The impetus for the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution was “no taxation without representation”. The participants of the Boston Tea Party engaged in criminal acts by destroying the property of the British East India Company. In several municipalities of St. Louis County Missouri, including Ferguson, where the citizenry is majority black and of lower incomes, people are fined and penalized at higher rates than municipalities that are majority white and of higher incomes. These majority black communities do not have representation in the municipal government. This is in effect “taxation without representation”. These majority black municipalities are policed by nearly all white police forces that are enforcing unreflective laws and policies. This creates high tensions and animosity. Similarly, Boston colonists were policed by British soldiers enforcing laws which created tensions between colonists and law enforcement that culminated in the Boston Massacre, a confusing and chaotic event that resulted in the shooting of an American colonist by a British soldier. Many American colonists were engaged in criminal activities like smuggling illegal contraband. In response the British government created laws allowing British law enforcement to search Americans without warrant. This too created tension and animosity between colonists and British law enforcement. This is the history behind the fourth amendment of the U.S. Constitution banning unwarranted search and seizure. Today in New York City the NYPD engages in warrantless searches dictated by the “Stop and Frisk” policy. In 2011 NYPD stopped 685,724 people who were just walking down the street minding their own business. Half of those stops were African Americans and a third were Latino and 9 percent were White. Only 2 percent of those stops produced contraband. Stop and Frisk creates a lot of animosity between communities of color and NYPD. Much like the animosity created between American colonists and British law enforcement nearly 250 years ago. Apparently the tyranny that was unacceptable to American colonists 250 years ago is perfectly acceptable for communities of color today in St. Louis County and New York City. Instead of turning their backs, maybe the NYPD should open their eyes. Harassing people for no reason and arresting people for minor offenses doesn’t make communities safer. It also makes policing more dangerous for police officers.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 16:07:36 +0000