After Mike Brown was killed in Ferguson, MO, something troubling came out. Police brutality and how the police marginalize us doesn’t just look one specific way. One of the most normal everyday acts many of us do is penalized in a terribly racist way.
Black people are ticketed at significantly higher rates in Ferguson. The New York Times explains: “In Ferguson, the disparity in traffic stops of black drivers has increased by five percentage points since 2013, while it has dropped by 11 percentage points for white drivers.”
Keep in mind that this is happening despite the police force there supposedly making changes to decrease the racism playing out in law enforcement. The chief is a Black man, but that hasn’t stopped anything. They issue the tickets excessively to finance city services.
Black people are paying the ultimate price for living and just trying to exist in peace. The Times also notes that “Since Mr. Brown’s death, the number of black officers in the Ferguson department has skyrocketed to 21 from four.” Does it matter if racist practices continue?
This is what happens a lot of the time. There’s a problem in the criminal justice system and the authorities try to solve it with diversity. Hiring Black officers to enforce the status quo is NOT changing the problem of racist ticketing in Ferguson. They can fix it by stopping the practice!