English Learning Portfolio

Bias in the Policing System

In the wake of the recent George Floyd killing, individuals all over the world have responded with viral protests and objections. The video that went viral showing Police officers mercilessly murdering George Floyd on the side of the pavement as they ignored his repeated cries for help struck a chord in everyone. Every individual regardless of their views and opinions agreed that it was murder, it was wrong. Everyone was angry at the injustice they witnessed, posting videos of their anger, trying to piece together what they saw and think about what they could do to help. I saw countless tweets and videos about the problem, and what people were doing. A video that exploded was Trevor Noah’s take on the whole thing. I like many others appreciated his video and found it very insightful. He broke apart the events and identified the catalyst and the vents leading up to the riots and looting occurring in America, and the point that stuck with me the most was the fact that there is “no right way to protest”. Though a lot of the looting and rioting in America is unfortunate, I think it was inevitable. I don’t necessarily think the riots should’ve happened, rather that it was inevitable due to the way in which America addressed the issue and the energy that was pent up due to being in lockdown. I feel like more often than not events such as the George Floyd killings occur without much justice or structural change enacted to prevent it from happening again. If leaders aren’t solving and just ignoring the problem, the disenfranchised in society have a right to protest, to try to change it, to force those in power to make the change. To solve this problem structural change has to be made within police stations, policies and strategies that will prevent these events from happening. Jennifer L. Eberhardt a social psychologist talked about the effects of implicit bias even on her kids. Identifying the bias within policemen and individuals isn’t enough, they need to be able to identify and react accordingly to diffuse the situation where they no longer have to react based on that bias. Real strategies need to be enacted within these police stations so that societal steps can start to be taken, it isn’t just a few bad apples anymore, the officers responsible for the deed should be punished well.

1 comment

  1. Thank you for sharing this Mohnish and for writing so thoughtfully – I hadn’t seen this Trevor Noah video yet.

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