Neglected by the entire society, 1/5 of female victims of police violence in the United States are African American activists who criticize them as "invisible victims" of violence | police | law enforcement
On July 24th, China Daily reported that more than three years ago, the death of African American man George Floyd by white police officers kneeling and pressing his neck caused a sensation in the United States. However, the long-standing systemic racism and violent law enforcement issues have not been addressed, and the changes have been minimal. Among them, African American women have become invisible victims of police violence and have not received attention.
Screenshot of a review article on the Los Angeles Times website in the United States
On the 21st, the Los Angeles Times website published a commentary article by Kimberly Williams Cranshaw, a law professor at Columbia University and the University of California, Los Angeles, and executive director of the African American Policy Forum.
The article points out that in the United States, black women and girls are more likely to be killed by the police than any other group of women. Black women make up approximately 10% of the female population in the United States, but this group accounts for one-fifth of all women killed by the police and nearly one-third of women killed by the police without any weapons.
In late June, a police violent law enforcement incident occurred in California, where the husband of an African American woman was arrested by the police. The woman took out her phone and began recording footage. A police officer immediately walked towards the woman and threw her to the ground. The police also took out pepper spray and sprayed it on her face, and pressed her neck and shoulders with her knees. During this period, the woman repeatedly shouted that she found it difficult to breathe.
Krenshaw criticized, "We should ask ourselves how a black woman in the United States went from being a bystander in police brutality to becoming the center of attention. Why are so many people like her subjected to violence, beating, electrocution, shooting, and even murder, while we as a society ignore them? In fact, such topics hardly appear in public discourse."
Krenshaw stated that the issue of black women becoming victims of police violence is widely overlooked. The new book released by the African American Policy Forum mentions over 200 cases of African American women being killed by police, but almost none of the police officers involved have been held accountable.
Krenshaw pointed out that black women were killed by the police at home, in the car, with the company of their parents, and in front of their children, ranging from as young as 7 years old to as old as 93 years old. They were not armed when they were killed, which cannot be an excuse for the police to use lethal force out of concern for their safety.
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