Unmasking the Devastating Impact of Police Brutality on Black Health and Marginalized Communities

Abstract

Instructor’s Name Alang, S., McAlpine, D., McCreedy, E., & Hardeman, R. (2017). Police Brutality and Black Health: Setting the Agenda for Public Health Scholars. American journal of public health, 107(5), 662–665. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2017.303691 Alang et al. link police brutality with poor health outcomes within the black community. The authors portray police brutality as dangerous due to its tremendous stress on the black population. Police shootings emanate fatal injuries that increase population-specific mortality rates. It also creates negative racist reactions. The oppressive institutional structures, such as the criminal justice system, contribute to racial discrimination. Reporting police brutality is difficult due to these oppressive structures. The effects of police brutality are adverse to the affected populations. Arrests, incarceration, and legal, medical, and funeral bills are a burden, especially to the low social class who face adversity at the hands of the police. The absence of technology that captures the police brutality actions hides the atrocities committed by police on the black population and the white supremacy rooted in police systems. The authors allude that police brutality goes beyond the use of physical force but also constitutes emotional abuse, verbal abuse, and sexual violence. Police lack conscious intent, and their actions often are for dehumanization. Blacks are the victims since whiteness is protected from the use of force. Health inequalities among marginalized communities due to police brutality have increased alarmingly. Jackson, A. N., Fedina, L., DeVylder, J., & Barth, R. P. (2021). Police violence and associations with public perceptions of the police. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 12(2), 303-326. Jackson et al. attribute police brutality as of global concern, and the victims succumb to mental problems. George Floyd and Breonna Taylor's murders in cold blood depict the extent of police brutality in the United States, sparkling national and international attention. The tremendous effects of the police force have been considered a public health issue. The authors link gender as a determinant factor in police brutality. Black and Latino men are susceptible to police brutality compared to their fellow white men; police brutality is also linked to low-income households, LGBTQ communities, and the uneducated. These people receive high levels of discrimination and harassment. Immigration status is also linked to police brutality. Foreign-born individuals to high levels of police force compared to natives. The diverse demographic conditions in American society have changed the perceptions of the police force in America. Police brutality is exercised based on racial, ethnic, and sexual orientations. Olice victimization is understudied, and its influence varies under the existing demographic characteristics. Peeples, L. (2020). What the data say about police brutality and racial bias—and which reforms might work. Peeples, in his article, talks about the malicious use of force by police, sparking public debate and protests in the United States. He draws evidence from the death of George Floyd in the hands of Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis policeman. The rigorous use of force by police on black persons shows institutional racism in police departments. Peeples estimates that blacks are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police compared to white men in a lifetime. This evidence shows police brutality as a tool of discrimination in America. The...