Police Brutality in The Basis of The Hate You Feel

In the book, The Hate U Give is based about a 16-year-old African American girl named Starr to witness police brutality against her best friend. Starr and her friend, Khalil, was leaving a party when Khalil was pulled over for a traffic violation of a broken taillight. The police officer asked for license, registration, and proof of insurance, then Khalil asked why he pulled them over. The Officer asked for license, registration, and proof of insurance again. Khalil then asked again why he pulled them over. Starr asked Khalil to do what he said and, he does. The Officer follows Khalil movements. Khalil hands over his papers and his license.

The Officer looks over the paper and asked where they were coming from. Khalil told him nowhere then, asked again why he pulled him over. The Officer told him a broken taillight. Khalil asked is he going to give him a ticket. The Officer told him to get out of the car. Khalil said man, just give me a ticket. Then the Officer told him to get out of the car with his hands up. Khalil gets out with his hands up. The Officer yanks his arm and, pins him to the car. An officer pats Khalil down three times. Then tell them don’t move and, head to his car. Khalil opens the driver’s door to ask Starr was she okay. The officer shot three times.

In Falcon Heights, MN, Philando Castile, 32, he was pulled over for a broken taillight. Yanez had got a radio call about a robbery suspect. Officer Yanez thought Castile was the suspect. Castile told Officer Yanez that he had a gun in the car, but he had a license for the gun. Officer Yanez shot Castile twice. Some of the other bullets came inches of Castile girlfriend who got filmed of the aftermath. Officer Yanez was not found guilty for manslaughter(USA Today Article).

In Sacramento, CA, Stephon Clark, 22, father of two, was shot 20 times in his grandmother’s backyard. Police was responding to a 911 call about smashed car windows. They follow suspect until they realized he was trapped. They yell for him to show his hand, then second later one of the officers shouts “Gun, gun, gun” open fire. Police believe the suspect was armed then found it was a cellphone. After this shooting, there were protests all over Sacramento (Los Angeles Time). Like in the book ‘The Hate U Give’, Khalil Harris also died like Stephon Clark. The officer thought when he opened his door, his hairbrush was gun (pg 217).

In South Jersey, Edward Minguela, 32 and race unknown, was standing on the sidewalk with his hand in the air. When three police approach him because they’d got a tip about a man with a gun, which Edward match the description and was unarmed. One of the officers grab him from behind him and slam him to ground. The officer started punching Minguela in the head while the other officer help by pinning him to ground (Washington Post). Wesley stated in The Washington Post that 212 people had been shot and killed by police officers, also states that “The Washington Post’s police shooting database shows about the same pace of three fatal shooting per day. The Post has recorded the shooting since they began tracking police shooting in 2015”(The Washington Post).

In Cleveland, OH, Tamir Rice, 12, died outside the Cudell Recreation Center. The police department was receiving phone calls about someone showing a gun to people. The dispatcher was told by the caller that the gun looked fake, but the dispatcher never told Loehmann or responding officers. The Grand jury declined to bring up charges against Officer Loehmann (NBC).

In Ferguson, MO, Michael Brown, 18, dies in an encounter with a police officer. The Officer was responding to a 911 call about a robbery. Officer Wilson saw Brown and his friend walking in the middle, he approached to tell them to walk on the sidewalk. According to Officer Wilson, Brown attacked him in his car and tried to get his gun. Several witnesses stated that Brown was surrendering and had his hand in the air to show he was unarmed. Officer Wilson fired 12 times. Officer Wilson was not charged for no crimes. After the Grand jury had announced their decision that had led to protest, riots, and looting in Missouri. “A federal investigation revealed a pattern of abuse by Ferguson’s mostly white force against the city’s majority black residents” (CNN).

According to Harvard Law review states that if we help black people to pursue higher education could help change how African Americans experiences with the police (HLR). Harvard Law Review states that Forman, author of Locking Up Our Own, talks about “foregrounds two issues: the desire of African Americans to protect black lives from the surge in violence and crime ravaging their communities” (HLR).

“What’s the point of having a voice if you’re gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn’t be?”(pg.252) This is the question people ask in these black communities. How many more lives have to be taken till we get change. According to the Atlantic states that 19 unarmed black males were killed in 2017 (The Atlantic). They also state “black males aged from 15 to 34 are between nine and sixteen times more likely to be killed by police than other people”(The Atlantic). This is could be caused by the lack of opportunities or their environment. Most of the cases are in or near places that are not that nice and the majority of the residents are minorities.

“This is about Us, with a capital U; everybody who looks likes us feels like us, and is experiencing this pain with us despite not knowing me or Khalil” (pg.171). Despite not knowing Michael, Tamir, Philando, and Stephon it still affects me and other black people and even white people. Even tho it might not have happened to our loved one. We still feel what their family are going through. We are all experiencing the same thing despite it happen more with black people. But even tho we through difficult times in black communities, there still people who stand with us through these times. Martin Luther King Jr would be happy to see black and white coming together even tho it a sad thing that someone has to die for us to come together as a nation.

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