Black Lives Matter vs. American Police - Part I: Is race really a factor? (WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT)

Videos released by victims indicate yes, race IS a factor.

Everyone has heard the age-old story that officers of the law enforce their authority more aggressively toward minorities, but is there any truth in that stereotypical stance?

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Once upon a time, less than one century ago, the black community was the focus of negative stereotypes, police brutality, were treated as second-class citizens and were victims of hate crimes.

Today, black citizens experience certain levels of equality, but remain victims of police brutality.

The adage, "stereotypes exist for a reason," has reared its ugly head several times in the past few years, with black victims often backed by bystander video footage and photographic evidence of police officers violently harassing their suspects.

One man decided to embark "on a quest to live free and document those who wish to rule others through coercion and violence" and has created his own YouTube Channel to showcase those videos.

In a video titled "Former LAPD Officer Speaks Out on Police Brutality," a former Los Angeles Police Department officer named Alex Salazer admitted he was "once part of the problem of institutionalized violence."

Most notably, he admitted, he saw corruption and was "also a participant ... It was a moment where I'm not proud to talk about it, but I talk about it because there is an atonement that needs to be done ... I did witness acts of police brutality; I also participated in it."

Salazar reported "a fear of denial. There's a lot of ignorance going on ... everybody stays quiet until somebody brings out what is really going on ... so what we're seeing is a lot of law enforcement's dark dirty little secrets coming out ... We have this liberty of watching [white men with licenses to carry] carrying their weapons, not in an act of defiance but in what it means to be an American ... But I guarantee you-you see a black person out here and what's going to happen?

"You know, this is the crazy thing that we're dealing with here, is this issue of race and so we need to talk about the race ... in a way that is sane, a way that we don't start attacking people because that's usually what happens ... There's been no accountability for the police ... And the problem ... is that most people don't care, too.

"That's the sad part, there's this apathy there's this way of thinking 'it's not happening to me so why should I be worried about it?' And, of course, a lot of these people, they become activists because they've been messed with, they've been screwed with...

"The Code of Silence is something that is really really big that needs to be discussed within law enforcement.

That is what keeps everything under wraps. This is the environment where shootings are swept under the rug, this is where all the massive cover-ups come, this is why right now people don't trust the police."

In another video, at 1:14 a black man who is on the ground choking on pepper spray. While he is coughing, the white officer who sprayed him gets closer and kicks the defenseless suspect in the throat.

Earlier in the video the man can be clearly heard asking, "Can you tell me what's going on!?" The officer's voice is inaudible but the black man responded, "I don't have a warrant out for my arrest!"

To further support racial discrimination in relation to police brutality, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported the population of the United States averaged 230,823,000 people. Of that number, 163,508,200 are identified as White and 27,120,400 are identified as Black.

The chart on the second page of the U.S. Department of Justice's Special Report titled "Police Use of Nonfatal Force, 2002 -11" shows that the annual number of victims of "Police-resident contact and contact involving threat or use of force" for Whites falls at 445,500. The number for black citizens is 159,100.

You may think that the large difference is evidence that the color of one's skin is not related to "use of force," however it is important to note the percentage in according to their own race, not the population average.

Let's do some math!

If 445,500 of 163,508,200 is equal to .27 percent and 159,100 of 27,120,400 is .59 percent, suddenly everything falls into place.

If you are a person with black skin, you are 2.2 percent more likely to be involved in "police use of force" than you would be if you were a person with white skin. Notice the ambiguity assigned to the general term "use of force."

"Use of force" can indicate anything from forcing a suspect to lean against the hood of their car to the use of pepper spray or even a gun.

It is difficult to deny that the video of the officer kicking an unarmed man - who was already on the ground, and coughing at that - is an act of "police use of force," and is also an example of police brutality. There are several other examples of police brutality against black Americans.

So why isn't anyone holding the police accountable? What can be done? What are our rights as citizens? Find out in Black Lives Matter vs. American police part II.

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