Presidential candidates should address police brutality and the need to reform policing practices in the U.S., says Jasmine Cobb. Cobb is an assistant professor of African and African American Studies and Art, Art History & Visual Studies at Duke University.
Transcript:
From Duke University, this is "Glad You Asked," where we consider the question "What should we be talking about this election season?"
I'm Jasmine Nichole Cobb. I'm an assistant professor in the Department of African and African American Studies in joint appointment with the Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies at Duke University.
I think all presidential candidates need to speak to the issue of police brutality. There are too many instances of homicide where citizens die at the hands of police or in shadowy circumstances while in police custody.
Some of the most notable cases we've seen in the past few years -- Sandra Bland, Walter Scott, Rekiya Boyd, Charisse Frances, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Kindra Chapman, Kimberlee Randle --
These folks had encounters with police that went horribly bad. And so the sense that one can deal with police and suffer bodily harm is a real issue. The sense that one can deal with police and wind up in jail seemingly out of nowhere, even for failing to signal when pulling over -- this is an issue. And as it happens state by state, day by day on a reccuring basis a serious presidential candidate has to deal seriously with this issue.
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