Gender, Race, and Class in Today’s America

The African American Male – Today

In beginning the discussion of the African American male, James Baldwin reminds all black people of this one fact:  He said, “It began to seem that one would have to hold in the mind forever two ideas which seemed to be opposition.  The first idea was acceptance, the acceptance, totally without rancor, of life as it is, and men as they are: in the light of this idea, it goes without saying that injustice is a commonplace.  But this did not mean that one could be complacent, for the second idea was of equal power: that one must never, in one’s own life, accept these injustices as commonplace but must fight them with all one’s strength.  The fight begins, however, in the heart and it now had been laid to my charge to keep my own heart free from hatred and despair” ¹⁸  Here Mr. Baldwin shares his insight into the struggle that Black men must embrace.  He lived a life where there was injustice for his race, yet, he encourages the Black men not to succumb to such injustices and to not allow hatred and despair to consume him.  With the many atrocities the African American males has faced throughout history, Mr. Baldwin admonishes the African American males to stay the course and not allow hatred and despair to guide their paths.  As time goes on, the today’s statistics on this topic, draws you back to Mr. Baldwin’s suggestions because the problems for the African American males could surely incite hatred and despair for the abuse and unfairness in today’s society, especially when it comes to racial equality.

African Americans are 3.6 times more likely …to be shot and killed by police as similarly unarmed, nonattacking white suspects.  Unarmed, non-attacking teenagers are nearly five times more likely and suspects in their 20’s three times more likely to be shot to death by officers than similarly non attacking middle-aged suspects.¹⁹

Why do police seem to fear Black people and young people more, with deadly consequences? Just as officers’ racialized fears and prejudices that African Americans are more dangerous may contribute to more police killings of Black suspects, pop-media experts and advocacy groups might skew public perceptions through inflammatory myths that denigrate young people with terms like “temporary sociopaths” and “super-predators.” ²⁰

Since 2015 [to 2021] there have been 135 unarmed killings by police of black men and women nationally.  75% were white officers. 15% of the shootings were not their first or their last shooting.  There were no consequences for these killings.  60% of the killings were in the South with one quarter in Texas, Georgia and Louisiana²¹.

Blacks are much more likely than whites to be arrested, convicted, and incarcerated for drug offenses, even though blacks are no more likely than whites to use drugs”.²²  Much of these arrests are due to the “War on Drugs” that was created from President Richard Nixon and applied by President Ronald Regan.  Drug laws still impact our society today.

According to Balko (2017) police unions are at the forefront of upholding the “Blue Codes” for police officers.  It’s the unwritten code where officers stand by one another and do not tell on each other.  Oftentimes, police officers involved in serious offences, including murdering a suspect, are not prosecuted.  However, in the 2020 killing of an unarmed black male named George Floyd by a white police officer (Derek Chauvin) a jury found the police officer guilty of killing Mr. Floyd.  This case ignited national and international outrage.  Officer Chauvin killed Mr. Floyd by pressing his knee into the neck of Mr. Floyd, causing him to suffocate.  He was sentenced to 22 years in prison.  The interesting thing about this case is the “Blue Code” was broken when many officers testified against Officer Chauvin. [BLM – Social Justice]

The following young black males were killed by the police.  They were unarmed.  None of the police officers that committed the offenses in killing these young men have been held accountable for their actions.  As previously stated, laws protect the police and grand juries seem to be reluctant to indict police that kill unarmed Black males.

Tamir Rice: Tamir Rice was only 12 years old when he was shot by a Cleveland Police Officer in 2014.  Tamir was on a playground playing with a fake toy gun.  Records and video recordings show the child was shot within 2 seconds of Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback’s arrival at the scene.  Tamir was shot 2 times by Officer Loehmann.  The Department of Justice declined to prosecute the officer stating “there was no sufficient proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Tamir did not reach for a gun.”²³

Trayvon Martin:  In my opinion, the killing Trayvon Martin, a 16-year-old that was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, was based on racial profiling.  This teenager lived in the area where he was walking home from a convenience store eating Skittles.  The youth had no weapon.  Mr. Zimmerman, a citizen who volunteered as a neighborhood watch patrol person, called the police dispatch to say there was a suspicious man in the area and he looked like he was up to no good (not these direct words).  The dispatch told him to stay back and not approach the person (suspect). Somehow, Mr. Zimmerman and Trayvon got into a physical altercation and Mr. Zimmerman shot and killed him.  There was a criminal trial and Mr. Zimmerman used the Stand Your Ground Statute as a defense in court.  “Zimmerman claimed self-defense. The police not only accepted Zimmerman’s explanation but then engaged in a series of actions that reveal little interest in investigating the true cause of young Trayvon’s death.”  Mr. Zimmerman was found not guilty of the crime.

Michael Brown:  In 2014, a teenager by the name of Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.  This young man was unarmed.  The incident involved Mr. Brown being a suspect in stealing from a convenience store.  The police officer made contact with Mr. Brown while he was still in his patrol car.  It is stated that Mr. Brown and the police officer had a physical altercation at that time.  Mr. Brown proceeds to run away and the police officer chases him.  There are conflicting witness accounts as to what occurred next.  Some witnesses testified to a grand jury that Mr. Brown had his hands in the air.  Others, stated they did not see his hands in the air.  The autopsy report showed that Mr. Brown had been shot at least 12 times.  There was no weapon on Mr. Brown.²⁴  The results of this case:  Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell stated: "The question for this office was a simple one: Could we prove beyond a reasonable doubt that when Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown he committed murder or manslaughter under Missouri law," the prosecutor said. "After an independent and in-depth review of the evidence we cannot conclude that he did."²⁵

Each of these terrible killings by the police (and the neighborhood watch affiliate to the police) ignited a public outcry.  Many people felt (and still feel) these killings were unjust.  Black Lives Matter activist protested in cities across America for the injustice of law enforcement officers killing unarmed black males.