing positive change in the world. I realize that I have lived a charmed life not only as an upper class citizen, but also as a white male. However, I realize that there is strife everywhere in the world and that ninety percent of people live a lifestyle nowhere near my ‘luxurious’ lifestyle, but I desire to see that that change and that people everywhere can live in a better world. Nonetheless, I re-entered the argument and we started attacking each other’s characters, both of us saying things we still regret to this day. The argument had yet again come to an end, however, for the next four weeks my father and I had not spoken to each other once.