Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

Racism influences law enforcement and criminal justice decisions, argues Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor in the following viewpoint. Minorities who have committed no crimes, especially African American males, are disproportionately stopped, searched, and detained by police. Blacks are much more likely than whites to be brutalized or killed by police officers; moreover, they are incarcerated at six times the rate of whites. Taylor is a freelance writer.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. In Taylor’s opinion, why did the case of Amadou Diallo draw national attention?
2. Blacks account for what percentage of all traffic stops, according to the author?
3. What percentage of the prison and jail population is composed of blacks, according to Taylor"

On the night of February 4, 1999, Amadou Diallo had his first—and tragically his last—brush with the American criminal justice...