Fall Semester 2020

UWRT 150: Final Research Paper (30%) Due Saturday, December 12, 2020 before midnight
Note: Research Papers must be submitted in a single word document in the following format:
Page 1 – Rubric with full name of student
Page 2 – Copy of Post-Peer Review Reflection 2 *action plan table only*
Page 3 (onwards) – Research paper
(Word count is placed at the end of the research paper, prior to the Works Cited page)

Name of student: Bisma Haji Muhammad

Fail Minimal Pass Satisfactory Good Excellent
F D C- to C+ B- to B+ A- to A
(0-59.99%) (60-69.99%) (70-79.99%) (80-89.99%) (90-100%)
0 – 17.5 18 – 20.5 21 – 23.5 24 – 26.5 27 - 30
Effective construction of an original argument:

Ineffective argument A very basic argument Satisfactory argument A good argument with Thorough and well-
that is not adequately with inadequate support with some lack of appropriate support constructed argument
supported by source from source material support from source from source material, with appropriate and
material and/or presents and/or significant material and/or a lack of adequate claim(s), extensive support from
unclear claim(s), deficiencies with claim(s), support, support, counter source material, sound
support, counter regards to the claim(s), counter argument(s), argument(s), and claim(s), support,
argument(s), and/or support, counter and/or rebuttal(s); rebuttal(s) and some counter argument(s),
rebuttal(s). argument(s), and/or argument attempts to consideration given to and rebuttal(s) and clear
rebuttal(s). consider logos, ethos logos, ethos and consideration given to
and pathos. pathos. logos, ethos and pathos.
Overall impression, including appropriate writing style, use of academic language (and/or language
appropriate for audience) and correct grammar:

Not well written, does Significant inaccuracies Some inaccuracies in Mostly well written in Very well written and
not use appropriate in style, syntax, style, syntax, grammar, appropriate language effective text with
language. Confusing grammar, appropriate appropriate language with satisfactory appropriate language
style, syntax, grammar, language and/or overall and/or overall organization/structure and excellent
and/or overall lack of organization/structure organization/structure and only minor organization/structure,
organization/structure that acts as a detriment which do not detract inaccuracies in style, correct style, syntax and
impedes to the overall from overall syntax, grammar, grammar that enhances
comprehension. argument/text but does argument/text. and/or appropriate the overall quality of the
not impede language. text.
comprehension.
Implementation of Post-Peer Review Action Plan:

Post-Peer Review Only addresses some of A clear attempt is made All primary areas of All primary areas of
Action Plan not included the primary areas of to address all primary focus identified through focus identified through
and/ or does not focus identified through areas of focus identified the Post-Peer Review the Post-Peer Review
address any of the the Post-Peer Review through the Post-Peer Reflection process are Reflection process are
primary areas of focus Reflection process. Review Reflection adequately addressed. adequately addressed
identified through the process, some and text shows
Post-Peer Review improvement is needed. significant improvement
Reflection process. from draft stage.
Appropriate use of MLA (both in-text and works cited):

No use of source Poor attempt to An attempt is made to A clear attempt is made Source materials is
material and/or no incorporate source incorporate source to incorporate source meticulously and
works cited or in-text material with significant material with some minor material with minimal correctly incorporated
citations provided errors in use of MLA/ errors in use of MLA/ errors in use of MLA/ into the essay using
and/or no attempt at paraphrasing/use of paraphrasing/use of paraphrasing/use of MLA style with proper
correct works cited/in- direct quotes are direct quotes. direct quotes. paraphrasing and use of
text citations. evident. direct quotes (where
appropriate).

Comments:

/30
TOTAL
 Fall Semester 2020

Is United States Justice System really broken?

“To live anywhere in the world today and being against equality because of race or colour is
like living in Alaska and being against snow.” – William Faulkner. On the 25th of May 2020, an
African American was shot by police officers, which led to an increase in the Black Lives Matter
(BLM) movement across the United States (North). Not only in 2020, but even in 2014-2015, many
BLM protests took place across different states for the killing of an African American by an officer
(Williams). For the past 70 years, the systemic police appear to be racist and white supremacist as
racism increased from enslaving black individuals in 1856 to the mass shooting of black citizens in
2020 (North). Over the years, racial profiling is likely to be normalized due to the killing of black
citizens and escalating BLM movements. As a result, the broken police system led to an increase in
racism in the United States because of racism in training institutes, a general lack of accountability,
and an increase in racial profiling during the presidential elections.

To begin with, racism is being taught in the police training system. The root cause of systemic
racism is assumed to be the National Rifle Association (NRA) (a gun-right organization founded in
1871 and aims to protect the constitution of the United States). Over the years, the NRA started to
hire approximately more than 13,000 certified instructors to train police trainers. NRA's most
famous instructor Dave Grossman, a law enforcement trainer, came up with the idea of 'killology,'
where police trainers are being taught to have a mindset of a' warrior'- preparing officers mentally
to kill at any time (Featherstone). It means that every police officer who is trained by Dave
Grossman has to fight like a soldier and should kill like a soldier in seconds, which results in the
killing of innocent black citizens who are meant to be protected by the police themselves. As a
result, it could be that the NRA has been hiring racist and violent instructors to teach police trainers
(Everitt). Due to which, the NRA seems to be silent whenever there is news circulating about the
killing of African Americans by police officers’ candidates. Having said that, many police officers
certainly will act like racists and white supremacists as they will go on suspecting black individuals
with the mentality of a warrior. Besides, the amount of hours police trainer spends in training also
plays a rule in the way they deal with the suspects. One of the studies revealed that police
candidates spent more hours in shooting practice than de-escalation. According to the Department
of Justice, police institutes go through around 110 hours preparing their students on gun abilities
and self-protection, yet only 8 hours in the mediation (Chang). As a result, most police officers
react faster while investigating as they are trained more on shooting than interrogating properly.
Thus, it is more evident that racism in training also leads to the deadly encounters of black citizens.
 Fall Semester 2020

Another reason is that there is a general lack of accountability for police officers. The Criminal
Justice System (CJS) seems to be a more biased and racial outsider as it appears to be that they
declare the suspect innocent and describes their deadly encounters as 'self-defence' against the
victim or exonerate (clear the accusation of someone) the suspect. For instance, the police officers
who killed Michael Brown, George Floyd, and Philando Castile, were acquitted of any charges by
the CJS as they considered the cases either self-defence or were released on bail (Damilohun D). It
is also believed that the CJS gives unfair punishments such as the death sentence to black citizens
than to whites for a similar crime. According to the Pew research centre’s survey, in 2015, around
77% of black individuals believe that racial outsiders are almost certain than whites to be
condemned to death for comparative wrongdoings, where 87% of the black citizens also tend to
believe that they are treated inequitably (Gramlich). As a result, the CJS acting biased will save
racist police officers from punishment, which will lead to escalating racism and BLM movements.
Moreover, the police union protects racist police suspects, which results in no accountability. Police
union plays an immense rule as they tend to be united to protect each other from any charges. For
instance, the Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights (LEOBR) is aiming to secure American law
enforcement faculty from examination and indictment emerging from conduct amid official
execution of their obligations (Burrus). As LEOBRs plans to protect police officers, there is a
possibility that they will safeguard any police officers regardless of what crime they commit. Such
laws will act biased towards black victims, and the probability of the justice system acting racist
will escalate. As a result, the CJS will be more prejudiced towards race.

Moreover, the biased shooting and BLM protests increased during the time of presidential
elections. The racial profiling in 2014-2015 and 2020 occurred when there was an upcoming
presidential election, which shows that there seems to be a connection between police officers and
presidential candidates. According to the study, Seeing the police as biased moreover appears to
spur political commitment and indulged, however in inverse headings for preservationist liberal
citizens (Drakulich). Some believe that escalating racism at the times of presidential elections is
mainly due to the candidates, as BLM protest is usually in urban areas with inflating democratic
votes. Almost, 780 BLM movements took place in 44 states after the death of an unarmed black
individual by an officer, about 90 BLM protest appeared per day in August 2014(Williams). It
indicates that presidential candidate could be the cause of racial profiling to get the most votes for
the democratic party. Also, in 2020, racial profiling occurred again in Philadelphia weeks before
the Presidential elections after the killing of Georgy Floyd (Press). As a result, the BLM
movements in 2015 and 2020 were probably due to the upcoming presidential elections. On the
other hand, some believe the police system is not racist and is doing what is required to be done.
 Fall Semester 2020

Some people may argue that the police system is broken, but the truth is that the police
officers only encountered those who are homicide offenders, drug dealers, and are a threat to the
community. As per the research, about 53% of African Americans are known to be homicide
offenders, and 60% of the black community commits robberies, though they are 13% of the
populace (Mac Donald). As the statistics revealed that the majority of the time, black individuals
are the ones causing problems across the United States, therefore, the police officers have to
encounter them to prevent any harm towards the innocent citizens. Moreover, black citizens accuse
the police officers of the killing of black suspects. Black individuals should know that because of
their false stories about system racism, many police officers have been killed. There are high
chances of police officer being bound to be murdered by a black citizen than unshielded being
encountered by a police officer (Mac Donald). Police officers are trapped and targeted at whereas,
they attempt to capture armed individual or react to the developing riots. Besides, some black
individuals also believe that police officers are protecting them from different crimes, just as they
safeguard white citizens. According to the study, 40% of African Americans deliver their
neighbourhood police tall appraisals for implementing the law, securing the individual from
wrongdoing, and reacting rapidly to a call for help (Ekins). Thus, there is no problem in the policing
system, however, action speaks louder than words. The acts of police officers towards black citizens
show that there is a need for eliminating racial profiling.

However, the killing of George Floyd, Michael Brown, and many more cannot be justified, as
the African Americans fear for their lives at the hands of police officers. According to the surveys,
58% of individuals tend to believe that the United States justice system failed to treat each citizen
equally, whereas, half (54%) of Americans believe that there is an excessive use of military
equipment done by police officers (Ekins). The excessive use of equipment resulted in the death of
many black individuals, which then led to an increase in BLM protests across the United States.
The police system is broken, therefore implicit bias training has been made necessary across the
nation for police officers, however, the training did not change the minds of the officers. According
to the researchers, police officers started to act more racist than they were. For instance, the pre-
training results showed, 47% of black individuals were suspected during a traffic stop, whereas
post-training results revealed that there is an increase in a traffic stop by 1% (Kaste). Although there
is no significant amount of change in the results, it shows that there was a need to eliminate the
racist mindset by implicit bias training. Thus, racism is there in the system, which leads to the
deadly encounters of black citizens.
 Fall Semester 2020

In conclusion, Systemic racism is the lead cause of escalating racism in the United States.
From the killing of Michael Brown to the killing of George Floyd, many BLM protest took place to
fight for the rights of African Americans. Different studies revealed that police officers are taught
how to be racist with the mindset of a soldier and not being accountable for their racist acts. The
finding also illustrated that majority of the mass shooting occurs when there is an upcoming
presidential election. Although, some may argue that the justice system is not racist as the police
officers tend to treat everyone equally. However, the implementation of implicit bias training
showed that the police system is struggling with a racist mindset that should be changed. In the end,
we all are equal, we must unite to stop the hatred across the universe as Audre Lorde said “It is not
our difference that divides. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences."

Word count: 1661

Works Cited
Burrus, Trevor. “Here’s why bad cops aren’t held accountable,” CATO Institute, 4 June 2020,
https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/heres-why-bad-cops-arent-held-accountable.

Chang, Alvin. “Police Academic spend 110 hours on firearms and self-defense. They spend 8 hours
on conflicts management,” Vox, 17 July 2016, https://www.vox.com/2016/7/7/12118906/police-
training-mediation.

Damilohun D, Ayoyo. “The Perceptions of Police-Black Civilian Deadly Encounters in North

America among Black Immigrants in a Western Canadian City.” Societies, vol.8, no.2, June 2018,
https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.rit.edu/docview/2124998968?pq-origsite=summon.

Everitt, Lad. “why are we allowing the NRA to train the American’s cops?” Medium, 2 April 2018,
https://medium.com/@LaddEveritt/why-are-we-allowing-the-nra-to-train-americas-cops-
1350a74a0a24.

Ekins, Emily. “Policing in America: Understanding the Public Attitudes Toward the Police. Results
from a National Survey,” CATO Institute, 7 December 2016,
https://www.cato.org/survey-reports/policing-america.

Featherstone, Steve. “Dave Grossman teaches police officers to think like "warriors." But is the rise of a
militarized mindset turning black citizens into targets?” The New Republic, 17 April 2017,
https://newrepublic.com/article/141675/professor-carnage-dave-grossman-police-warrior-philosophy.

Gramlich, John. “From police to parole, black and white Americans differ widely in their views of
criminal justice system,” Pew Research Centre, 21 May 2019, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-
tank/2019/05/21/from-police-to-parole-black-and-white-americans-differ-widely-in-their-views-of-
criminal-justice-system/.

Drakulich, Kevin, et al. “RACE, JUSTICE, POLICING, AND THE 2016 AMERICAN
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.” Du Bois Review, vol.14, no.1, 2017, https://search-proquest-
com.ezproxy.rit.edu/docview/1951745841/fulltextPDF/C219D5F47615446EPQ/1?accountid=108.
 Fall Semester 2020

Kaste, Martin. “NYPD Study: Implicit Bias Training Changes Minds, Not Necessarily Behaviour,”
NPR, 10 September 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/09/10/909380525/nypd-study-implicit-bias-
training-changes-minds-not-necessarily-behavior.

Mac Donald, Heather. “The Myth of Systemic Police Racism.” WJS Opinion, 2nd June 2020,
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-myth-of-systemic-police-racism-11591119883.

North, Anna. “How racist policing took over American cities, explained by a Historian.” Vox, 6,
June 2020, https://www.vox.com/2020/6/6/21280643/police-brutality-violence-protests-racism-
khalil-muhammad.

Press, Associated. “Philadelphia shootings brings policing, racism back to forefront of Presidential
election,” Los Angeles Times, 29 October 2020, https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-
10-29/philadelphia-shooting-policing-racism-back-into-campaign.

Williamson, Vanessa, et al. “Black Lives Matter: Evidence that Police Caused Deaths Predict
Protest Activity,” Cambridge University Press, vol. 16, no.2, June 2018, pp. 400-415,
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/
BFA2E74F4BCB25C3C222807E8B1111D4/S1537592717004273a.pdf/
black_lives_matter_evidence_that_policecaused_deaths_predict_protest_activity.pdf.