Tag: brutality

Decades of failed reforms allow continued police brutality and racism
IN OTHER NEWS

Decades of failed reforms allow continued police brutality and racism

Police brutality has a long history of being protected, reinforced and even redoubled for more than a century in the U.S. through a combination of political expediency and racism. President Donald Trump’s executive order and the stalled bills in Congress to curb police misconduct are, at best, attempts to retune an instrument that was orchestrated for abuse. As a former archivist in charge of the National Archives records for the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Prisons, it is clear to me that the history of police violence in the U.S. informs and influences why the U.S. is again facing protests over violence, racism and unjust death. Wickersham Commission Violence and corruption have long been the mainstay of American police. In 1929, President Herbe...
Minneapolis’ ‘long, hot summer’ of ‘67 – and the parallels to today’s protests over police brutality
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Minneapolis’ ‘long, hot summer’ of ‘67 – and the parallels to today’s protests over police brutality

The scene was intense. Black residents of Minneapolis angered over an incident of police brutality fought with officers in the streets and set buildings ablaze. Many were injured; dozens were arrested. Eventually the National Guard, called in to patrol the streets, ordered black citizens back into their homes. This may sound a lot like a scene from the past week, but it’s actually a flashback to 1967, when African Americans took to the streets of north Minneapolis after a series of abuses that, like today, culminated in days of unrest. It took place in one of the “long, hot summers” of the 1960s, when black Americans in cities across the country protested and rioted over police abuse and segregation. While our history books remind us of famous riots in major cities like Los Angeles, Newa...
Minorities are targets of police brutality in schools
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Minorities are targets of police brutality in schools

Civil rights and education advocacy groups call for removal of officers from schools despite risk of shootings. A study by civil rights and education advocacy groups in the United States claims minority students are targets of police brutality in schools. The report, published this week, calls for the removal of school police officers, despite the risk of school shootings. by Heidi Zhou-Castro Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou-Castro reports from Philadelphia.