Relevant Change between Law Enforcement and Segregation in the U.S

The Relationship Between Discrimination and Law Enforcement

The relationship between discrimination and law enforcement in the United States has changed dramatically over time. America has always been split along racial lines, primarily because of color. At this time, minorities were not granted certain advantages, particularly when it came to upholding the law and serving the nation. Law enforcement and the military were both dominated by Caucasian guys as a result of this division. That was from the 1700s, but as the 2000s rolled around, everything altered. (Browne-Marshall, 2013). The racial segregation has been a major factor that defines the ways people are appointed in different leadership positions in the United States, specific people of certain color were not allowed to take part in the military positions due to inferiority and incompetency as perceived by the government and different law enforcing organizations. With the increase in civilization, there is an integration of different communities and racial differences which often facilitates the law enforcement system. The racial segregation in the United States forced the government to tighten the security system thereby investing more on the law enforcement resources to aid in curbing the racial tensions in the United States; the continuous reduction in the racial tension has facilitated the reduction in the rate of segregation in the United States, a situation that has greatly reduced the use of law enforcing agents of civilians, thus the country has experienced the relevant change in the law enforcement and the segregation.

The Impact of Slavery and Segregation on Law Enforcement

Slavery was a big part of the community in America and law enforcement at the time was mostly used to keep the civilians safe and slaves were in their place. They used to return African Americans and considered them as the property to the state or their owners. When slavery ended in 1865 the Jim Crow law was put in place and segregation amongst the entire country was born. Law Enforcement at this time was still only Caucasian males and their job at this time was to enforce the new laws against AA’s (Curry, 2015). During the slave trade, the law enforcement officers were majorly involved in controlling the slaves; the error was characterized by the racial segregation; during the time, the law enforcing agent majorly came from the civilized societies, this was as a result of hatred and ethnic profiling. Additionally, the segregated communities were violent and they could not be allowed to take part in the law enforcement system in different parts of the state. Freeing the slaves led to the reduction in racial tension among different communities and people in the United States, this shifted the attention of the law enforcing agents or officers to perceive different races and community as one.

Changes in Law Enforcement during the Civil Rights Movement

Approaching 1920’s, there was a shift in the entire nation. More Caucasians began to not only listen to black people but they fought for change as well. Law enforcement still enforced the Jim Crow laws during this time of the civil rights movement. They were the main group that intentionally harm or kill any AA that had a sense of dignity. It is said that Law Enforcement back then had KKK members as the majority in their departments (Curry, 2015). During the civil war, the law enforcement officers were mainly derived from the malicious groups, and they were meant to scare the individuals involved in creating the tensions across different states of the United States. The law enforcement officers were mainly used as the tool of oppression, even in the current policing systems, the police departments are solely rooted in some repressive and racists colonial organizations of the founding security systems (Feagin, 2013). The colonial law enforcement systems had the absolute roles of controlling and providing surveillance to the population while upholding and imposing the laws of the state by use of coercion and force. The rise of civilization and human rights have limited the powers of the law enforcement agents across different social groups, the police or different military forces no longer have the absolute roles of enhancing social, political, and economic policies on the populace.

Improvements in Law Enforcement Today

When the civil rights movement ended and many privileges were granted to all citizens it took Law Enforcement awhile to catch up with the times. They had many officers that still harassed and assaulted many AA’s; many of these acts went on without justice for their victims. It was still a challenge for minorities to get into law enforcement until just recently; Law Enforcement was forced by their community in the early 1970’s to accept more minorities into the field (Curry, 2015). Today, Law enforcement is improving and changing the racial tension between them and the community. In the current policing, the law enforcement officers are meant to keep law and order and to safeguard the public from any harm that may originate from the local population.

Conclusion: Changing Law Enforcement System

In conclusion, the United States has experienced tremendous relevant changes in the law enforcement systems due to the diminishing level of racial segregation. Unlike the colonial times when the law enforcing agents were given absolute power to control the population, today’s policies involve the use of law and order, the police act as the peace agents among the population. In the today’s social systems, there is a tremendous reduction in the racial tension, a situation that encourages the implementation of new policies in both the military and police services.

References

Browne-Marshall, G. J. (2013). Race, Law and American Society. Routledge.

Feagin, J. (2013). Systemic racism: A theory of oppression. Routledge.

Curry, L. (2015). Protestant-Catholic Relations in America: World War I Through Vatican II. University Press of Kentucky.