Black community’s distrust of law enforcement goes back centuries
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Social justice movements in the last few years have been fueled by police interactions with the community, specifically communities of color.
Jacksonville historian and civil rights activist Rodney Hurst said what has been televised recently is barely scratching the surface to what police relations were like, dating as far back as the 1700s.
“The Second Amendment dealt with slave patrols. And it dealt with property owners, white property owners, being able to arm themselves to help the slave patrols catch runaway slaves,” said Hurst. “Blacks, when they became policemen could not arrest whites. Police departments, not only in Jacksonville, especially throughout the south, I mean Bull Connor and Jim Clark, Willis McCall. They were the epitome of racist law enforcement officials.”
In December 904WARD, a 5-year-old community organization advancing racial equity in Jacksonville, hired its first CEO and announced plans to expand its efforts to end racism in the community.
One of those efforts was compiling 75 years of research looking back at decades of disparities and failed efforts to address them, according to the nonprofit and producing an eight-part series of progress reports, Race in Retrospect.
The introductory report, released Feb. 12, will be followed by weekly reports through February and March on progress in education, health, housing, justice and the legal system, employment, media and politics and civic engagement. We kept coming back to the same point we do not need another study. Our community has researched this subject for more than 70 years, said CEO Kimberly Allen. We know what the gaps are. We know where the challenges exist. We know where there is opportunity. Little has changed. Efforts advance, groups are forme
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