How We Know Black Men Will Bear The Burden of New Ski-Mask Laws

The over-policing of black communities turns seemingly race-neutral laws into tools of racial oppression. Jaywalking, for instance, is a crime that Black pedestrians are <a href="https://laist.com/news/transportation/jaywalking-pedestrian-ab-1238-traffic-safety" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">disproportionately charged</a> with violating, even though there’s no evidence that Black people jaywalk any more than White people. Even truancy laws designed to stop children from skipping school are <a href="https://publicintegrity.org/education/suspensions-school-violate-civil-rights-law/#:~:text=Researchers%20looked%20closely%20at%20absences,number%20of%20days%20of%20school." rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">disproportionately applied</a> to Black, Indigenous, and Latino students. One study showed Black Americans are <a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/502277-black-people-5-times-more-likely-to-be-arrested-than-whites/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">five times</a> as likely to be arrested compared to their White counterparts. Clearly, even when laws are designed to help or safeguard society, racism in law enforcement undermines the goal of this legislation. That’s why a new Philadelphia <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/01/us/philadelphia-ski-mask-ban-city-counil/index.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">law</a> that bans ski masks from being worn in some public spaces is raising eyebrows in the black community. <a href="https://medium.com/afrosapiophile/how-we-know-black-men-will-bear-the-burden-of-new-ski-mask-laws-099936f0f9a5">Read More</a>