The issue of police brutality took a turn in 1999. The issue of racial profiling began to be widely debated in circles as a different form of discrimination and prejudice. Issues also arose around the definition of deadly force. The definition of deadly force and when it should be applied is defined on Cornell’s University’s law website. Some of the controversy surrounding the use of deadly force comes into being because it is left up to a law enforcement officer to decide when to employ the use of this tactic while making split-second decisions. For example:
lllllllSelf-Defense. When deadly force reasonably appears to be necessary to
lllllllprotect a protective force officer who reasonably believes himself or herself to
lllllllbe in imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm. … Apprehension.
lllllllWhen deadly force reasonably appears to be necessary to apprehend or
lllllllprevent the escape of a person reasonably believed to: (i) have committed an
llllllloffense of the nature specified in paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(4) 1 of this
lllllllsection; or (ii) be escaping by use of a weapon or explosive or who otherwise
lllllllindicates that he or she poses a significant threat of death or serious bodily
lllllllharm to the protective force officer or others unless apprehended without
llllllldelay. (Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, 10 CFR § 1047.7 - Use
lllllllof deadly force, can be found here).
When discussing the deadly force issue, one should keep in mind that the standards aren’t always clear and the pressure of making life or death decisions in a second has to be one of the most stressful one could ever make. In his song, “The Weight of the Badge,” Country Legend George Strait discusses the pressure that the average police officer is constantly under. “[He] Lays his life on the line, And the line he walks is razor-fine.” Strait continues to highlight the pressures that average police officers feel once they put their badge on, “It doesn't weigh a lot until you put it on, And the weight of it is staggering, Then duty calls each time, He knows he’s gotta answer.” [1]
This use of deadly force has led to many controversial cases in which these tactics were applied. One of the most notable prior to the turn of the century was the shooting of Amadou Diallo. Jane Fritsch reported:
lllllllDiallo, the immigrant from Guinea who was fired on 41 times as he stood,
lllllllunarmed, in the vestibule of his apartment building in the Bronx. … The
lllllllshooting occurred about 12:40 a.m. on Feb. 4, 1999, when the four officers,
lllllllall in street clothes, approached Mr. Diallo on the stoop of his building and
lllllllfired 41 shots, striking him 19 times, as he retreated inside. The officers, who
lllllllare white, said they had thought he had a gun. It turned out to be a wallet. …
lllllllThe verdict came in a tense and racially charged case that led to anti-police
llllllldemonstrations, arrests and a reorganization of the department's Street
lllllllCrime Unit, to which the officers belonged. (The officers were all found not
lllllllguilty)” (Jane Fritsch, New York Times, The Diallo Verdict: The Overview; 4
In response to the verdict, Bruce Springsteen released the song, “American Skin: 41 Shots” in 2001:
lllllll41 shots, and we'll take that ride Cross the bloody river to the other side 41
lllllllshots, cut through the night. You're kneeling over his body in the vestibule
lllllllPraying for his life. Lena gets her son ready for school. She says, 'On these
lllllllstreets, Charles You've got to understand the rules If an officer stops you,
lllllllpromise me you'll always be polite And that you'll never ever run away.
lllllllPromise Mama you'll keep your hands in sight.' Is it a gun (is it a gun), is it a
lllllllknife (is it a knife) Is it a wallet (is it a wallet), this is your life (this is your
llllllllife). It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret). It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret).
lllllllNo secret my friend. You can get killed just for living in your American skin
In an interview with Robert Hillburn, Springsteen explained his purpose in writing and recording this song:
lllllllIt felt to me like the most necessary issue to deal with at the turn of the
lllllllcentury was the question of race in America and how we deal with one
lllllllanother. To some degree, the answer to that question is going to decide a lot
lllllllabout how the nation as a whole eventually rises or falls. I wanted to point
lllllllout that people of color are viewed through a veil of criminality and that
lllllllultimately means they are thought of as somehow less American than other
lllllllAmericans, therefore people with less rights.… Not just by law enforcement lllllllbut the guy behind the counter at the convenience store and whoever. The lllllllfirst verse is about people trying to cross the river of race,and how the river is
llllllltainted with blood. The second verse is about a mother sending her child to
lllllllschool, having to give very specific instructions about how to act. It’s so
lllllllpainful for her because most people assume their children will be safe, but
lllllllshe can’t make that assumption. She knows the slightest movement or
lllllllslightest misunderstanding could mean the end of your life. (Bruce
lllllllApril 1, 2001)
Springsteen faced unexpected backlash for the song. Dave Lifton of Ultimate Classic Rock reported that the singer faced criticism by various organizations that were supported offshoots of law enforcement. Lifton wrote:
lllllllPBA President Patrick J. Lynch wrote a letter to the association’s members.
lllllll'The title seems to suggest that the shooting of Amadou Diallo was a case of
lllllllracial profiling — which keeps repeating the phrase, ‘Forty-one shots,’ it read.
lllllll'I consider it an outrage that he would be trying to fatten his wallet by
lllllllreopening the wounds of this tragic case at a time when police officers and
lllllllcommunity members are in a healing period.'[2]
The healing process that Patrick J. Lynch referred to existed only in the effort made by Howard Safir to hire 50 minority police officers and conduct investigations to see if minority rights were violated. [3] Lynch was further angered:
lllllllHe also “strongly urge[d]” that officers neither attend the concert nor
lllllllmoonlight as security at any of his shows. Lynch wasn’t the only one upset.
lllllllNew York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Police Commissioner Howard Safir also
lllllllcondemned Springsteen, while Bob Lucente, the president of the New York
lllllllchapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, took things a step further by lllllllreferring to the singer as a“dirtbag” and a “floating fag.” (Ultimate Classic
Kadiatou Diallo, the mother Amadou Diallo, disagreed with the idea in 2015 that New York City had healed, or much change had taken place. In an interview with Ese Olumhense of Nymag.com, Kadiatou commented:
lllllll‘Every year, I’m comforting another family,’ she told THE CITY. ‘I know one
lllllllmother from Guinea also who had her son killed by the NYPD. I comforted
lllllllher, I comforted other moms, like Eric Garner’s mom and Sean Bell’s mother.
lllllllEvery year, all these families,’ Kadiatou Diallo said. … Losing a child — I don’t
lllllllwish that to any mother,’ she said. ‘Unfortunately, many have had to go
lllllllthrough that pain like me, having to see their children be killed in a very, very
lllllllsimilar way. It’s notlsomething that you can remove and put aside. No. It’s
lllllllalways with you, you live with it, you breathe with that, you sleep with that,
lllllllyou wake up with the bad feeling. I don’t care how many years pass, if you llllllllive 20 years later, like me, or 50 years later, like other moms. It’s the
lllllllsame.’ (Kadiatou Diallo quoted in The Intelligencer)
Sadly, incidents like the Amadou Diallo case did not end. Throughout the 2000s, many more incidents like it occurred. Some of the most widely known instances of the use of racial profiling that had deadly consequences were the cases involving Eric Garner, Treyvon Martin, Brionna Taylor, George Floyd, and many others. It turns out the lyrics of the song “American Skin” would have a further lasting impact beyond the Diallo incident.
Springsteen was right to share the worry about what mothers had to teach their sons regarding how to carry themselves and act in front of the police, even if they were young teenagers. The Tamir Rice case served as a prime example. Rice was a 12-year-old boy who was in a park in Cleveland, Ohio playing with an airsoft gun but to a passersby it looked like he was waving a gun around, scaring people, according to the 911 call. The caller stated that the gun was “probably a fake.” When the officers arrived on the scene, they told the boy to raise his hands, but the boy didn’t listen to the command and, according to Emma G. Fitzsimmons of the New York Times, the boy reached for the airsoft gun in his waistband. As a result, the officers fired at him twice.[4]
