Law Enforcement in the Community - Research Paper Example

law enforcement, race and my community Barack Obama, the first African-American President in the history of the United States, was recently ushered in on a wave of promise and a desire to enact thorough changes to the United States in a variety of social, economic and political realms. Importantly, the election of Barack Obama has returned issues of race in America to the forefront of domestic politics and has forced each and every American to reevaluate his or her conception of race in America. Seeking to address law enforcement, racial issues and my community of Staten Island, an island borough of the incredibly diverse and eclectic City of New York, the following aims to provide a first person account of how human interaction in my community has been racialized. I will explore race relations within my neighborhood and wider community and discuss how race is a policing issue in the community in which I live. I will begin with an introduction to racial issues in America and discuss the racial composition of my community and the demographic characteristics of the island which I inhabit. Following this, I discuss the representation of different ethnic and racial communities on Staten Island and conclude with my thoughts on how racial issues can be mitigated in my community. Racial profiling is an important community issue which we be discussed in depth. American society has a shameful legacy of slavery and is a country stratified by race, gender and class. For many in America, racism is an ever-present aspect of the social condition and is built upon a rigid social code, a white/black binary which has its roots in early American settlement and the shameful tradition of slavery in the New World. The binary logic of race is inherently hierarchical and in modern American society, white people are perceived of as being superior compared to people of color, according to this subjective racial hierarchy. This hierarchy has important ramifications in the social, cultural, economic and political realms as access to social services, jobs, and political office are presumably easier for white Americans rather than black Americans. Although racial harmony predominates in Staten Island, the African-American community faces unique challenges in the community in which I live (Fredrickson, 2007). Race on Staten Island As a 35 year old Caucasian person, I am fortunate to live in one of the most diverse and multicultural cities on the planet. My ancestry is American through and through and my ancestors have been living in this country for many generations. I am married to a wonderful man, also of Caucasian descent, who presently works for the Armed forces and I am the owner of a small business. Staten Island is a multi-cultural and multiethnic community, which has is an important borough of New York City and is home to a variety of cultural communities. Unbeknownst to many, Staten Island is home to the largest concentration of Italian-Americans in the country and as a result Roman Catholicism in prominent on the island. There are many places of worship for the diverse faiths which inhabit Staten Island, including synagogues, temples and churches but do to the Italian influence, Roman Catholic churches seem to predominate (US Census, 2007). What is interesting from a sociological perspective is the fact that the composition of Staten Island has changed dramatically over the past 100 years. We are now home to significant ethnic minority populations and accordingly to the most recent US Census, nearly 21% of my community if foreign born. Almost 30% of my community speaks a language other than English at home – which would probably be a big surprise to the historic European inhabitants of Richmondtown if they were alive today! – and while people of European ancestry predominate, the area is continuing to grow, economically, socially and ethnically, at a rapid pace (US Census, 2007). In a city such as New York, or even a borough like Staten Island, it is impossible to say that the people all “look like me”. Just like the United States, Staten Island is a microcosm of the world and a place where different ethnicities, religions and races meet and intermingle. There are many people who make up Staten Island and the community is quite diverse. With a population of almost 500,000 people, Staten Island itself is predominately white with estimates that fellow Caucasians comprise approximately 77% of the total population. The Spanish population follows at 14%, then the black community at 10% and Asians which account for about 5% of the total community. Although the neighborhood in which I live is predominately white, most of my neighbors are of Italian descent and thus of a different ethnic background than myself. While we all probably self-identify as “white”, we do share different ethnic backgrounds and subsequently belong to different cultural communities on the island. Our leaders tend to be Republican - in fact conservativism is a feature of this community and this differentiates it from much of New York City – and while I cannot recall a black, Hispanic or Asian political leader of Staten Island in recent memory, nearly all people are treated with fairness and equality from what I can tell. Despite this, there is however a significant black community in my community and I will discuss the particular challenges facing Staten Island’s black community later in this essay (US Census, 2007). My textbook has taught me that race is a social construct and while we subconsciously believe that racial differences are real and are written in stone, in fact most are socially-ascribed and the result of social forces. The social construction of race and gender roles has been particularly informative for me and has allowed me to view race in my community through a new lens. While stereotypes do predominate in American society, I try my best not to judge others based upon their race and treat each and every person as an equal. This brings me to the issue of racial profiling which is a topical issue which is commonly discussed when one references race in America. I have been fortunate not to have witnessed racial profiling where I live – I do notice that the NYPD police force is quite diverse and this is something which they pride themselves on – but I am sure that certain members of minority cultural communities do face racial challenges, particularly with respect to the police, which I have not encountered. Racial profiling is a “hot” issue and one which makes front-page news and headlines across New York. It is also sometimes used by political entrepreneurs (who will go unnamed) who seek to stoke racial insecurities and provoke racial disharmony in my community. Diversity is a fact of life living in New York City and I believe that our city councilors as well as local media do an excellent job portraying the ethnic mosaic which is New York. We have people from all over the world who have come to America for the freedoms and greater opportunities which make our country what it is and I am fortunate to live in a country which prides itself on being tolerant of others. While there is a significant Jewish community on Staten Island, it does not compare in size to other Jewish communities in other parts of New York and it seems to cohabit with the rest of the island in peace and harmonious co-existence. The Asian community is small but growing and many new entrepreneurs in Staten Island are recent immigrants from the countries of Asia. I know of a small and nascent Indian community (foreign born and not native American) and they bring a wealth of cultural traits and excellent delicacies to this cultural mosaic. While white people, meaning people who look similar to myself, remain the majority on the island, the cultural communities of people from all over the world have flocked to New York City and have begun new lives in this multicultural mosaic we all call home. While I do believe that the leaders of my community represent the interests of minorities on Staten Island, racial issues do exist particularly within the black community which predominates among the Public Housing Projects on the island. According to the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, racial profiling is defined as “as "the practice of police and other law enforcement officers relying, to any degree, on race, color, descent or national or ethnic origin as the basis for subjecting persons to investigatory activities or for determining whether an individual is engaged in criminal activity" (United Nations Commission for Human Rights, 2009). Although many would like to think that racial profiling is a thing of the past, the issue of racial profiling by police services was brought to the fore of international media attention with the arrest of African-American Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Junior. His arrest was quite controversial and was predicated on the fact that Prof. Henry Gates was arrested outside his own home after a neighbor called and said that an African-American male was attempting to break into the home. When the police arrived, Prof. Gates stated that he was he ordered the property and accuse the police officers on hand of racism he was arrested and the issue of his arrest garnered incredible media attention. Accordingly, American President Barack Obama, the first African-American president in history of this country, waded into the dispute and controversially stated “There is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately." (BBC, 2009). President Obama did garner significant controversy for weighing into the matter and he eventually invited both the arrested African-American professor and the arresting White officer to the White House for beer to settle the matter. While the president sought to resolve the controversial issue, racial profiling remains an important issue in the United States as well as around the world. Racial profiling definitely exists on Staten Island and is a real law enforcement problem in my community. Concluding Remarks The election of Barack Obama as the 42nd President of the United States has made me think about race and racism in American today and reconsider my own thoughts about race in the 21st century. His election would have been impossible with the emergence of the U.S. Civil Rights movement, one of the most important social movements of the twentieth century. Established in response to the systematic discrimination which plagued much of the United States, the U.S. Civil Rights movement sought to abolish racial discrimination in this country. Although I rarely encounter racism in my community and am not often the subject of racist attitudes of behaviors, walking through the Public Housing Projects of Staten Island reminds me that it is real and continues to exist. While I do believe that minority interests are represented within my community, the African-American population largely remains relegated to poor social conditions in the Housing Projects which predominate on the island. If I could resolve the racial inequalities within my community it would be to tackle the abundant misery and hopelessness which have become of feature of life for many blacks on the island who live in the Housing Projects. Since we have a lot of Housing Projects and they are most often occupied by blacks there is obviously a problem with race and economic opportunities in my city. I would like to see changes particularly at the social, economic and politician levels. I believe that the black community is stereotyped in a negative way – either consciously or sub consciously – and the violence and crime which is a result of poverty and hopelessness has come to be seen as a “black” issue. While a small percentage of Staten Island’s total black population lives in these Projects, the entire community is stereotyped and believed to encompass a monolithic group. I think that the best way to tackle the intersectionality of race and poverty would be to reevaluate the welfare system and evaluate each case on a case by case basis. Although racial harmony is the norm in my community things need to change in order to ensure that all racial groups are treated fairly and appropriately in Staten Island. We live in a global world and perhaps the most multicultural city on the planet. With the election of Barrack Obama, the time has come to reevaluate our conceptions and misconceptions of race in America. references County and City Data Book. (2007). U.S. Census Bureau. Deveson, M. (2009). “Harvard Row Highlights US tensions”. BBC.com. Accessed May 13, 2010 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8166278.stm Fredrickson, G.M. (2002). Racism: A Short History. Princeton: Princeton University Press, Jackson, K.T. (1995). The Encyclopedia of New York City. New Haven: Yale University Press. “Racial Profiling”. (2009). United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights. Accessed May 13, 2010 http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/Bringingacaseagainstracialprofiling.aspx Read More