117 countries attending the UN Human Rights Council chastised the U.S. for its police brutality ‘problem’
And when I say problem, I mean that the system isn’t broken, it was built this way.
Even though the United States may have a devil may care attitude, its people are actually very sensitive to international criticism. We saw this effect with the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the supposed Weapons of Mass Destruction.
I think it’s fair to say that they finally stopped looking.
Or to quote Jeb Bush – brother of George W. Bush – said today that had it been up to him he would not have waged war against Iraq, putting some distance between himself and his brother, former President George W. Bush.
(Please note this man is running for head of the Republican Party with his eyes on the presidency, but that is an article for another time.)
Anyway, as more and more cases of death-by-police – and I don’t mean the suicide kind, I mean the innocent black young man kind – come to light, supporters of the current police status quo are getting more and more defensive, and raising a lot of cash.
There was a huge internet row recently when the popular Go Fund Me site refused to pull a fundraising campaign for Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, who shot unarmed teen Michael Brown. Supports of Officer Wilson reportedly amassed more than $500,000 on the Go Fund Me site and Facebook appeals.
The Go Fund Me site was eventually deactivated without explanation, although the host was quick to point out that it didn’t pull the plug.
On May 12, 2015, the United States was called to carpet by the 117 delegate countries to the United Nations regarding America’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
Essentially, a UPR for each nation takes place every four years to oversee and hold accountable each country’s human and civil rights practices. It was there that delegates from the 117 countries lambasted the U.S. for its “civil rights violations exacted by its brutal and racist police forces.”
Of course, we don’t need the UN to tell us that there is something seriously wrong with America.
Remember: the system isn’t broken, it was built this way.
In response to the criticism, representatives from the U.S. acted like there was no criticism, with Mary McLeod, the acting legal adviser to the United States Department of State, quipped, “We’re proud of the work we’ve done since our last UPR.”
Isn’t the first step to solving a problem is breaking out of the denial stage?
From an USA Today report, according to statistics from the FBI database, “from 2005 to 2012, a white police officer killed a Black person almost two times a week in the U.S.” and that “Local police involved in 400 killings per year.”
You can click the link below and watch a news segment about the report.
*Photo by David Coombs.
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