The issue of police brutality and the tense racial relations between police and people of color has been on almost everyone’s minds of late.  Just recently, two NYPD officers were slain in their cars, murdered by a man who was seeking to avenge the deaths of Mike Brown and Eric Garner who were themselves killed by police while unarmed. These cases of brutality and injustice have galvanized people into rival camps of “pro-police” and “anti-police”. Sadly, it does not have to be this way. Being against police brutality and injustice, and being disgusted with the actions of the murderer of those two police officers are not two mutually exclusive issues. Unfortunately, so many on both sides make it out to be this way.

            Putting the case of Mike Brown aside, where there was much more controversy surrounding what exactly happened, the cases of Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and so many others clearly demonstrate that the police have been overstepping their bounds. Often, because many of these victims of brutality are black, the black community has become convinced that the police are out to get them. I don’t know, and highly doubt, that these police officers and many like them are racist in their intentions. But it is clear that many aspects of the criminal justice system do disproportionately impact minorities. The war on drugs has led to the mass incarceration of countless black men for victimless crimes. Minorities are disproportionately incarcerated compared to their white counterparts when it comes to drug use. As of 2006, 49.3% of state prisoners, or 656,000 individuals, were incarcerated for non-violent crimes. This is certainly unjust. The proliferation of laws and regulations has led to a police force constantly on the lookout for any wrong or violation, ever so slight, while taking their attention away from more serious crimes such as murder, rape, and robbery. In the case of Eric Garner, he was selling untaxed cigarettes. He was choked to death by a NYPD officer after resisting arrest. So there is some credibility behind the perception of the police being “out to get” minorities.

At the same time, the impulse of protesters of police brutality have demonstrated a dangerous tendency to deflect blame away from guilty perpetrators of brutality onto society at large. This dangerous tendency only serves to weaken the case for criminal justice reform and increased dialogue between the black community and law enforcement officers. When protesters and critics of police brutality deflect responsibility of the murderer of those two officers onto society at large or onto the more despicable actions of law enforcement, they only serve to weaken their own case. Is it not hypocritical to condemn the inexcusable actions on the part of law enforcement, while at the same time excusing the actions of the murderer? It is time that individuals are held responsible for their actions. Blaming “society” does nothing to institute positive, long-lasting change.