Sourced Based Essay

Sydney Ogude

Kelly Mcintosh

Composition of Individual & Society 10108

25 September 2020

                                                    Black lives in America

The oppression of black lives and the recent killing of black people is nothing new to our country. As  a person of color I know I have a target on my back not because of the person I am but because of the color of my skin, The fight for black lives has been going on for many decades. Racism has tainted the core of America and has exposed the true nature of the United states. Many of our parents came to the United states in hope of a better life and to attain the “American dream” but they walked in a system that was meant to tear them down and oppress them. Minorities specifically the blacks have been subject to modern day slavery. Recent executions of the black lives and injustice for the deceased has been televised and has been seen all throughout the world, it has generated an uproar of rage and has really opened the world’s eyes to the injustice that has plagued our communities for so many years. Police brutality has been the source of all the pain and heartache that families go through because A man with a badge thought they had the right to determine whether or not a person deserved to live or not. The same people that swore to protect us are our greatest enemies. Police brutality has been exposed to our kids and we find ourselves teaching little kids how to carry themselves around police because they also have a target on their back.  When we say “Black lives matter” we push to fix the racially targeted system that we live in, we push to fight for justice for our community and we push to fight to live another day.

 

Social Media post

While researching I came upon a post of twitter it was a video of police officers who were stopping black people for no reason. Police officers have always felt they were above the law and are immune to any punishments. Police are rarely charged with misconduct and if anything are placed on paid leave. This is the system that we live in today and it has to stop. In the video each was told that they were a suspect  in a robbery but the thing is that there was no robbery reported in that area. This really shows the power that a police badge gives an individual and it showcases racial profiling at its finest. The audience that the author is trying to reach is people who use social media because he wants to spread awareness due to the fact that he posted the video on twitter. The author’s true purpose is to ultimately shed more light on how corrupt and unfair the law enforcement is and also to inform everyone on what’s happening to black people everyday because the video shows how dirty police really are. The stance that the author is taking is a stand against police brutality because the video paints police officers in a bad light.

 

Newspaper

In the newspaper it talks about the death of George floyd and all the things that led to his untimely death. Evan hill mentions that “Our video investigation shows that Mr. Chauvin did not remove his knee even after Mr. Floyd lost consciousness and for a full minute and 20 seconds after paramedics arrived at the scene.” This goes to show how the officers viewed George Floyd, even after they executed him in broad daylight they continued to put their weight on his lifeless body. This also showcases the hate that was oozing through his body because it takes hate to be able to kill an unarmed man who was handcuffed on the floor.  The purpose of this newspaper is to inform the public of the death of George Floyd and also to shed light on police brutality. The audience is anyone that reads the newspaper or older people because they are more likely to read the news. The stance of this newspaper is a stand against police and law enforcement overall because the newspaper paints the police officers as bad people because their actions lead to the death of an innocent man.

 

Magazine 

The source that I will be using is a magazine called the cut. The magazine talks about the shooting of 29 year old jacob Blake in wisconsin. What happened to Jacob Blake was the result of excessive force by the police. In the magazine it says “A Wisconsin police officer fired more than half a dozen shots at point-blank range at a Black man as he was trying to enter a car where his three young sons were waiting.”. This shows how ruthless and careless the officers were. They didn’t care about Jacob’s Blake life or the well being of his children. There is no reason why an unarmed man should be shot 7 times point blank range.The audience that the author is trying to reach is  younger people because they are more likely to read a magazine and also to anyone that reads the magazine. The purpose was to spread awareness and call for change in the police department because the author is taking a stance against police

 

Scholarly article

Black people have been placed at a disadvantage because of the color of their skin for generations. Modern day society has placed barriers on black people that limit them and stop them from growing financially. The system is meant to keep minorities oppressed and make the white man more powerful. In the scholarly article it states “Although rates of police killings are highest in neighborhoods with the greatest concentration of low-income residents and residents of color, Black people were recently found to be at greatest risk in predominantly White neighborhoods” This shows that black people are targeted by police in low income neighborhoods and in white neighborhoods. People of color are placed in low income places just to be oppressed by systematic racism regardless of the area that they live in.  The disparity between treatment of blacks and white is at the core of the issue and it’s something that has to be fixed. The article also states “During the same time period, police-related fatalities killed more Black men in their 20s than diabetes, flu/pneumonia, chronic respiratory disease, or cerebrovascular disease” This shows the massacre of blacks happening in our everyday life. I find it astonishing how police are getting away with killings of black people on such a large scale but when police have the power they do in the society that we live anything is possible. The purpose of this scholarly is to show the disparity between whites and black on a general basis from housing to the treatment of them by law enforcements. The audience of this article is to the young kids that don’t know what’s going on and for everyone interested in trying to make a change. The stance that the author is taking is a stop to the mistreatment of blacks.

 

Throughout the four different genres I found, social media post, newspaper, magazine and scholarly, they all had their differences and similarities. All of the four sources have similar purposes which was to highlight the dark side of law enforcements. They all had a similar message they were trying to get out. They highlighted the discrimination of the colored people and the systematic racism and police violence towards them. They were different when it came to the different injustices that they were bringing light to. Police brutality is a serious issue that needs to be tackled, The 4 sources that I used showcased the problems with the police department.

 

Work cited 

Arnold, Amanda. “Wisconsin Police Shot a Black Man Multiple Times in the Back.” The Cut, The Cut, 6 Sept. 2020, www.thecut.com/2020/09/kenosha-police-shooting-of-jacob-blake-what-we-know.html. 

Hill, Evan, et al. “How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 June 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html. 

 

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