The Heat discusses racially-sparked protests sweeping the US

The Heat

Protests continued in cities across the United States on Monday after two white police officers went uncharged in the deaths of two unarmed black men. It has been six years since the U.S. elected its first black president, but is the American judicial system biased against people of color? 

One hundred and fifty years after the Emancipation Proclamation freed blacks from slavery, does the U.S. treat blacks as equals under the law? In 2011, the U.S. judicial system had more black Americans imprisoned or “under the watch” than were enslaved back in 1850. One out of every three black American males born today can expect to go to prison.

This past summer, a young unarmed robbery suspect named Michael Brown was shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Another, Eric Garner, was accused of selling cigarettes on a New York City street and died after being put in what appeared to be a choke-hold by police. The black community was outraged.

Add these recent events to a judicial system that declined charging either police officer with their deaths, and you have a climate ripe with anger and dissent. CCTV America’s Jim Spellman reported this story from Washington, D.C.

Want to learn more about how a grand jury works? CLICK HERE FOR JIM SPELLMAN’S COVERAGE

The Heat interviewed a panel of experts for more on the race factor in the American judicial system:

  • Abbe Lowell, prominent defense attorney and former prosecutor
  • John Powell, professor of African American and Ethnic Studies at the University of California Berkeley School of Law
  • Joe Madison, radio talk show host and activist

Our panel discussion continued.