The whole America is bursting with anger and emotion over the death of a man under the knees of the police.
Not just the tragic death of a man named George Floyd, but the age-old police brutality against black Americans.
Historians and sociologists say that America's abominable history of slavery is at the root of this continued police brutality against blacks.
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America is a wonderful country, there are a lot of kind people there, but there are still some people who have not been able to get out of the circle of criminal practices.
If you are asked to name an organization that has not yet fully emerged from the abyss of history that is detested by American society, the Police will come first.
Even in this 21st century, one of the reasons for the untimely deaths of blacks in America is police torture and shootings. Including deadly diseases, Police are at number six on the list of reasons for the deaths of blacks.
"Blacks don't see the police as protectors, they see the police as oppressors, instigators. They're just scared of the police," Keisha Blain, a history professor at the University of Pittsburgh in the United States, told the Washington Post. source
The relationship of the police with blacks in America is similar to the time of slavery. The main nature of the relationship has changed very little.
"A look at the history of American slavery reveals where the police's hostile attitude and persecution of black Americans began," says Professor Keisha Blain.
Runway Slave Patrol
As the number of slaves began to increase during slavery in America, law enforcement agencies called Runway Slave Patrols were formed in various regions, especially in the South, to prevent slaves from fleeing or rebelling against white masters.
This Runway Slave Patrol made up of white volunteers was the police force at that time.
"They (Black slaves) had no place to hide," wrote columnist Wayne Philemon in USA Today about the days of the Runway Slave Patrol. "There was no truly safe place. Fearing for their lives, the police kept a close eye on their every move. On the streets, at home, the police would attack them. And if there was any suspicion or protest, he would be killed."
A lot of people just look at the current situation, analyze the considerations, but at the root of what is happening now is a 400-year-old history of injustice.
After the abolition of slavery in 1865, the runway slave patrol was abolished, but the practice of surveillance of African Americans did not stop, especially in the southern states.
Despite the abolition of slavery, the states enacted various laws called the Black Code, which imposed strict restrictions on land ownership and employment for blacks. Then in the late 19th century came the Jim Crow Act, which banned blacks from living in white areas.
Attacks and killings of blacks began with the formation of a white supremacist group called the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). In many places, at that time, many members of the local police and the government employees were members of KKK.
The role of the police in suppressing the civil rights movement of the 1960s was also appalling, especially in the southern states.
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New York city criminal Court building, 1963 Source
In the civil rights movement, blacks got the right to vote, to buy property in white areas, but there was no basic solution to the police crackdown on them.
An opaque arbitrary institution
One of the biggest allegations against the police as an institution in the United States today is that they are opaque and their accountability is minimal.
There is very little transparency in the police system in the United States. Their unions are very strong, they do everything to protect their members.
As a result, if there is a complaint against a police member, it is difficult to dismiss him. Even if someone loses a job, he gets a job in the police of a nearby area.
There are 1,800 police forces in the United States, many of which operate independently. That is why there is not enough surveillance on them.
Each state has its own police force. For example, in California where the duration of training is 24 to 48 weeks, in North Carolina it is only 14 weeks.
Lack of accountability, lack of necessary training, poor surveillance - racism is added to this toxic combination.
As a result, there is no sign to avoidance of a police crackdown on blacks in modern America.
Even anti-drug laws during the time of Richard Nixon and later a new law under Bill Clinton have come with a lot more problems for blacks.
One of the proofs of this is, the number of prisoners in prisons. In 1970 and 2015, the number of prisoners in prisons quadrupled to 2.2 million and 34 percent of them are black, although only 13 percent of people identify themselves as black.
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A murder case has been filed against a police officer in connection with the murder of George Floyd.
But in a trial everything will change, no one is expecting that possibility.
- Translated from BBC Bangla
Return from Killing of George Floyd: Consequence of the History of American Slavery to pitboy's Web3 Blog
