We are taught about incidents in History classes that demonstrate racism and discrimination and the vast consequences. Children in schools are taught that – because of legislation put in place by governments – discrimination against an individual due to their race is now rare. And only certain individuals, thanks to this brainwashing, aren’t aware of the everyday racism cases that still occur. The example I’m using is the U.S. Police Force and its institutional racism, shown by events that happen on a daily basis.
Black people in America are seven times more likely to be killed by the police than white people. People of African-American descent make up 66% of the unarmed deaths in America, but they only make up 6% of the overall population. Even since Michael Brown’s death last year (#Furguson), the number of innocent unarmed black citizens killed by the U.S Police Force is still increasing.
This may seem absurd to a reader, but I am thankful for Twitter for its endless documentation, publicity and campaigning. Without Twitter, I would not be aware of so many events that go unnoticed or undocumented by the news that we trust. It seems that every week there is a new name trending in a hashtag to raise awareness for another innocent life taken by the U.S Police Force. Just to name a few: #SandraBland, #MichaelBrown, and the latest, #AndreGreen.
Sandra Bland’s case stands out dramatically to me.
Sandra Bland was an African-American woman who was pulled over by the police for not signalling when changing lanes. There was a row with the police officer after having been forced out of the car and thrown to the ground. She was later found dead on July 13th in her jail cell after having reportedly killed herself through means of suffocation.
There are too many conspiracy theories over Sandra Bland’s death, some of which are scarily plausible. The most haunting is that Sandra Bland thought to be dead in her mugshot. Initially this sounds crazy but if you actually look at the photo, there are indications that she was lying down rather than stood or sat upright. The shadow behind her head is too close to the wall behind her, her hair falling backwards, her face looking like it’s being pulled down gravitationally and her shoulders are flat rather than sloping how they are when you stand. Initially, no side profile shot was released as usual, but the photo since been released is very dark, underexposed, and is difficult to make out any features. This is a rarity considering the track record of all prior mug shots.
Bland’s mugshot was taken in her orange uniform, whilst most mugshots are taken in the street clothes that the individual is wearing. Videos have been released by the police to try and prove that she was alive during her mug shot, however this all seems little fishy for me. Decide for yourself. Another questionable factor about Sandra’s death is that the CCTV footage from the hallway leading up to Sandra’s cell is missing nine minutes of footage, and shows absolutely none of Sandra’s cell at all. Personally, this rings alarm bells, whether I believe murder, suicide or covering up took place here is a different story.
Whilst many consider it an issue no more, I am still not content with Sandra Bland’s case. I don’t know what I believe in all honestly. Even if Sandra Bland did kill herself in her cell, there are different versions of how she did it – bin bag or bed sheet? Regardless, the case of Bland demonstrates how greatly the standard of policing in the United States needs to be improved. Either she was killed, or killing herself seemed the more desirable than the treatment she received whilst in jail, since no-one ends their life over an unsolved traffic incident. If she did kill herself, the levels of education regarding mental health needs to be dramatically improved in order to prevent such acts.
Words by Vic