Abdur-Rahman Sharif

Today’s Racism:

How bad has police brutality gotten?

Story by Abdur-Rahman Sharif. Published December 2021.

B

lack Lives Matter is one of the largest movements in modern-day politics, which was created by 3 Black women back in 2013 to counteract the violence and injustice against African Americans, specifically from police. Though it was created in 2013, it really gained traction in 2020 with the tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others. George Floyd’s death caused huge uprisings all over the United States and even places outside of the United States like Paris, Liberia, Japan, and many other areas. Countless protests were organized in the Summer of 2020 in honor of George Floyd, and as a way to send a message to the police that people will not stand for this ever again. According to Ayana Flewellen, assistant professor of anthropology who focuses on Black feminist theory. “The Black Lives Matter movement really was born, I wanna say back in ... 2012 with the murder of Trayvon Martin, and then more recently the murder of George Floyd, and also the death of Breonna Taylor in her own home while she was resting,” Flewellen said. “During the summer of 2020 was what we would call hypervisibility. People really saw injustice in a new way, in ways they haven’t seen before.” Flewellen spends her days in archeological sites and looks for artifacts that symbolize Black history. For example, she had found a doll that belonged to a Black girl, which was one of the first times she had ever gone face to face with the fact that people and children in the era of slavery still had culture and experiences as people. “ One of the most astonishing things I have uncovered at an archeological site was at a plantation site in Jacksonville, Florida. At the plantation, I came across doll frag-

Courtesy of Clay Banks

Girl raises her hand and holds up a sign with a fist. The fist signifies the movement BLM. Courtesy of Clay Banks. People kneel and raise their fists in memory of George Floyd. Photo Courtesy of Clay Banks.

Left, Professor of Anthropology, Ayana Flewellen is looking for artifacts in an archeological site. Courtesy of Ayana Flewellen. Center, Ayana Flewellen is examining the artifacts found in the archeological site in a lab. Courtesy of Ayana Flewellen. Right, she preserves the artifacts found in the site and examined in the laboratory in wardrobes. Courtesy of Ayana Flewellen.

ments at one of the enslaved people’s homes that we were surveying, and what was really astonishing was that it was the first time I was really confronted with talking about these sort of lived experiences and culture during enslavement, but I don’t think there is really a lot of research that really focuses on how Black children have lived during that time period under slavery.”

Flewellen believes that uncovering the past of African Americans is one way to step forward and move into a racism-free world.

“I think that the work that people do right now, especially the work that people are doing to really uncover our history and our past, allows us to have conversations in the present about where we really have come from, what we really have moved through, and pushed against. Through the conception of us being alive and thriving, I do think that it’s possible [to have a racism-free world] in the future.”

Rengin Firat believes the world has to do a bit more. Rengin Firat believes that to achieve this world, humans need to be able to change. She specializes in social psychology of morality and emo-

tions, with a particular emphasis on group polarization and inter-ethnic inequalities of well-being and health.

“Racism and anti-Black racism is pervasive, deeply rooted, and destructive in American society. BLM is a much-needed, community-built effort to combat racism,” Firat explains. “I believe the solutions or the steps towards a racism-free world have to be at the systemic or macro level. Humans are stubborn and difficult to change. If we want to change people, we need to change the institutions and the policies governing these institutions. In the U.S. context, this means major reforms in the criminal justice, education, and healthcare systems among others, and redistribution of wealth more equally”. Firat focuses on the social psychology of morality and emotions, with a particular emphasis on group polarization and inter-ethnic inequalities of well-being and health. Her personal opinion on racism was more from a medical standpoint. Finally, she adds how racism affects health, as she mainly focuses on researching racial disparities in health. For the most part, the stress that rac-

During the Summer of 2020, last year, was what we would call hyper-visibility. People really saw injustice in a new way In ways, they haven’t seen before. Ayana Flewellen, Assistant Professor Of Anthropolgy

ism and discrimination cause many to have degraded mental health and many other issues. “Racism is one of the greatest detriments to human health”, Firat said. “Numerous research studies show that members of groups who receive racism and discrimination have poorer health outcomes including cardiovascular diseases and poor mental health.” When George Floyd was brutally murdered back in May 2020, it gained traction of many controversies and opinions, explained Firat. “I was deeply emotionally affected by the death of George Floyd ‘’, Firat explains. “To be honest, this caused me a level of distress and sadness that led me to become physically ill. I am a social scientist who studies racism and inequalities; but, I am also a brown, immigrant woman. The reality that a person was murdered because of the color of his skin by the authorities of the very social institution that was supposed to protect and serve him is very personal to me. “ Firat felt emotionally ill. She couldn’t believe her eyes, the way someone, and also a person of color like her, was so brutally murdered by a police officer, Derek Chauvin, someone who was supposed to protect this country. “This reality is not new of course. The US has a long history of racial violence. But, I can tell you that it never gets old. You never get used to it. Our bodies show a visceral reaction to the unfair killing of a person”, Firat said. Finally, Firat goes in-depth about what America and the policing system have to change in order to create the dream of a racism-free society. “If we want police brutality to end, “Firat said, “we need to make a reform in the policing system. And this reform needs to go beyond ‘removing the bad apples’. If we want our communities to thrive, we need to reimagine the policing system. For example, we could send social workers and other mental health experts as first responders to emergency and crisis situations, demilitarize the police force and have policies against racial profiling in the police force.” Flewellen agreed that Floyd did not deserve death, and that the same could be said for the countless other Black victims of police brutality. “...even if George Floyd was a drug dealer, “Flewellen said, “even if Michael Brown was accused of stealing from that gas station, even though some people might engage in these different acts, they deserve to live, and I think that that is a value; that is something you really hold on to as well. People dispose of oth-

Man in the orange shirt raising his fist during a Black Lives Matter protest in Paris. Courtesy of Thomas de LUZE.

er people and say, ‘oh they just deserved it’, but nobody deserved to die like that.” Another professor of sociology, Bridget Goosby, also believed that there should be justice for other Black victims and that Derek Chauvin, the officer that kneeled on George Floyd for nine minutes,

which had ultimately killed him, being sentenced was only an exception.

“It happened to Eric Garner, but there was no conviction for his death,” Goosby said. “George Floyd’s death and the conviction of the police officer that killed him was an exception, not the rule”, Goosby said. Goosby herself experienced racism at a young age when she was discriminated against by her neighbors as she was the only Black person living in a predominantly white neighborhood. “Racism is very, very harmful, and it is in the fabric of the society that we live in, in the United States,” Goosby said. “One of the things that racism can be harmful to people’s health, it can deprive them of positive social experiences, it can also deprive them of access to resources, like being able to live in diverse and different kinds of neighborhoods, being passed over for jobs, things like being exposed to discrimination when you’re in a store, being followed around.” A trending topic that has been brought up with the recent rise of the Black Lives Matter movement is the difference between anti-racist and not racist, according to Firat. “It is not enough to be just ‘not racist,’” Firat said. “In fact, a lot of people show implicit racist biases even after they say they are not racist. In order for our implicit, negative attitudes not to bias our behavior, we need to take active steps in becoming anti-racist.” The general consensus from professionals and internet debates alike is that these two terms are very different. Being not racist means to just not indulge yourself in racist acts, but also not stand up against it either. Anti-racism, as the name suggests, means that they are actively against racism. They try to attend Black Lives Matter protests, they stand up for others who are being discriminated against because of their race, et cetera. But your stance on racism all starts at a young age. Usually, it depends on the parents. They fill their kids with values, whether it be racism, anti-racism, or just being not racist. “It’s what we call socialization,” Firat said. “You’re taught culture. And so one of the things that get taught in our culture is who is valuable and who is not.”

If we want police brutality to end, we need to make a reform in the policing system. And this reform needs to go beyond “removing the bad apples”. If we want our communities to thrive, we need to reimagine the policing system. Rengin Firat, Professor of Sociology

• B LACK LIVES MATTE R •