Police Brutality by O Akinyemi and D Akinwole
According to Nix et al. (2017) and Edwards et al. (2019), about 1,000 civilians are killed each year in the United States by law-enforcement officers. It is estimated that black people are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by the police than white folks. Since 1920, Jewish and other immigrants from southern and eastern Europe have also been whining about police brutality against their communities.
The recent killing of George Floyd by officer “Derek Chauvin” has brought a deep concerned and unprecedented level of support around the world. The way and manner in which George was murdered, in a public execution style, reinvigorated a public debate about police brutality and racism around the world. We hope that the debate will bring a change of far teaching resolutions that will allow the minority ethnic groups be able to live in peace and harmony with the white folks.
At a time when the world was mourning, the response of President Trump relative to the killing of George heightened emotions, escalated a protest and brought about solidarity supports around the world. IAHRAC would have expected President Trump to handle the issue in a more humane manner, instead his careless statement further portrayed his divisive system of governance that confirmed him to be a racialised white supremacist president. His behaviour did not only spawn a worldwide uproar, but a controversial impasse that brought set back to many countries’ economy in a time the world was battling with COVID-19 pandemic.
IAHRAC cannot afford to turn a deaf ear like nothing has happened. Therefore, we are sending a strong message to the perpetrators of this hateful behaviour and demand that justice must prevail for the unlawful murder of innocent citizens. We hereby urge the world leaders to address this rampant slaughtering of black people and other minority ethnic groups around the world.
IAHRAC would like the US government to ensure that concrete steps are taken to address the perpetual killings of Black people.