Today i got a text from UB's emergency service about how a black male was in custody for "loitering" and that he had run away from the police. It just made me think about how you never hear of white people getting arrested for crimes like this even though they can and do loiter just as much as an african american person would. It seems like its simply a crime just for people living in the city to get charged with. It is a good way to get people to not hang out in certain spots but on UB's south campus there are people just standing around everywhere, usually drunk white kids doing foolish things yet because this man was black they went for him and put an alert out. Its just sad to see that racism is so easy to find in our police enforcement. Honestly he could have been doing something wrong and running from the police is never a good idea but the point is that crimes like this are reported more often involving african americans than white people.
Sam Kralles
Sam,
ReplyDeleteThat is a great point you made about the "alert" circulated through the UB email system. When I received the email I was thinking some of the same things.
There is clearly a racial motive behind the university arresting and than sending out a email alert simply because an African American was loitering on campus. Dont students and other people "loiter" on campus everyday. Dont we all loiter when we are waiting for our classes to start or when we are waiting for the bus. What was it about this man that made him more dangerous than the countless other people who "loiter" on campus. Would the response have been the same if it was a white individual that was "loitering" on campus?
These sorts of arrests and subsequent alerts exemplify the ways that our police and legal system work to render the black male body a constant criminal threat. Being arrested for loitering - does that mean it was illegal for him to simply be black and on campus?!?!?
This arrest also can fit within our discussion of segregation from last week. How do arrests like this work to maintain segregated urban spaces?
It is also worth making note of how the person was described in the alert. Other than mentioning that me may be wearing a handcuff on his wrist, the description was vague and frankly useless. He was described as a black man wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Dont most of our students wear jeans and a t-shirt. What about the hundreds of African American male students and the thousands of African American men in the community surrounding UB? Dont they wear jeans and t-shirts everyday? Should we be weary that they are a potential threat? These sorts of vague descriptions have an impact in that they work to make all black men a potential criminal threat. They have a prolonged discursive impact where all black men begin to be seen as criminals.
We will talk more about the criminalization and incarceration of the African American population in class on Thursday and this post coincides with that classes readings. You should bring this topic up in class. We will also spend some time exploring the representations of African Americans in news media later in the semester.
Thanks for drawing our attention to this.
p.s. If you didnt get the UB alerts in your email, here they are:
UB Alert: Police are searching the South Campus for a black male who escaped custody after being arrested for loitering. Has a handcuff on his left wrist, wearing jeans with a rope belt and T-shirt. Last seen in the vicinity of Sherman parking lot.
UB Alert: University Police have received information that the suspect was last seen running away from campus and across Grover Cleveland Golf Course shortly after his escape at 12:35 p.m. Police have concluded an extensive search, and the suspect is no longer believed to be on campus. Area law enforcement agencies have been notified to be on the lookout for the suspect.
really great point i felt the same way when i received the text message to my cell. its funny how the littlest things get some people in a lot of trouble!!
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