Unfair Treatment

There is an expression “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” On 2/17/22 while watching the morning news a story regarding two teenagers in a mall in Bridgewater NJ caught my attention. The weekend prior to the story two teenagers, one Black, and one Latino fought in the mall when the Black teen stood up for a friend that was being bullied. The lighter skinned, the Latino teen was the aggressor, the older of the two teens, and the larger of the two.

When the two police officers arrived the Latino teen was atop the Black teen. They pulled him off, sat him on the couch unrestrained while the Black teen was on the ground with a knee in his back being handcuffed. The Black teen was held for almost thirty minutes while the lighter skin, the Latino teen was allowed to leave. It appears to me that the officers were acting upon their intrinsic bias, thinking that because of his race the Black teen was the initiator of the fight. I do not know what was on the officer’s mind, but it is extremely disconcerting that these officers without asking any questions pulled the lighter skinned, Latino teen off of the Black teen and proceeded to handcuff the Black teen. In fact, the Latino teen stated to a news station that he was surprised when he was not placed in handcuffs.

This disparate treatment of Black people continues to happen despite what happened with George Floyd, Briana Taylor, and recently a twenty-two-year-old Black man in Minneapolis killed while lying on his couch during the execution of a no-knock warrant of which he was not the subject. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr, “It is not possible to be in favor of justice for some people and not be in favor of justice for all people.”
I deeply appreciate the work done by law enforcement officers throughout this country.

However, more training is needed, and extensive background checks should be done before officers are hired. I do want the police to come when I call. When they come, I want them to treat everyone with respect. Yes, there is still work to be done regarding law enforcement’s community engagement while serving in communities of color. Black people deserve fair treatment from not only the police but society as a whole. The struggle continues.

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Marvin Dixon/Founder
VMGREVIEW.COM