Description
Unformatted Attachment Preview
Purchase answer to see full attachment
Explanation & Answer
View attached explanation and answer. Let me know if you have any questions.Hey, I'm done. It took me quite some time. But its done :D
Surname 1
Name
Instructor
Subject
04 July 2022
Defunding the Police
The statistics on police violence are quite worrying in a US where equality and freedom
is fundamental for all races and ethnicities. “About 1 in every 1,000 black men can expect to be
killed by police,” according to a study by Edwards et al. The purpose of law enforcement, or the
police department, is to maintain law and order. That responsibility has little to no contention in
the modern world. However, the police have been tainted in numerous cases of injustice, most
notably through discrimination against minority races such as the African American and Latino
communities. Despite much progress in curtailing discrimination, systematic and institutional
racial discrimination still haunts American institutions, primarily the law enforcement
department. Therefore, there is an ongoing and increasing realization of the need to reduce police
budgets and allocate them to other more socially responsible projects such as community
policing. There exist alternatives such as enacting police reforms that are key to reducing police
violence; however, the problem of racial policing is deep as the reforms only lead to superficial
solutions, as the problem arises from institutional racism that has pushed vulnerable groups into
crime. Therefore, defunding the police and investing in community projects such as healthcare,
education, housing, and job creation are a few strategies that will help tackle racial policing.
When speaking of defunding the police, there can be some ambiguity on its meaning,
which thus may lead to several interpretations. However, in the case of this paper, defunding the
Surname 2
police can be defined as the act of reducing budgetary allocation to the police (Andrew). Such a
definition highlights that it is not the abolishment of the police that is being sought, but rather the
need to realize that the police are being over-funded, yet the funds are being utilized in racial
policing. Defunding the police would mean that funds can be allocated to other sectors that can
best help address the underlying problem in the US, institutional racial discrimination, favoring
whites over minority races and ethnicities, especially the African American community.
One would wonder how such an idea came to be and who were the people or
organizations behind it? The idea of defunding the police traces back to the Black Lives Matter
(BLM) movement, which was “founded in 2013 by Patrisse Khan-Cullers, Opal Tometi, and
Alicia Garza" (Cummins). The three founders were keen on stimulating the fight against gender
and sexual discrimination while calling out against racial discrimination. Therefore, it is no
surprise that the movement proposed for defunding the police; with the idea becoming famous
following the death of George Floyd in 2020. The group, which has attracted mass following, has
been able to gain a lot of support, following the mass demonstrations with the banner, “Black
Lives Matter” as a way of showing the need for fighting against racial policing; especially
targeting African Americans. Notably, BLM has not only become famous in the US, but also in
European countries such as the UK (Cummins). Therefore, defunding the police is an idea that is
also being spread in the UK; given the similarities in a number of factors that portray racial
policing.
Why should the police be defunded? Is it such a radical move? Is it against the
civilization that Americans have established? Well, the answer lies in institutional racial
discrimination. There has been documented and an undocumented case of police brutality in
Surname 3
which racial minorities were the victims. For instance, the case of George Floyd, whose death
brought about mass demonstrations not only in the US but also internationally.
In Minneapolis, 2020, “Floyd, a 46-year-old African American,” was put in a chokehold
while pinned on the ground for having bought a pack of cigarettes with counterfeit money
(BBC). Had it not been recorded, Americans would probably have been blind to the occurrence
in which excessive force was subjected to an unarmed African American to his death. According
to BBC, "He pleaded that he couldn't breathe." The exact words were heard during Eric Garner's
death, "I can't breathe" (BBC). The amount of force used on the racial minorities is qu...