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Americans recognize racism in US criminal justice system: Poll

Friday, 23 April 2021 6:34 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 23 April 2021 6:32 PM ]

Social workers join ‘Black Lives Matter’ members during a demonstration against racism and police brutality, outside City Hall in Los Angeles, California, June 13, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

A new opinion poll shows that more Americans recognize racism in the US criminal justice system as well as mistreatment of minority groups in the country.

The poll conducted by The Washington Post and ABC News surveyed Americans on sentiment towards the US law enforcement and found that most people of color are treated differently or unfairly.

The poll indicated that more Americans feel minority groups in the US are not treated as equally as their white counterparts, displaying a larger trend of Americans recognizing racism in the US criminal justice system.

The Post said six in 10 Americans maintained that police should be held more accountable for mistreating Black people.

The Post added that more women said government institutions should hold police accountable for racist conduct towards Black Americans.

Systemic racist violence rooted in US legacy of slavery: Analyst

In an interview with Press TV, US journalist and analyst Abayomi Azikwe said the police practices in the US today have their origins in the slave patrols of the 19th century that were designed to keep incarcerated Africans under the control of white landowners, merchants and officials

The data from both outlets found that confidence in the police has broadly decreased and this sentiment is consistent across white, Black, and Hispanic demographics.

The poll was conducted by telephone between April 18 and 21 among a random national sample of 1,007adults, with 75 percent reached on cell phones and 25 percent on landlines.

Results of the poll have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points for the full sample.

Ex-cop Derek Chauvin found guilty for killing George Floyd

The jury has found former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin guilty in the May 2020 death of George Floyd.

The survey was carried out during the conviction of Derek Chauvin, a white former Minneapolis police officer that was found guilty of murdering unarmed African American George Floyd last year by kneeling on his neck four nine minutes while he was handcuffed and under arrest.

Floyd’s killing by white police officers brought US racism back into focus and became an emblem of the Black Lives Matter movement. It has, however, not stopped trigger-happy cops from unleashing terror on hapless minorities, including African Americans and Asian Americans.

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