How different is the 1990s compared to 2015?

What has changed and what

hasnt? Obviously, from then and today, the world has changed because of new
inventions, ideas and laws. But at the same time, nothing has changed at all. Those
problems parallel to todays society are police brutality and racism.
Throughout the course of history, African-Americans have fought for a lot; the
abolition of slavery, the right to vote, civil rights and racial equality. Nevertheless, its
apparent that racial equality isn't truly provided for us. Although I havent experienced
police brutality first hand, I have learned about a few and I live in a time where it occurs
every day. Dating back to March 1991, the infamous Rodney King case became
recognized by many. King, an African-American man, was pulled over for a traffic
violation by LAPD and was mercilessly beaten, proven by broadcasted footage. Now,
fast-forward to June 2015 at a pool party in McKinney, Texas where an officer forced a
teenage girl to the ground and pulled out a gun on her. A Caucasian friend of the victim
stated, You can see in part of the video where he tells us to sit down, and he kinda like
skips over me and tells all my African-American friends to go sit down. Evidently, in a
difference of 20 years, the police force didnt seem to improve and these cases
emphasized the proposition of not only police brutality but racism as well.
At one point in my life I was ridiculed for my physical attributes, specifically the
traits that portray I am prominently African-American. Feeling insecure about my
features, I wasnt proud of my culture or who I was and felt discouraged. Over the years,
I slowly learned to accept my differences, ignore insults, and realized that nobody should
feel insignificant because of their ethnic differences. Sadly, on the news today, I continue
to see victims of police harassments and shootings and it is not a coincidence that theyre

primarily African Americans. Socially aware individuals have been trying to approach
this problem for years and still do today. From the late 80s, N.W.A., a music group,
constructively expressed the issue of police violence through rap, and today, people
constructively express the same issue with hashtags and trends, using social media to
their advantage.
Besides those who persistently try to lessen this problem, I believe that I can take
initiative as well. The social media tactic isnt always efficient, because not everyone
takes part in social media. Creating a PSA or video on the negative impact police
brutality has on individuals is a project I could execute. People may understand the
realism of this matter through a video rather than reading a tweet or tumblr post.
Although addressing the issue of police brutality helps spread the word, their statement
may not be agreed upon because stating an argument over social media eradicates a
persons credibility. If a presidential candidate strictly tweeted or blogged about how they
would make this country a better place, its not viewed as professional.
Ironically, the ones who are supposed to secure our lives are the ones who harm it.
This struggle of racial inequality is a battle that has been endured for too long, but this
struggle can diminish. The steps it will take to obtain justice starts with holding these
officers accountable and managing the police force, thus alleviating the parallelism of
then and today.