Body Count and Its Critical Analysis

¶ … Sanneh (2015) writes that Baltimore's crime statistics are complex: while killings have decreased in the several years since Coates' childhood, the population level of the city has also dropped. However, it can be said that United States (U.S.) crime rates, on the whole, have dwindled from the early 1990s, and the incarcerated U.S. population (unusually high compared to other nations) appears to have ceased rising. As regards police killings, every single one is heartrending, while the unjustified killings are downright shocking. For example, European police departments are far less prone to kill. However, no evidence exists to suggest a modern-day epidemic. While scant reliable nationwide data exists, records are maintained by the New York Police Department (NYPD). In the year 1973, when the Rockefeller drug laws were signed, 58 individuals were shot to death by the NYPD; in the latest year for which the department holds records, 2013, there were 8 such deaths. The campaign 'Black Lives Matter' is driven by the damage caused to African-Americans through violence. However, they reverberate so widely because after years of suffering chaos, a decrease in violence appears to be seen (Sanneh 2015).

Further, Sanneh (2015) states that authorities disagree with regards to the degree of change that can be ascribed to mass imprisonment or policing; crime rates, in several respects, are puzzling. However, the crime rate reduction that has occurred over the decades has made paying attention to activist pressures for reformation of U.S. system of criminal justice much simpler for politicians. There are some signs that show a slightly upward trend this year in murders, in several cities aside from Baltimore. If such a trend persists, it will prove injurious to political discussions pertaining to ceasing mass imprisonment by politicians (including those who are African-American). Michael Javen Fortner's provocative history, Black Silent Majority clarifies that there isn't any political movement that is capable of ignoring the cruel disorder genteelly termed as 'common crime'. If the American police force kills Blacks, it contributes to the racial violence already inherent in American history, but so would it if it doesn't succeed in keeping them safe. Alexander can be said to be justified in stating that the U.S. criminal-justice system represents a reincarnation of the atrocious former Jim Crow laws. This must, however, indicate something regarding African-Americans' desperation -- several of them backed it anyway, as the other option in their (rather reasonable) view, was much crueler (Sanneh 2015).

2. Two of the above stated concepts as they are presented in the article

A 1990 report by the Sentencing Project recorded that nearly a fourth of African-American men (23%) aged 20 to 29 years were either on bail, on trial, or in jail/prison (Mauer 1990).

According to Sanneh (2015), numerous politicians and citizens calculated differently, and established that the urgent necessity for protection outweighed persecution risks. During the 1960s, there was a steep rise in heroin addiction in New York's Harlem neighborhood. As well, the commonness of street crime caused some churches there to cancel evening services, to protect church-goers from criminals lying in wait while they went back home from service. Drug-related crimes caused a strain in Black and liberal White leaders' relationship; they wanted medical treatment, and not criminal punishment, to fight back drug trade. Oberia Dempsey, in the year 1962, headed a civic leaders' coalition asking President John F. Kennedy to marshal all national law-enforcers and collectively tackle smugglers and dope pushers. A. Philip Randolph, a civil-rights advocate, set up a group that appealed for a life sentence without bail as punishment for individuals pushing narcotics. African-American Harlem representative and former Borough President of Manhattan, Hulan Jack asked to impose life imprisonment as penalty for mugging, arguing that the incarceration system wasn't as strong as it should be, in a state court in 1969 (in spite of a sharp rise in arrests, a dwindling in prison population was being perceived). A survey by the Times, in 1973, revealed that nearly 75% of Puerto Ricans and Blacks of New York regarded life sentence without bail to be the right penalty for those convicted of drug dealing (Sanneh 2015).

Sanneh (2015) is of the view that Dempsey represents the most distinct character in urban studies professor, Fortner's work; the author seeks to muddle readers' understanding of Black American-related crime and sentence. He states that, though African-Americans have been unduly arrested and imprisoned for crimes for some time, they have concurrently been victims of crime as well. The book's focus is 1960s - early 1970s New York, an era when U.S. crime rates peaked. This led to a demand for more police officers by African-Americans; in addition to more arrests, a larger number of condemnations and/or convictions, and long sentences in prison were requested. Fortner begins his tale from the end (January 1973) when Governor Rockefeller and Dempsey joined forces to bring about the historic Rockefeller drug laws -- a collection of anti-drug regulations facilitating New York's status as a pioneer mass-incarcerator, and leading to a hike in frisking, detentions, humiliations and beatings, as described by Coates (Sanneh 2015).

3. Do you think the author did a good job/bad job of getting the points across in the article (at large)?