black-dea-agents-say-bias-plagues-the-agency-decry-barrs-claim-that-there-is-no-systemic-racism-in-policingThere are too many injustices everywhere in America against Black people. These are very systemic in ways that discourage black people from joining security forces in this country.
A recent publication on Atlanta Black Star reported the injustices that Black people who join the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have to go through during the initial training of recruits. In the report, former Black Drug Enforcement Agency agents reported the horrific racial treatment they experienced. These agents recounted the maltreatments of the supervisors during training. Supervisors were calling a black man “monkey.” Not that the supervisors just called this trainee a monkey! They taunted this Black man by making a continuous nose using a loudspeaker and chanting monkey.. monkey…
The store surfaced when the Associated Press (AP) obtained the biased treatment of Black people in the Drug Enforcement Agency. It has become systemic in that the perpetrators are often left to go scot-free. Many of them even receive an early pension to go and enjoy life after doing so much harm to other human beings. Black people have been over the years been seen as the “other” American. Stories of this kind are very pathetic. Yet the officers found being racist many times receive a lively retirement package without any disciplinary actions.
This racial and biased behavior in the agency has existed since 1977. A Black DEA agent filed a civil rights lawsuit against the agency that he was denied promotion. His promotion did happen because of the color of his skin. After the agent won the case, the court ordered the department to review its operations and make necessary changes to prevent future occurrences. Nothing was done to protect Black people who join the agency. Many Black people have been deprived of their promotion through the use of systemic mechanisms that continues to put Black people in situations where it will make it impossible for them to grow or get promoted to higher ranks in the agency.
Reference:
Isheka N. Harrison. October 21, 2020. “The Monkey: Former DEA Recruits Say Agency Tolerates Culture of Open Racism at Training Academy. Atlanta Black Star.
‘The Monkey’: Former DEA Recruits Say Agency Tolerates Culture of Open Racism at Training Academy
The story about how they treated this man while in training is appalling. No person should be forced to anything like that, especially something that is used to racially stereotype their own culture. I think you did a great job of explaining this and showing how it is an example of systemic injustice.
This systemic injustice was very sad to hear about. No one should endure harsh treatments based on what they look like. Everyone deserves an equal opportunity to move up in the world no matter what race they are, so to hear about how people are being turned down because of that is very sad. This has become too common in the modern world and needs to be stopped. I think you did a great job at explaining what happened and how this is a systemic injustice.
Thank you so much for sharing this, as other people commented it was tragic to find out about. Nobody ought to bear cruel medicines dependent on what they resemble. Everybody merits an equivalent occasion to climb on the planet regardless of what race they are, so to catch wind of how individuals are being turned down in light of that is miserable. This has gotten excessively regular in the advanced world and should be halted. I figure you worked admirably at clarifying what occurred and how this is a foundational unfairness.
This was a very intriguing entry in my opinion because I had not considered the treatment of black agents in the DEA and other federal enforcement agencies. I have heard many stories about the mistreatment of black Americans in the criminal justice system, and specifically in terms of unjust sentencing for drug based crimes. I thought this was a very interesting point to make, and an incredibly important issue that we need to discuss and end.
Great topic! You did a great job highlighting systemic injustices African American DEA agents encounter. Your information was very insightful when it pertained to racism, discrimination, and unequal opportunities toward African Americans. It is sad to think that even in a professional setting African Americans still face racism and discrimination.
First off, this was such a good topic to bring up and read about! So thank you for sharing. Secondly, this is absolutely an issue throughout many facets of the economy beyond just the federal government and DEA. I remember watching this Netflix series earlier this year called “100 Humans” where they ran this one experiment which reflects the training that some police officers undergo. During this experiment, 2 people were hiding behind different walls and the subject of the experiment was given a (fake) gun and told to shoot the one person who pops out from behind the wall and also has a gun. The person who often had the gun was the white person who popped out from behind the wall, while the black person was often carrying a cell phone, yet when running the study they found that much more often than not, the black participant was the one who the person would often initially identify as a threat and believe they had the gun. It is interesting how quick people are to judge the potential of an individual or the level of threat they pose based solely upon the color of their skin.
Thank you all. I think we are in our future so everything we do today can also have an impact of change for the next generation. I hope you all do your part if you happen to find yourself in the position.