US: A Racism Problem, but Also a Police Problem

Behind the tragedies in Ferguson, Cleveland, New York and Phoenix is the question of racism, but also the question posed by the incredible deference this society pays to the omnipotence of police officers.

In the first part of his “I Have A Dream” speech, Martin Luther King, Jr. wonders about the conditions that could one day enable civil rights activists to consider themselves “satisfied”:

“‘When will you be satisfied?’ We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating ‘For whites only.’ We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no we are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Half a century after this wonderful speech, law and justice have certainly progressed in the United States: The infamous signs evoked by the visionary pastor have long disappeared, and blacks can not only frequent motels and hotels, but also the Oval Office of the White House. What’s left is the first condition set by King: The “unspeakable horrors of police brutality” unfortunately persist.

Post-racial America Is Not All that ‘Post’

As the tragedies in Cleveland, Ferguson, New York and Phoenix have just reminded us, a black person can still be killed like a rabid animal in American cities and counties if they are deemed threatening — even if they are not armed, even if they are a child. The conservative television channel Fox News can point out all they want that the number of blacks killed by police officers has decreased by 70 percent in 50 years — an estimate that has yet to be confirmed — it still does not prevent the following from being true: It is still impossible to declare oneself “satisfied.” The “mighty stream” that Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed of has yet to gush forth. Obama’s “post-racial” America is not all that “post.”

American newspapers have rightly pointed out the (often unconscious) racial biases of many white police officers. In fact, for some of them, the life of a black person is clearly worth less than that of another. And for many, skin color alone constitutes a threat.

How To Put an End to ‘the Unspeakable Horror’

Such racial prejudices are rooted in the deep-down psyche of America: In order to grasp its power, America’s original sin, slavery, has to be brought up, as well as its byproduct: the terrible fear, passed down from one generation to another, of a revolt. The wounds handed down by this past are still gaping: They are the social ills of which so many blacks are victims.

For all that, police racism, if terribly shocking, did not on its own cause the death of Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Rumain Brisbon. And if it is difficult for federal authorities and states to eradicate racist prejudices from the minds of police officers, they can act by using other levers to put an end to “the unspeakable horrors of police brutality” evoked by Martin Luther King, Jr. Three of them, in particular, can be put into place rapidly.

Tighten Gun Control Laws

For starters, tighten gun control laws. Reducing the circulation of guns would evidently make police officers less nervous, no matter their skin color or that of the person they interact with. In Great Britain, where weapons are rare, citizens are 100 times less likely to be killed by the police than Americans, given a comparable population size.

Better Train Police Officers

The second lever: Better mentoring and training for police officers. It is difficult to imagine that in the United States today a police officer is authorized by law to kill in the absence of any serious threat to their own life or the lives of others. An opinion piece by a former police officer, published in The Washington Post this summer, was in this respect eloquent:

“Even though it might sound harsh and impolitic, here is the bottom line: If you don’t want to get shot, tased, pepper-sprayed, struck with a baton or thrown to the ground, just do what I tell you. Don’t argue with me, don’t call me names, don’t tell me that I can’t stop you, don’t say I’m a racist pig, don’t threaten that you’ll sue me and take away my badge. Don’t scream at me that you pay my salary, and don’t even think of aggressively walking towards me.”

Society’s incredible deference toward them bolsters the power of police officers. However, changing the “shoot first” culture is possible, as Slate blogger Jamelle Boulle observes, citing good numbers reported in Philadelphia: The police killed “only” three people this year, versus 13 last year and 16 in 2012, simply because police authorities decided to review their practices. The number of gun shots fired by the Philadelphia police went from 48 to 18 in two years, which remains high. In Great Britain last year, only three shots were fired by police.

Banish the Sense of Impunity

Finally, police officers’ sense of impunity must be put to an end. Those who kill or injure people without any real reason should be severely sanctioned, and those who keep their composure in tense situations should be rewarded. In their mourning, the families of Michael Brown in Ferguson and Eric Garner in New York are painfully aware that America is still behind in this respect.