Category: Minority

Society is defined as people who interact in a defined geographic territory and share elements of a common culture (Macionis and Gerber, 2014). There are numerous components to society: class, gender, family, and much more. However, ethnicity has become of greater influence in academia over the last 50 years (Adlparvar and Tadros, 2016). Ethnicity is a shared cultural heritage. People identify or are defined as members of an ethnic group based on commonalities like language, religion, beliefs, practices, and ancestry. Essentially, an ethnic group is a bond characterized by a common culture. Much like race, ethnicity has developed as an identification method used by individuals and institutions. There are five major theoretical approaches that explore the power and stratification of ethnicity in society: structural functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interactionism – two newer ones- feminism, and post-modernism. They each differ in their view of human nature, social change, and their view of how to study and observe society. Through this essay, I seek to compare two sociological paradigms: structural functionalism and symbolic interactionism; as well as explain why I believe symbolic interactionism is most effective in understanding minority relations.

Structural functionalism is a sociological approach that explains why society functions the way it does by exploring the relationships between social institutions. This perspective views society as a complex and coherent system with various parts functioning together to achieve social stability and solidarity. With this emphasis on equilibrium, structural functionalism holds that society is normative order; people’s behavior is organized around social institutions comprised of norms and rules. The Hobbesian view of the state of nature foregrounds structural functionalism. The Hobbesian view, which was introduced by Thomas Hobbes, explains that hierarchy is inevitable because society is biologically based. This view – heavily rooted in social Darwinism – affirms that status differences are natural and functional. The Porter thesis about the vertical mosaic is a good example of a structural functionalist theory of stratification: Porter accepts the stratification system that views the mosaic as natural and historic, as it is bound with the Canadian ideology of multiculturalism and tolerance. This paradigm also incorporates a primordialist approach, which explains ethnicity as a fixed characteristic of individuals and communities (Reuter, 2017). Thus, viewing ethnicity as embedded in inherited biological attributes (Reuter, 2017).

Following, structural functionalists believe ethnic identification is functional because it generates social integration by providing belonging and discouraging anomie (Reuter, 2017). Structural functionalism views ethnic stratification as a useful outcome of ethnocentrism. This perspective analyzes social stratification at a macro level since it has to do with the way a society is organized (Macionis and Gerber, 2014). For structural functionalists, social stratification is a system of unequal rewards that benefit society (Macionis and Gerber, 2014). This inequality is fine because it aids in economic production by encouraging people to work harder. Ethnocentrism allows society to develop a shared identity and works towards cooperation of its social institutions through shared norms and values (Reuter, 2017). During times of stress and rapid social change, elements of the system unravel; thus, structural functionalism is mainly concerned with majority-minority relations due to the potential for social disruption. Ethnic minorities play an important role in society due to their willingness to work at jobs, or for wages that are unappealing (Macionis and Gerber, 2014). For example, Latinx immigrants often work as maids, gardeners, and janitors, this is the product of ethnic disparities in society. For structural functionalists, ethnic inequalities are useful to society by creating incentives for people to work harder, thus maintaining social stability. Essentially, this perspective concludes that socioeconomic inequalities that affect ethnicity are inevitable and in fact necessary for the maintenance of social equilibrium.

On the other hand, symbolic interactionism provides an interpretative approach to ethnicity. Symbolic interactionism seeks to understand the social world by exploring the processes that occur within and between groups through ongoing activities. This approach adopts qualitative methods, it focuses on the micro-sociological level of intersubjective experiences. Symbolic Interactionists study the world from the bottom up, macro-levels are constructed by the micro-level. Their approach is inductive rather than deductive. An example of how the interactionist perspective is applied is apparent when we look at how people define their race and how they define the race of others. In relation to the social construction of race, some people who identify as white may have more pigmentation in their skin than some people that identify as black, so how did they come to identify themselves (Little, 2016)? Symbolic interactionists work to portray the social world as meaningfully constructed by interpreting members’ points of view. This perspective highlights social reality as fluid; and reality as constructed. Max Weber’s work aided in the development of the symbolic interactionist paradigm. Weber understood the power of technology and he shared many of Karl Marx’s ideas about social conflict (Macionis and Gerber, 2014). However, he disagreed with Marx’s philosophy of materialism (Macionis and Gerber, 2014). Thus, Weber’s philosophical approach, called idealism emphasized how human ideas, values, and beliefs shape society (Macionis and Gerber, 2014). He proposed that capitalism was not entirely determined by ideology, but that people valued capitalism. To Weber, status groups underly social class, a status-determined badge of honor.

Symbolic Interactionism highlights ethnic association as a part of membership and political advantage. Symbolic interactionism posits that for an ethnic group to exist, its members must develop a “consciousness of kind”, or a feeling of being different from others (Curry et al, 2008). This shared sense of community stems from the interactions between ethnic groups and the rest of society (Curry et al, 2008). For example, in Canadian society, Indigenous peoples have been often grouped together as one large community; rather than being acknowledged by a specific tribe. It also promotes the re-emergence of ethnicity as a strategic choice in a competitive environment. Essentially, symbolic interaction highlights ethnicity as a social psychological process.

Symbolic interactionism and structural functionalism both have two different perspectives on ethnicity and the problems of ethnic inequalities. The functionalist perspective views inequality as beneficial for the smooth functioning of societies. While symbolic interactionism views ethnicities as created and reproduced through social interactions. I believe symbolic interactionism is most effective in understanding minority relations because it shifts focus from social structure to social context. I believe that by focusing on the symbolic exchanges that occur during interactions, we are better able to understand minority relations. When we interact with people from different ethnic backgrounds, we use our language, mannerisms, and gestures to communicate our own ethnic identity as well as receive information about theirs. Whereas, structural functionalism uses an ahistorical, static, conservative approach. It fails to account for the historical processes that have produced social and ethnic inequality, and rather just accepts everything as it is. With this perspective meritocracy and achievement are inevitable. Structural functionalism also does not develop analyses of ethnicity, but simply views them as constituent elements of society that contribute to effective functioning. Structural functionalism also fails to account for social conflict since it accentuates the importance of cultural unity; it is incapable of understanding disruptive forces like discrimination.

There is no consensus on the concept of the Muslim minority and the Islamic State, some theorists believe that if the proportion of the state more than 50. It inevitably becomes an Islamic state, and others argue that if Muslims are a majority compared to all other religions, then the state is entitled to be described as Islamic, then there are elites of jurists, particularly in the field of constitutional law, that the definition of these two concepts is linked to the supreme law of the country, the Constitution (Eder 2005).

It is no secret to every discreet follower that there are many difficulties to know the number of Muslim minorities in many regions of the world, either because of the poverty experienced by their countries or because of the successive political crises that prevent the authorities from going into such statistics in order to raise sectarian and ethnic problems.

As for the concerns of the Muslim minorities, except for the minorities living in the developed countries, which have different concerns, especially Islam phobia, the majority of minorities know the same challenges of poverty, persecution, war, conflict and ethnic persecution. Consider the map of political and military conflicts since the 1980s. The main areas of conflict are Muslim minorities, such as Jammu, Kashmir, East Turkistan, the Philippines, Burma, the Balkans, and others.

We must not forget that these minorities live politically marginalized, as the private and public intervene because they do not reach the public political sphere, and not to win local, legislative and regional elections, so that there are no demands in their favor, which is judged by the isolation, not to mention the prevalence of illiteracy in This is evident in Africa, particularly in the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and among the large Muslim minorities in India and the Philippines.

In developed countries, Muslim immigrants have problems related to Islam phobia and xenophobia in general, and it is enough for those who want to expand the subject to refer to the writings of the German philosopher and thinker Jürgen Habermas, as it always indicates that the electoral factor and the need to mobilize more votes is the reason why Some European societies, including German society, are sick of stereotypes about Islam and Muslims, which feeds in the minds of Germans the «existence of national identity and culture in danger» or referred to as reference identity, and this identity is ignited by party politicians whenever they let Necessary to, as happened in the nineties when the advance of thousands of immigrants from the former Yugoslavia and asked for political asylum in Germany, sparking a whirlwind of political protests.

We need thousands of pages to write about the reality and the future of Muslim minorities in the world, but their reality in the circumstances of globalization, the problems of multiculturalism, and the globalization of human rights, the necessity of building the human family, the one and the home. It calls on countries and organizations with a great sense of civilization to play their historic role to take care of the future of these minorities, to formulate public policies and to consider binding international agreements. It unites, disperses, unites, disperses, keeps human beings, whatever their dignity, and makes them a positive member of the new world order.

The problem of minorities that has emerged recently in the Muslim world is a new or contrived problem, or it has a huge amount of foreign incitement, and it really only emerged in the context of the conflict with the West, especially after the period of occupation and foreign influence, and it is known that the perception of social issues in general, Minorities in particular differ according to the different scientific perspective used in their study. It is obvious that political sociology and other humanities differ from one cultural context to another. Sociology is linked to the civilizational context that it has produced and then the problems addressed by the West. This is a methodological mistake. There is no doubt that the use of this methodology and its terminology in the study of the Islamic case, which is different in quantity and quality from the situation, context and circumstances that have emerged in the West, leads to serious mistakes. Islamic political sociology, for example, is based on Western political sociology but we just say that it is not scientifically valid to study a phenomenon that has arisen in a different civilizational circumstance.

In this subject, ‘minorities’, which are either ethnic, religious, sectarian or linguistic minorities, the Islamic religious and civilizational perspective differs from other perspectives, especially Western ones. Islam, for example, does not differentiate between Muslims on the basis of color, race and language, and for non-Muslim religious communities used Sharia The Islamic word for ‘people of dhimma’, which differs significantly in terms of moral and rights and rights of minorities, and also used the law of the term misguided groups or people of heresy to describe religious groups, such as Kharijites, Shiites, Mu’tazila and others.

Muslim minorities in the West, whether in European countries or the United States, are an important civilizational extension of the Arab and Islamic nations, given that Islamic culture is an essential component of Arab civilization. Hence the value of reliability as a bridge to Arab relations with the West. The origins of Muslim minorities in the West date back to the Umayyad era in Andalusia, which saw the first transfer of Islam to Europe from its south-west, then Muslims arrived in the south of France, and then to Eastern Europe, when the Ottomans arrived in Vienna, capital of the Austrian Empire at that time. This led to a large convergence of Islam by the Balkans, a population that later formed the nucleus of the Muslim minorities presently in Eastern Europe, signaling a state of historical intertwining of Islamic culture with the West.

The Muslim community in the West has grown exponentially in recent years, with a growing number of Muslim minorities and a growing cultural and media activity. Statistics show that there are at least 7 million Muslims in the United States, and in recent decades there have been many Islamic organizations and cultural centers that have played a major role in the American arena. There are about 35 million Muslims in the EU, and Muslims are expected to make up about 10 percent of the total European population in 2020. Statistics show that the European Union has 7 thousand associations and Islamic centers and a mosque, benefiting more than 16 million Muslims.

Muslim minorities in the West have benefited from the political and cultural openness that exists there to present themselves strongly to the societies in which they have lived, but this has not prevented the concerns of the Muslim community abroad. Muslim minorities faced significant challenges in the West, although they differed in the United States from the European Union, and within the Union there were country-specific problems. In the United States, Zionist control of the media played a major role in reducing the media visibility of Muslim minorities there, as Jews controlled the most important parts of the American economy.

The situation in the European Union varies from country to country, as we have already mentioned. In Italy, where there are more than one million Muslims and 80,000 Italians, and 450 mosques, the government still does not recognize Islam as an official religion. In Germany, where there are more than 3 million Muslims, most of them Turks, Germans still see Muslims as foreigners and a threat to society.

Muslims in Britain make up more than 5 percent of the total population, with more than two million people, of whom one third are of Indian descent. There are about 100 languages spoken by Muslims, with roots from 56 countries. Muslims have 600 mosques registered as religious charities, compared with 13 Founded in 1963, there are also 1400 Islamic associations. The situation in Britain seems to be better than others. British law views different ethnic groups positively and allows them a degree of differentiation. ‘With the freedom to express the political identity of nationalities, Muslims were able to express themselves in the political system.

In France, which has the largest Muslim community on its territory, where the number of Muslims about six million have 1300 mosques, and about 600 associations, local radio in addition to the presence of more than 100,000 Muslims of French origin, there is a marked confusion towards Muslims on the issue Integration and lack of clear policies to integrate immigrants. ” The issue of immigrants has taken a big place in the recent presidential elections, especially after the rise of the extreme right, which pledged to curb foreign immigration, so the government began a new policy to reduce xenophobia.

Other issues have begun regarding laws changing. Muslim women are being fined and penalized for their attire, such as wearing the veil. Several conservative groups and even a minister are supporting the decision of forbidding the veil and criminalizing it. However, some do not agree with this stance on the matter. State officials did not see this as fit due to it clashing with the principles of freedom of worship and expression. Tariq Ramadan, a Muslim modernist, has stated that the veil should not be a crime and offense (Cesario, 2010). Banning it would not solve the more serious ongoing issues in the country. Similar concerns like these are also occurring in Switzerland. A ban was thought to be forced to stop construction of mosque minarets (Cumming-Bruce & Erlanger, 2009). Communities worried as such a law might bring fear and rising tension between Muslims and the Swiss. However, the government still is not against the building of mosques, and they also tried affirming that this action is not to undermine the Muslim culture and tradition. Problems like these make sense in that fear grows in the communities as Muslims might not start to feel accepted, also presuming that xenophobia will be a common occurrence (Cumming-Bruce & Erlanger, 2009).

In any case, despite these challenges, Muslim minorities have emerged considerably in the last decade and have begun to present themselves strongly in Western societies, especially in light of the qualitative development of the Islamic presence in the West. The recent period witnessed the emergence of a new Muslim generation that originated in the West and is saturated with its culture, so that the generation of this generation is in a better position compared to their predecessors who have suffered so much in order to integrate into Western societies, and the same period witnessed an increase in the cultural activity of Muslim minorities in the societies in which they live. In the west. But this surge in the Islamic presence in the West has begun to face other challenges of the last decade that have prevented its role from escalating.

These challenges stem from the nature of the relationship between the West in general and Islam, as they involve a considerable amount of contradictions that make their development a real problem, contradictions arising from the collision inherited in the relationship full of mutual suspicion since before the modern era, specifically the era of the Crusades A harsh confrontation between the two parties brought the political and religious together at the same time, even though this religious aspect of these wars was hiding behind political ambitions, and also despite the passing of many historical epochs. This is due to the ferocity of these wars, which kept them alive in the mindset of Arab, Islamic and Western alike.

Although the developments in the new world order have entailed an astonishing amount of communication between peoples regardless of their ethnic and cultural differences, the rising trend of globalization has fueled the idea of a clash between Islam and the West, especially with the enormous spread of the clash of civilizations. In fact, there is a fundamental factor that has put Islam and globalization on the opposite side of the other. Contemporary globalization, through its novelty surveys, presents itself as an integrated system. In addition to its cultural and economic aspects, globalization aims politically to enable the Western-style democracy in terms of pluralism. , Giving opportunities for freedom of expression, and giving opinion through its channels.

In contrast, Islam is not a pure religion, but a comprehensive system of life and criticism of what it is trying to promote globalization, and has its own theses contrary to many aspects of globalization. The events of September 11, already one of the key milestones in the development of the international order of the post-Cold War world, have reinvigorated the idea of a clash of civilizations. In fact, these events triggered a renewed debate about the relationship between the Muslim world, in the heart of which the Arab world, on the one hand, and the West, and at the heart of it, the United States of America, which stands alone at the top of the international system of the post-bipolar world, on the other hand, in a manner that tends to prevail rather than dialogue On this relationship.

All this means that this situation has negatively affected the situation of Muslim minorities in the West in general, although the situation in the United States where the events of September 11 took place is different from Europe, where the manifestations of discrimination against Muslims in the United States were most evident. Immediately after the events, some members of the Muslim community were killed there (Vembulu 2003).

It may be important in this context to note that the sense of civilization in the United States is less than that of Europe, and in parallel, there are historical relations and geographical relationship between the Arab and Muslim world on the one hand and Europe on the other hand, and this fact makes Muslim minorities in the West Europeans are better placed than in the United States. The main problem is that the Muslim minorities in the West do not form a single unit, which facilitates the task of pressure on them, and this stems from the ethnic and linguistic pluralism of these minorities, who came to the West from different countries and to achieve different interests. This situation obliges the organizations that lead these minorities to play a greater role in their unification in order to be one front similar to the Jewish minority in American society.

More importantly, these organizations must present a correct image of Islam to the West. This requires the establishment of more Islamic cultural centers and the consolidation of existing ones. This is very important given the Western ignorance of many of the principles of Islam.

It remains to activate the role of Muslim minorities in the West and to strengthen their communication with the communities in which they live does not mean the dissolution of these minorities in those communities, but this means the loss of their differentiation, which constitutes a bridge between them and their homelands, and is relied on to create true relations between the West and Arab and Islamic countries , That the intent is to activate their communication and end their isolation to make them effective in the communities in which they exist.

This requires consolidating the doctrine of loyalty and fostering affiliation by these minorities to the Muslim world, and only by learning the right doctrine, especially for the new generation born in the West. It goes without saying that the Arab and Islamic worlds are called upon to support Arab and Muslim minorities in the West, making them a voice in this vital region of the world, especially with the breakdown of borders and geographical divisions in our era, due to the tyranny of the communications and information revolution (Jordan 2008) .

How does the life, and death, of a person who was hung 168 years ago affect the lives of people today? The truth is, on the surface level it does not, but without looking at the politics of the time to find reasonings in their judgment one cannot delve into the truth of how the story of Josefa Segovia. To answer this question I will be using an argument that I first heard during my second lecture of this class: “History is not always spoken as linear, sometimes it is cyclical” to show how the inconsistent deliverance of her side of the truth which was lost to the word of a land-holding white man. In this examination of Josefa Segovia’s unclearly written story, I will prove that history is not only part of the past, but of how the people of today “reconstruct the past”, as well as examine how Truillot proves an ideology of the Four “I’s” of Oppression which I will use to deconstruct the narratives of this story (Coloradoinclusivefunders.Org, 2010).

Josefa Segovia, aka ‘Juanita’ aka Inez Pari lived in a period where land-holding white men held the power, which comes as no surprise. But more importantly, a post-US/Mexico War period where most, if not all, natives of the Mexico territories were scrutinized and where the ink of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was still fresh but already fading away from the minds of people in power. During this time the Gold Rush and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo brought many cases to courts in the newly acquired land – consistent with a high number of lynchings. Although the subject of our narrative was not like the majority of people who were coming to California in search of riches, neither was she someone who could benefit from any sort of Land Act instituted to reclaim property, Josefa was the first and only woman to be hanged in California.

However, I believe she was the only one to be “worthy” of her story being written and told. Although I would like to believe men in power would have the reasoning to punish women who have committed crimes previously, I find it hard to believe that the first and only woman who was lynched was also Mexican when the majority of the population during the events of 1851 were white Americans (Web.archive.org., 1988). To be fair, many critics of the Western legal process felt that juries and judges were too merciful when convicting defendants. These same people who defended lynching as a valid form of justified action also criticized the expenses incurred through judicial proceedings for which they blamed lawyers. Not only is the way the law works a form of Interpersonal Oppression but it is also internalized oppression (Coloradoinclusivefunders.Org, 2010). The Mob mentality of these times made people believe that they had the right to enact whatever justice they saw fit, which is obvious in the “trial” of Josefa.

The hasty nature of the trial, without a doubt, had something to do with the impact of racial tensions lingering from the recent War of the United States Against Mexico. Had Josefa been a white woman, people would probably have waited for a legal trial to sentence her. This incident continues to resonate with many young and old people of today because California sentenced to death the first woman by its legal system before even a year of being a state.

Ironically, the trial occurred the day after the country’s Fourth of July celebration, and the first year that California celebrated as a state. The residents of the town of Downieville, like most towns in the area, took advantage of the celebration to be as rowdy as possible. The town was full of tourists and residents who were ready to gamble, drink, and fight. From a sociological standpoint, you can look at Josefa’s, and her husband or boyfriend Juan aka “Jose”, way of living as another reason for their institutional and internalized oppression. The way they are oppressed is found in their livelihood, Jose who works in a saloon, and Josefa who presumably was not allowed to work due to being a woman, accompany him. If one sits down and analyzes the danger of being a dealer, especially during a time when people feel their freedoms are at an all-time high, you can assume that the couple was on edge making sure nothing would occur at their place of work and protecting themselves.

Trouillot argues during the process and production of history, silences are constructed during four different points: “the moment of fact creation (the making of sources); the moment of fact assembly (the making of archives); the moment of fact retrieval (the making of narratives); and the moment of retrospective significance (the making of history in the final instance)” (Trouillot 26). He continues to back his assertion of these four points of motion by stating that “any historical narrative is a bundle of silences, the result of a unique process.” (27) He defines silence as dissection of active dialects where history is the “synthesis”.” (48) A historical source must be evaluated both in terms of how it was made, the circumstances that might have affected its creation, and how it is being viewed years later. In this way, history and the consumption of history by the public should be a dual process: historians need to understand and contextualize how and why this source or product was created as well as help the public to understand why they are viewing the source or product in a way that they are doing so.

This incident portrayed the full sadism and cruelty in which Anglos enforced their “justice” on Mexicans. In retaliation for the murder of an itinerant Methodist minister, according to one description: “Clusters of hair torn from the scalp and other signs of lengthy torture were manifest” (100). Family members and mass outraged by this violent act eventually led to a jury against Reverend Oscar P. Mcmains for the murder of Cruz Vega, however, despite the verbal admittance of his role, his “eloquent defense” led him to only be found guilty in the fifth degree, and eventually, all charges were dropped.

Ultimately Trouillot is concerned with power: how it is used and who wields it, how this power results in the silencing of some histories but not others, and how power impacts and constructs the dominant narratives of history. Our Western historiography remains incomplete without attempting to recover these silences. As historians and public historians, we must be aware of these silences and work to remedy them while remaining educationally skeptical about our dominant narrative of history. We must also be aware of how these silences impact the public we are seeking to engage.

Antonia Castañeda argues that the predominant trend in United States history was to exclude women, and women of color in particular, as actors, narrators, and subjects of history. Even within women’s history, there are internal divisions in terms of how class, gender, race, and violence are written.

These kinds of oppressive attitudes and behaviors are backed up by institutional arrangements. This helps to clarify the confusion around what some claim to be ‘reverse racism’. People of color can have prejudices against and anger towards white people, or individual white people. They can act out those feelings in destructive and harmful ways toward whites. But in almost every case, this acting out will be severely punished. The force of the police and the courts, or at least a gang of whites getting even, will come crashing down on those people of color. The individual prejudice of black people, for example, is not backed up by the legal system and prevailing white institutions. The oppressed group, therefore, does not have the power to enforce its prejudices, unlike the dominant group. 

Upon reading Sula, by author Toni Morrison, readers are able to watch the discrimination that forms in the town known as The Bottom; however, as the story continues, readers must focus on how this discrimination perpetuates as they watch how the protagonists of the story, Sula and Nel, must learn to adapt to a society where the neglagance of mental health is never ending. Through an analysis of Trace, Trauma, and Home by Evelyn Jaffe Schrieber and Cherall Wall and Circling Meaning and Trauma by Claude Pruitt, readers can interpret the importance of the trauma associated with the marginalization of the black community in Toni Morrison’s Sula. Sula emphasizes the importance of removing the stigma around mental health and instead focusing on fostering a positive support system for those struggling with mental health. Ultimately, Morrison uses Sula to highlight the importance of seeking help from others in order to reduce the mental health concerns in minority communities.

In the novel, Sula, author Toni Morrison utilizes the symbol of the grey ball to show the trauma that follows Sula around in order to shed light on the idea that Sula’s trauma plays a bigger role in her life than anticipated; ultimately Morrison uses this idea to highlight the effects of the ignorance towards trauma and how it eventually leads to greater pain. This is seen in the novel after Sula sleeps with Jude, her best friend’s husband, and describes, “A gray ball hovering just there. Just there. To the right. Quiet, gray, dirty. A ball of muddy strings, but without weight, fluffy but terrible in its malevolence. She knew she could not look, she closed her eyes and crept past it out the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Sweating with fear…” (Morrison 174). In this quote, readers are able to see that Sula is afraid of the gray ball. Instead of simply picking it up and tossing it away, she “covers her eyes and crept past it” showing how much it has traumatized and affect her. By “creeping past it” she continues to be afraid and hides from it, rather than overcoming it. In addition to Sula’s desire to run away from the ball, she describes it with the color “gray,” symbolizing times of sadness and depression. Morrison also describes the ball as “fluffy” making it seem as though, externally, it is a force that Sula should not be afraid of, however she further describes it by using the word “malevolence”, ultimately showing that the ball represents a strength that is more dangerous than Sula thinks. Morrison uses this parallel to suggest that often times those facing depression or trauma, do not seek help, rather they close their eyes and rush past it, without time to conquer the fear making the experience more burdensome than it should be. Overall, Morrison uses the gray ball to show the effects that trauma has on one’s life as they often times tend to run away from their trauma and feared moments, rather than being educated on ways to solve the issue. Similarly to how Morrison suggests that a person typically runs away from their trauma instead of facing it head on, the analysis of Trace, Trauma, and Home by Evelyn Jaffe Schrieber and Cherall Wall allows readers to see how this fear is exhibited through the marginalization of the black community.

Together with the novel, Schrieber and Wall use their journal Trace, Trauma, and Home in parallel with Morrison’s essay Home to call to attention the effects of trauma in minority communities. Ultimately, it is argued that Morrison’s novel, Sula, works to highlight the importance of trauma, and the role that society places on those suffering through mental health. In the Chapter “Trauma, Memory, and Subjectivity,” Evelyn Jaffe Schrieber and Cherall Wall discuss Morrison’s essay, Home, saying:

One of Toni Morrison’s greatest achievements is her ability to depict what it means to be black in American society. In a culture where whiteness is the norm, black identity is marginalized, and the nuances of the marginalization suggest a range of trauma associated with black experience. Black in America are continually defined as “other” by mainstream culture; consequently, access to a positive individual subjectivity unrelated to race is problematic. (Schreiber and Wall 1)

Through this quote, it can be seen that the authors believe that the “otherization” of African American communities creates traumatic problems. Ultimately, the others argue that many African American citizens tend to hide their problems in order to fit in and conform to society. This creates a negative influence for minority groups, due to the “mainstream culture.” By using the term “whiteness” the authors believe that African Americans have lost a sense of identity since they are working to conform to the “normal” culture of society. When African Americans are defined as “others” their identity continues to be stripped, ultimately making them feel the need to hide their past and traumatic events in order to fit in. The authors imply that Morrison’s work is used to highlight the consequences of trauma on African Americans who must live in a predominantly white society and endure the constant neglect of those around them. This is important because as seen in the novel, PTSD and trauma are just pushed under the rug and not faced head on, ultimately leaving a traumatic imprint on those in the novel. This can be seen through Sula, who feels trapped by the gray ball that follows her. She feels the need to run, and live with her trauma rather than seeking help, ultimately showing the traumatic impression that it left on her. Together, Morrison, Schrieber, and Wall work to reveal the importance that society places on of the trauma associated with the marginalization of the black community.

Similar to using the symbol of the gray ball that follows Sula, Morrsion utilizes the symbol of Nel, curling up in a ball after finding Sula and her husband together, in order to showcase the effects of the traumatic experience in her life; ultimately Morrison uses this to suggest how often times, those facing trauma tend to hide from their problems, sweeping it under a mat, instead of seeking help. This is seen when Nel escapes the traumatic experience of finding her husband and best friend in bed together as she describes, “She looked around for a place to be. A small place. The closet? No. Too dark. The bathroom. It was both small and bright, and she wanted to be in a very small, very bright place. Small enough to contain her grief. Bright enough to throw into relief the dark things that cluttered her…” (Morrison 174). This quote shows readers that Nel chose a path of light rather than darkness. The closet was too dark for her, suggesting that she was willing to face her problems just enough, rather than throwing her problems into the dark and burying it in the back of the closet. However, by wanting a “small enough space to contain her grief” it is suggested that Nel is trying to simply escape her problems, leaving them in her mind, rather than seeking help. By wanting to be in a small, yet bright place, Nel is unsure of what to do with the traumatic experience that she just faced. She makes the attempt to get help, but instead is too afraid to rely on others, since she was already betrayed by both her husband and her best friend. Although she chooses the path of light over darkness, Nel ultimately allows her trauma to consume her rather than overcoming it. Overall, Morrison uses this symbol, of Nel, to show how often times those facing traumatic experiences tend to take a step towards getting help, but ultimately do not have the support system necessary for seeking help, and instead end up shriveling down and hiding from their problems. Through the novel, Morrison suggests how society plays a role in not helping those who are facing traumatic experiences, allowing them to simply curl up and drown in their misery.

Similarly to how Morrison suggests that mental health is looked down upon for those living in minority communities, Circling Meaning and Trauma by Claude Pruitt discusses how healing from trauma is only effective when the experience is reflected upon and talked about; ultimately he argues that one tends to turn to alternative distractions in order to cope with their trauma, rather than seeking help. This is seen when Pruitt writes:

Healing can occur when trauma is spoken about, even indirectly: trauma is made more clearly “symbol” and less “real” as its symptoms are explored in language. The boundaries, in other words, blur and collapse… For these two, the memory of Chicken Little disappearing into the river is literally unspeakable; they cannot talk about it. Since it cannot be spoken, it appears as symptoms: for Sula as promiscuity, for Nel as first subservient wifehood. (Pruitt 120)

Pruitt uses his journal to argue that trauma is made “more clearly” when talked about, showing how if Nel or Sula opened up about their traumatic experience with Chicken Little’s death, they would have been more willing to talk about the distressed moments that they face. However, he highlights that because they were unable to speak about the trauma that has consumed their past, they ultimately struggle to move past it, and look to alternative, unhealthy ways to suppress their emotions. In Sula, Nel continuously hides her emotions through her role as a wife, suggesting that used her position in order to distract herself from facing the traumatic experiences. Similarly, Pruitt highlights how Sula hides behind a mask and commits promiscuous acts in order to remove the attention from the trauma she has faced. Ultimately, Pruitt and Morrison work to shed light on the idea that trauma must be acknowledged and talked about in order to move past it. Together, Morrison and Claude Pruitt work together to reveal how negative mental health only perpetuates when minorities choose to distract themselves or sweep the trauma they face under a rug rather than openly talking about it.

Ultimately, through Schrieber, Wall, Pruitt, and Morrison readers are able to use the novel Sula to interpret the importance of opening up about trauma rather than hiding it. They work together to acknowledge the significance of finding a better system for helping those in minority communities where trauma is often overlooked or neglected. This neglect of trauma is continuously seen and has become more prevalent amongst teenagers and minorities who strive to fit into society. Since trauma and mental health is often seen as making someone weak, many choose to suppress their emotions and continue to move about life without fully healing from the traumatic experiences that left a lasting impact on them. Ultimately, without working to end the negative stigma around mental health, more minority groups and teenagers will continue to spiral downward, into a larger impact in the end, as they often feel the need to fit in and “normal” instead of asking for help. Overall, Morrison allows readers to understand the significance of trauma and the need to ask for help in order to overcome it.

“I can’t bring myself to watch yet another video, not because I don’t care, but because we’re all just a few videos away from becoming completely desensitized. The public execution of Black folks will never be normal.(Andrena Sawyer). Police officers were once known as peacekeepers, but not unfortunately are just known as not more than law enforcement. Police brutality can be back tracked to the 1800’s where race minorities have had to deal with police violently abusing them and discriminating against them. Isn’t the police force suppose to protect us from all the bad people in society that try to do bad things to us, these officers take advantage of their power and abuse it to make other people suffer. They should be monitored and given consequences for what they do to these people because they leave them scared and traumatized for the events they have to experience. But to be clear many still do their job, not all of them are bad. This violence against racial minorities is a serious problem that affects many states in the United States. This issue has sparked up more because we now have social media that brings more awareness and gets noticed more by others. Because of these events there has been movements made to help protect people. Racial minorities have had conflict with police brutality and discrimination in the streets , and it has caused these civilians trauma and makes them question if they can be safe in the hands of these officials.

Police brutality is the use of excessive and/ or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians, and it violates the law. A police officer using excessive force is when they violate your own constitutional rights. Social media and technology have allowed people to share events where people become more aware that police brutality still exists. They record and live stream these officers in action. With demographics changing, people trying to change the police laws are trying to develop better representation for Latinos when it comes to police. They hope that it will minimize bias and abuse (Urbina and Espinoza Alvarez, 117). Thanks to various protection by the state, individuals have amendments, like the fourteenth amendment that provides additional safety for individuals, stopping the state from taking away “any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” The second law that the United States has against police brutality is Title eight- teen of the United States code where it makes it against the law for police officers to purposely keep people from expressing their rights that are shielded by the United States constitution. (“Lee and Park , par .6”) Title six of the Civil Rights Act is also another law that helps people who have had problems with police brutality. It states that it is against the law for authority of the law to discriminate people because of their nationality, ethnicity, gender, and/ or their religion. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is also another law that guarantees protection to those individuals who have disabilities. The act can be effective when racial insults, detainment with no reason, excessive force applied, and/ or racial profiling have taken place to those individuals with disabilities. These individuals who in any way experience police brutality and/ or discrimination are entitled to file a civil lawsuit against the police officer.

These officers think it is okay to do this because they have no consequences for their actions. Law enforcement does nothing but give these officers just a slap on the wrist, which causes them to act out again and do the same thing over and over again. Malcolm Holmes and Brad Smith in their book, Race and Police Brutality: Roots of an Urban Dilemma, indicated a situation involving a Hispanic man and his arrest for disorderly conduct. Joe Campos Torres was arrested for maybe being drunk but besides that he did not look like a threat when they took him from the club he was at. A few hours after Joe was arrested he was left at the jail brutally beaten that they did not want to process him and rather they told the officers that arrested him to take him to the hospital. Six officers took him to the hospital where they took a detour that ended the life of Torres. During the trial two officers said they saw Torres pushed off a dock by an officer. He stated that the officer told Torres, “Let’s see if the wetback can swim.” His body was then recovered days later and during trial two officers were guilty and charged for negligent homicide. They were given suspended sentences ( Homes and Smith, 3). The police officers being charged does not always mean they will get convicted them for their crime. Instead of imprisoning all six officers’ that were apart and present during the situation, they just gave two officers to deal with the consequences. So that the other four are left to do the same things again to another victim. Police officers are rarely prosecuted because of the lack of investigating that is done. The investigators that are suppose to go into depth to see what happen are sometimes from the same police department as the officer and creates conflict. Also most of the evidence that can be given is from speculators who witnessed the incident, and sometimes their testimony is not trustworthy for them to use. They rather believe a peace officer rather than a civilian for credibility. Two other altercations that ended in no consequence for the police officer was Akai Gurley and Botham Shem Jean. Lee and Park explained in their article that, “Peter Liang was convicted of manslaughter after Akai Gurley was killed by a ricocheting bullet in a dark stairwell of a Brooklyn housing project. The judge later reduced the conviction to criminally negligent homicide. Mr. Liang was sentenced to five years of probation” (Lee and Park para.6) . Lee and Park authors of “15 Black Lives Ended in Confrontations with Police. 3 Officers Convicted,” assert that cases, where African American’s have died because of police officers, has increased nationwide lately throughout the years, and is continuously advertising protests all over the world. This year alone, an officer on her own time from Dallas shot and killed Botham Shem Jean because she thought he was in her apartment (Lee and Park para 1). In many cases, no law enforcement officers may never be charged for the unjustified crime they did. The investigator who is supposed to check thoroughly if the crime can be charged or not, determined that they should not be charged because the application lethal violence was proved to be justified (Lee and Park para.9).

Now a day it is safer to be a cop then it was years ago. Police are the ones that pose more threat to the community than civilians in the street. The deaths of police officers have actually decreased as years go on. Deadly shootings involving police officers from 2014 went down, where forty- nine cops died in the gun fire. Also the rate of police deaths corresponded to a big decrease in crime rate as well in recent years. These officers have a huge impact on the way they approach civilians and what they do to them while in their custody. Professional’s can say that providence police involved in immigration enforcement leads to the police discriminating Hispanics and caused difficulty in Hispanic families and communities. Surveys show that uprising of crimmigration each year is about five to nine percent of Hispanics in the US are halted and asked to provide answers for the questions they ask about their immigration status. Also, about one third of Hispanics know about someone who has been arrested or deported because of enforcing immigration. (Pickett ,108) These officers lead to traumatizing families and most importantly the victims involved. Toyin Owoseje author of “Pennsylvania Police Officer Who Tasered an Unarmed Black Man Not Suspended” writes that, “Mr. Bernot was filmed as he repeatedly told Sean Williams to straighten his legs. As the 27-year-old starts to do so, he fires his taser at him and Mr. Williams collapses…Mr. Sorace acknowledged that members of the community would find the decision “extremely upsetting”, but he insisted Mr. Bernot was not to blame for adhering to policies that needed to be updated.” (Owoseje, para. 3 & 5) The victim in the incident Sean Williams spoke to Good morning America about how he feels after the incident and how he thinks he was racially profiled and was left frightened by the incident. He states that by no means necessary someone should go through what he did and that it is wrong, especially because the person is being cooperative to the orders being given. People should not be traumatized for the rest of their lives for a situation that could have been avoided. (Owoseje para. 11 & 12) Many people the following day of the incident took into their own hands in protesting the streets wanting justice for what had happened. Also for the officer to be accounted for, for what he did, and to have justice in changing police brutality after the disturbing video going viral. (Owoseje para. 7) It is said that African Americans are the top ethnic groups with high rate of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Even if an individual is not present during the situation and sees a video of a police officer shooting a civilian they will also develop the disorder by just viewing it, and shows that it is very common and has a connection with young adults. It happens to be those who spend a great amount online. These officer are suppose to keep us safe and we are suppose to confide in them when we are in danger, but they are changing the way people think about them.

Racial minorities have conflict with law enforcement but all of the law authorities and attorney’s end up being corrupt and discriminate these minorities for who they are and the victims do not get the fair trial they deserve. Van Cleve explains in her book that “Crook County” is a word that breaks up punishment within court and the jail. Newcomers may assume that “crook” is indicated to the culprits, but it actually refers to all the professionals who are made fun of and labeled as “public pretenders,” who are con artist that messed with the system (Van Cleve , 20). Van Cleve explains, “Some private attorneys often acted as though they would rather be on the side of the prosecution…They sold out their clients with the same slurs and stereotypes that prosecutors used to denigrate mopes. Often they mocked their client’s poverty and laughed at the racist jokes in the room” ( Van Cleve ,93). At the ending of her book Van Cleve states that her study was focused on the professionals that run Cook County Courts. Her main point is that the defendants, victims, families, and racial minorities who are abused in court rooms are no way able to be ignored. But the professional’s in the court often carried out the public, defendants, and victim’s invisible (Van Cleve,181). These officials give no hope for the victims because they discriminate as much as the police officers.

Police officers not only physically harm racial minorities, but they also harass them with irrational comments and discriminatory “jokes.” Michael Gold, gives the exact words of what the police officer said to the men being that, “‘If anybody wants to fight or run, I’m a little trigger – happy, guys,’ he told the men in August. ‘I’m not gonna lie.’ ‘You know, I get paid a ton of money in overtime if I have to shoot somebody,” he added, “so don’t do anything s*****’” (Gold , para. 2-3). Gold, a journalist for the New York Times and author of “White Police Officer Fired After Telling a Group of Mostly Black and Hispanic Men He was ‘Trigger-Happy” explains that the men involved in the encounter of the police officer recorded everything the officer said in a video and then posted it to social media where it circulated quickly. Then two months after the altercation, Stephen Barone, the officer involved was fired. After a thorough investigation another similar altercation came up involving the same officer in July (Gold para. 4-5). The New York Times article states all the conversation as to how the officer tried to say that he was “joking” with the men throughout the whole time of the altercation. Despite the viral video that was published the officer was downgraded, where he was on administrated leave the next day after the altercation and then in September was just forced a salary cut and put on desk duty (Gold para 16-17) . Police brutality has always been a problem and it has not changed yet.

A lot of times where these harsh incidents happen seem to be in rural locations. Sirry Alang, author of “The More Things Change, The More Things Stay the Same: Race, Ethnicity, and Police Brutality,” indicates that Edwards et al. found that the assassination of black men involving police officers has to do with place. The murder risk increased in metropolitan areas and also in rural areas (Alang ,1128) .Being Hispanic or African American in the eyes of a police officer always means danger to them. Just by walking down the street with a hooded sweater makes them suspicious. In Alang’s article she explains that we are no longer doubted of being escaped slaves, but we are now questioned for being “suspected.” Whether it be driving, utilizing a washroom at a tea shop, wearing a thread on your head while roaming home, having a cookout, etc. In general, not being white makes you a suspect. This glues a culture that discovers our possibility suffering from police assassination, making it a greater chance if the person is Black or Latino (Alang ,1128). There have not been any cases, where people see a brutal beating by a police officer in a location where white people live. Most of these altercations happen when the majority of the population is Hispanic or African American. And most of these people who participate in trying to make a change are Hispanics and African Americans.

Even if personally you have not been involved in these types of situations it still impacts the way you perceive police officers because they can take away your image of them being the ones that are suppose to keep you safe. Police brutality is an issue that can change the lives of harmless people who are taken advantage of. Police brutality makes racial minorities and other groups question if they are really safe and question whether or not the police officer they encounter with means good or bad. And for those with bad experiences it leaves the traumatized for what they experienced.

“I can’t bring myself to watch yet another video, not because I don’t care, but because we’re all just a few videos away from becoming completely desensitized. The public execution of Black folks will never be normal.(Andrena Sawyer). Police officers were once known as peacekeepers, but not unfortunately are just known as not more than law enforcement. Police brutality can be back tracked to the 1800’s where race minorities have had to deal with police violently abusing them and discriminating against them. Isn’t the police force suppose to protect us from all the bad people in society that try to do bad things to us, these officers take advantage of their power and abuse it to make other people suffer. They should be monitored and given consequences for what they do to these people because they leave them scared and traumatized for the events they have to experience. But to be clear many still do their job, not all of them are bad. This violence against racial minorities is a serious problem that affects many states in the United States. This issue has sparked up more because we now have social media that brings more awareness and gets noticed more by others. Because of these events there has been movements made to help protect people. Racial minorities have had conflict with police brutality and discrimination in the streets , and it has caused these civilians trauma and makes them question if they can be safe in the hands of these officials.

Police brutality is the use of excessive and/ or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians, and it violates the law. A police officer using excessive force is when they violate your own constitutional rights. Social media and technology have allowed people to share events where people become more aware that police brutality still exists. They record and live stream these officers in action. With demographics changing, people trying to change the police laws are trying to develop better representation for Latinos when it comes to police. They hope that it will minimize bias and abuse (Urbina and Espinoza Alvarez, 117). Thanks to various protection by the state, individuals have amendments, like the fourteenth amendment that provides additional safety for individuals, stopping the state from taking away “any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” The second law that the United States has against police brutality is Title eight- teen of the United States code where it makes it against the law for police officers to purposely keep people from expressing their rights that are shielded by the United States constitution. (“Lee and Park , par .6”) Title six of the Civil Rights Act is also another law that helps people who have had problems with police brutality. It states that it is against the law for authority of the law to discriminate people because of their nationality, ethnicity, gender, and/ or their religion. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is also another law that guarantees protection to those individuals who have disabilities. The act can be effective when racial insults, detainment with no reason, excessive force applied, and/ or racial profiling have taken place to those individuals with disabilities. These individuals who in any way experience police brutality and/ or discrimination are entitled to file a civil lawsuit against the police officer.

These officers think it is okay to do this because they have no consequences for their actions. Law enforcement does nothing but give these officers just a slap on the wrist, which causes them to act out again and do the same thing over and over again. Malcolm Holmes and Brad Smith in their book, Race and Police Brutality: Roots of an Urban Dilemma, indicated a situation involving a Hispanic man and his arrest for disorderly conduct. Joe Campos Torres was arrested for maybe being drunk but besides that he did not look like a threat when they took him from the club he was at. A few hours after Joe was arrested he was left at the jail brutally beaten that they did not want to process him and rather they told the officers that arrested him to take him to the hospital. Six officers took him to the hospital where they took a detour that ended the life of Torres. During the trial two officers said they saw Torres pushed off a dock by an officer. He stated that the officer told Torres, “Let’s see if the wetback can swim.” His body was then recovered days later and during trial two officers were guilty and charged for negligent homicide. They were given suspended sentences ( Homes and Smith, 3). The police officers being charged does not always mean they will get convicted them for their crime. Instead of imprisoning all six officers’ that were apart and present during the situation, they just gave two officers to deal with the consequences. So that the other four are left to do the same things again to another victim. Police officers are rarely prosecuted because of the lack of investigating that is done. The investigators that are suppose to go into depth to see what happen are sometimes from the same police department as the officer and creates conflict. Also most of the evidence that can be given is from speculators who witnessed the incident, and sometimes their testimony is not trustworthy for them to use. They rather believe a peace officer rather than a civilian for credibility. Two other altercations that ended in no consequence for the police officer was Akai Gurley and Botham Shem Jean. Lee and Park explained in their article that, “Peter Liang was convicted of manslaughter after Akai Gurley was killed by a ricocheting bullet in a dark stairwell of a Brooklyn housing project. The judge later reduced the conviction to criminally negligent homicide. Mr. Liang was sentenced to five years of probation” (Lee and Park para.6) . Lee and Park authors of “15 Black Lives Ended in Confrontations with Police. 3 Officers Convicted,” assert that cases, where African American’s have died because of police officers, has increased nationwide lately throughout the years, and is continuously advertising protests all over the world. This year alone, an officer on her own time from Dallas shot and killed Botham Shem Jean because she thought he was in her apartment (Lee and Park para 1). In many cases, no law enforcement officers may never be charged for the unjustified crime they did. The investigator who is supposed to check thoroughly if the crime can be charged or not, determined that they should not be charged because the application lethal violence was proved to be justified (Lee and Park para.9).

Now a day it is safer to be a cop then it was years ago. Police are the ones that pose more threat to the community than civilians in the street. The deaths of police officers have actually decreased as years go on. Deadly shootings involving police officers from 2014 went down, where forty- nine cops died in the gun fire. Also the rate of police deaths corresponded to a big decrease in crime rate as well in recent years. These officers have a huge impact on the way they approach civilians and what they do to them while in their custody. Professional’s can say that providence police involved in immigration enforcement leads to the police discriminating Hispanics and caused difficulty in Hispanic families and communities. Surveys show that uprising of crimmigration each year is about five to nine percent of Hispanics in the US are halted and asked to provide answers for the questions they ask about their immigration status. Also, about one third of Hispanics know about someone who has been arrested or deported because of enforcing immigration. (Pickett ,108) These officers lead to traumatizing families and most importantly the victims involved. Toyin Owoseje author of “Pennsylvania Police Officer Who Tasered an Unarmed Black Man Not Suspended” writes that, “Mr. Bernot was filmed as he repeatedly told Sean Williams to straighten his legs. As the 27-year-old starts to do so, he fires his taser at him and Mr. Williams collapses…Mr. Sorace acknowledged that members of the community would find the decision “extremely upsetting”, but he insisted Mr. Bernot was not to blame for adhering to policies that needed to be updated.” (Owoseje, para. 3 & 5) The victim in the incident Sean Williams spoke to Good morning America about how he feels after the incident and how he thinks he was racially profiled and was left frightened by the incident. He states that by no means necessary someone should go through what he did and that it is wrong, especially because the person is being cooperative to the orders being given. People should not be traumatized for the rest of their lives for a situation that could have been avoided. (Owoseje para. 11 & 12) Many people the following day of the incident took into their own hands in protesting the streets wanting justice for what had happened. Also for the officer to be accounted for, for what he did, and to have justice in changing police brutality after the disturbing video going viral. (Owoseje para. 7) It is said that African Americans are the top ethnic groups with high rate of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Even if an individual is not present during the situation and sees a video of a police officer shooting a civilian they will also develop the disorder by just viewing it, and shows that it is very common and has a connection with young adults. It happens to be those who spend a great amount online. These officer are suppose to keep us safe and we are suppose to confide in them when we are in danger, but they are changing the way people think about them.

Racial minorities have conflict with law enforcement but all of the law authorities and attorney’s end up being corrupt and discriminate these minorities for who they are and the victims do not get the fair trial they deserve. Van Cleve explains in her book that “Crook County” is a word that breaks up punishment within court and the jail. Newcomers may assume that “crook” is indicated to the culprits, but it actually refers to all the professionals who are made fun of and labeled as “public pretenders,” who are con artist that messed with the system (Van Cleve , 20). Van Cleve explains, “Some private attorneys often acted as though they would rather be on the side of the prosecution…They sold out their clients with the same slurs and stereotypes that prosecutors used to denigrate mopes. Often they mocked their client’s poverty and laughed at the racist jokes in the room” ( Van Cleve ,93). At the ending of her book Van Cleve states that her study was focused on the professionals that run Cook County Courts. Her main point is that the defendants, victims, families, and racial minorities who are abused in court rooms are no way able to be ignored. But the professional’s in the court often carried out the public, defendants, and victim’s invisible (Van Cleve,181). These officials give no hope for the victims because they discriminate as much as the police officers.

Police officers not only physically harm racial minorities, but they also harass them with irrational comments and discriminatory “jokes.” Michael Gold, gives the exact words of what the police officer said to the men being that, “‘If anybody wants to fight or run, I’m a little trigger – happy, guys,’ he told the men in August. ‘I’m not gonna lie.’ ‘You know, I get paid a ton of money in overtime if I have to shoot somebody,” he added, “so don’t do anything s*****’” (Gold , para. 2-3). Gold, a journalist for the New York Times and author of “White Police Officer Fired After Telling a Group of Mostly Black and Hispanic Men He was ‘Trigger-Happy” explains that the men involved in the encounter of the police officer recorded everything the officer said in a video and then posted it to social media where it circulated quickly. Then two months after the altercation, Stephen Barone, the officer involved was fired. After a thorough investigation another similar altercation came up involving the same officer in July (Gold para. 4-5). The New York Times article states all the conversation as to how the officer tried to say that he was “joking” with the men throughout the whole time of the altercation. Despite the viral video that was published the officer was downgraded, where he was on administrated leave the next day after the altercation and then in September was just forced a salary cut and put on desk duty (Gold para 16-17) . Police brutality has always been a problem and it has not changed yet.

A lot of times where these harsh incidents happen seem to be in rural locations. Sirry Alang, author of “The More Things Change, The More Things Stay the Same: Race, Ethnicity, and Police Brutality,” indicates that Edwards et al. found that the assassination of black men involving police officers has to do with place. The murder risk increased in metropolitan areas and also in rural areas (Alang ,1128) .Being Hispanic or African American in the eyes of a police officer always means danger to them. Just by walking down the street with a hooded sweater makes them suspicious. In Alang’s article she explains that we are no longer doubted of being escaped slaves, but we are now questioned for being “suspected.” Whether it be driving, utilizing a washroom at a tea shop, wearing a thread on your head while roaming home, having a cookout, etc. In general, not being white makes you a suspect. This glues a culture that discovers our possibility suffering from police assassination, making it a greater chance if the person is Black or Latino (Alang ,1128). There have not been any cases, where people see a brutal beating by a police officer in a location where white people live. Most of these altercations happen when the majority of the population is Hispanic or African American. And most of these people who participate in trying to make a change are Hispanics and African Americans.

Even if personally you have not been involved in these types of situations it still impacts the way you perceive police officers because they can take away your image of them being the ones that are suppose to keep you safe. Police brutality is an issue that can change the lives of harmless people who are taken advantage of. Police brutality makes racial minorities and other groups question if they are really safe and question whether or not the police officer they encounter with means good or bad. And for those with bad experiences it leaves the traumatized for what they experienced.