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What’s the correlation between the race of police officers and those they shoot? Is there racial

bias in our police system?

Annotated Bibliography

McKenna Bury

Professor Malcolm Campbell

March 12, 2019

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Balko, Radley. “There's Overwhelming Evidence That the Criminal-Justice System Is Racist.

Here's the Proof.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 18 Sept. 2018,

www.washingtonpost.com. Accessed on March 12, 2019. Commented [PA1]: Hyperlink

This source is a developed news article. The article examines evidence that the

criminal justice system is racist. The author had started to gather this evidence after he

was inspired by a United States Senate, Tim Scott, who gave a speech about the

numerous times he was pulled over by police who were suspicious that he was a black

man driving such a nice car. Radley Balko believes that the justice system is racially

biased. However, he doesn’t think that the term “systematic racism” accurately describes

the racism in the police system. Systematic racism is the idea that there are systems and Commented [PA2]: Nice explaining this term.

institutions that produce racially disparate outcomes, no matter if it’s intentional. Radley

Balko states that this isn’t so much the problem but to take into consideration what the

criminal justice system was built on and the time period; the Jim Crow era. There is a lot Commented [PA3]: Read this sentence again. I don’t
think it makes clear sense
of people currently who are skeptical about if there is racism present in our criminal

justice system or not. This article includes an abundance of studies and data that

addresses and deals with discrimination or racial discrepancies. Radley Balko made the

data simple enough to analyze. For example, whether that be where he discusses the stop

and frisk data, that showed that only about 3 percent of those people accused actually get Commented [PA4]: What is this?

charged for a crime. Leaving the rest of the 97 percent of people who were getting

accused but didn’t actually commit a crime or illegal act, but just because they were

associated with a certain race or group they were accused. This article provides a wide

range of data and evidence from a number of crimes and acts. These cases and studies are

reliable and are numbers that are verifiable. Which I think this will be very beneficial to
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my topic for my paper, because having this evidence and numbers can be used to actually

show proof rather than just saying that there's racism among police. This source can be Commented [PA5]: Good w ay to back up your claim
there
used to justify and help the argument of my topic. This source will be used in my paper a

lot, the studies and data help give the audience a visual and understanding of the racism

and crime happening around them that they may not even know about.

Cullors, Patrisse. “Herstory” Black Lives Matter, BLM Company, 2013.

www.blacklivesmatter.com. Accessed on March 12, 2019.

This source is a reliable website that supports the activist movement against

violence and racism towards black people. This movement, Black Lives Matter, was founded in

2013 by three black females. Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi created this black

centered political movement in the response to the death of Trayvon Martin by George

Zimmerman. This was ought to the be the beginning of a widespread intervention and still Commented [PA6]: Thought

continues to grow to this day. This organization is now known all around the world and the

Black Lives Matter movement is a huge attribute to our society and to many people today. This

organization targets my topic in my paper, as I am researching racial bias in the police system,

which is one of the main advocates of this organization. They spread awareness and help other

African Americans who are dealing with or have dealt with anti-black racism and specifically in Commented [PA7]: Instead of using and, use a
comma to make it flow better.
the criminal justice system. This site for the organization has real stories and unfair situations

where people have been intentionally targeted for their race. This movement allows their voices

to be heard and affirm their role as a black citizen and the contributions they provide to the

world. This site has information all the way back until it was created in 2013, which is when this Commented [PA8]: Use w hen here

race dispute began to be prominent around the United States. So I think this source is a good one Commented [PA9]: Wasn’t this conflict an issue for
centuries before today?
to include to be able get the perspective from people on the outside, and specifically from the
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black community. I think it’s important to consider all sides of the argument, you have to take

into consideration all who’s involved and not just one side. Which I think is especially important

with my topic, because this is such a debated topic depending on who you ask. The website also Commented [PA10]: What do you mean based on
w ho you ask? Are you saying there are people w ho are
for the racism that takes place?
updates its information and news regularly, so it allows me to stay up to date and educated about

the current things happening with this intervention and in the black community. This source will

help to ensure my sources and information is well-rounded to best support my argument in my

paper, so I will most likely be using it in my paper.