White America is Starting to Pay Attention to a Pattern of Police Killings
The death of Freddie Gray in police custody and the subsequent protests in Baltimore over the past two weeks seem to signal a turning point in how white America feels about police killings of black men.
When pollsters asked a thousand U.S. adults this week about Gray’s death, 38 percent of white respondents said it was part of a larger pattern in the way police treat black men and not an isolated incident—a number that has risen since earlier this year, according to The Huffington Post and YouGov. That’s a slight edge over the 36 percent who said it was an isolated incident.
When the survey was last conducted in January, respondents were asked the same question about Michael Brown’s death, and 56 percent of white respondents said they thought it was an isolated incident, while 31 percent perceived it to be part of a broader pattern. The shift suggests that the repeated protests drawing national attention in the wake of these deaths may be causing more Americans to reconsider the treatment of black men by police around the country.
While databases that attempt to gather information on the number of police shootings of civilians suggest a slight rise in the number of such killings over the past year, the public reaction and subsequent media frenzy surrounding the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Walter Scott, and now Freddie Gray may reflect increased awareness of the issue rather than an uptick in such deaths, The New York Times reported Thursday. As the public eye is increasingly turned toward these deaths, thanks in large part to the rise of videos made of the incidents by civilians as well as the use of body cameras by police departments, the fatalities have become difficult to deny or ignore.
Huffington Post’s poll sampled YouGov's opt-in online panel to mirror the demographics of the adult U.S. population. The poll was conducted before prosecutor Marilyn Mosby announced Friday that criminal charges would be filed against police for Gray’s death, which was officially ruled a homicide.
Related stories on TakePart:
• Before Freddie Gray: A Timeline of American Unrest
• Jon Stewart Gets Real About the Injustice of the Eric Garner Case
• One Week After Michael Brown Was Gunned Down, Mayhem Erupts Again in Ferguson [UPDATED]
Original article from TakePart
