Racism and racial discrimination are dangerous: being widespread, they can lead to a split in society and the state. Nowadays, racism must be judged as a manifestation of ignorance, it violates the rights of another person, therefore, any demonstration of discrimination is unacceptable. Thus, racism is a disease of society and the state, which can exhaust it to such an extent that it ceases to exist in its original form.
Nevertheless, racism and racial discrimination can and must be fought. According to Learning for Justice (n.d.), the main method of combating racism is the appropriate education of the population. It is necessary to instill tolerance, lead active work in this direction, from school years to study the rights and freedoms of a person and citizen, and focus on the inadmissibility of their violation. Strategies for improving racial relations should include narrowly focused actions and efforts to ensure positive intergroup relations. Thus, as the chief of police, I would first of all appeal to the Ministry of Education to prevent the spread of racism.
Furthermore, as a police chief, I would warn advocates of police reform to uphold the law, like people demanding change often break it. It should be recalled that the police will promptly respond to offenses and take all necessary measures to ensure law and order and the safety of citizens. Thus, having explained to people the possible consequences of mass demonstrations, which often develop into public unrest, they would be able to draw the right conclusions.
Law enforcement agencies significantly harass the black population and disturb their rights. According to the research group “Mapping Police Violence” (n.d.), blacks are two and a half times most likely to be murdered by police officers than whites. According to the same statistics, weaponless black citizens killed by policemen are 1.5 times more likely than unarmed whites; in 99% of cases, no charges are brought against law enforcement officers for fatal arrest cases (“Mapping Police Violence”, n.d.). Thus, African Americans face severe police harassment and the criminal justice system does nothing to protect victims.
The U.S. government is following the protest suppression model tested in previous years. It consists of refusing to negotiate with the black population, introducing the National Guard troops, and using unique means to disperse the crowd. However, I do not believe that we have systematic racism among law enforcement officials across the country. I agree that some police officers abuse their official powers. In this regard, if I were the chief of police, I would urge the authorities of the country to fight unscrupulous police officers, to take sanctions against them, and activate the work of counseling centers for victims of racism.
References
Learning for Justice (n.d.). Strategies for reducing racial and ethnic prejudice: Essential principles. Web.
Mapping Police Violence (n.d.). Web.