Diary of Systemic Injustices Showcase: The Story of Elijah McClain- herberghs.3

Throughout the past few weeks, I have found many examples that I could have used for these diary entries. Honestly, I feel that I found more than I should have. It is really eye-opening to search through news stories and realize how many people face injustice and inequality each and everyday. One article that really stood out to me throughout my search was one about Elijah McClain. He was a 23-year-old Black American citizen that was faced with intense police brutality. On August 24, 2019, Elijah McClain was stopped by the police on his way home from the convenience store for “suspicious activity”. He had been wearing a ski mask, which someone deemed suspicious. The police approached him with immediate aggression. He had expressed that he felt uncomfortable and that he was an “introvert” (CNN, 2021). He continued to tell the police “Please respect the boundaries I am speaking!” (CNN,2021), but the police did not listen. The Aurora Colorado paramedics arrived at the scene and diagnosed him with “excited delirium” (CNN, 2021). Following this diagnosis, the paramedics injected a high dose of ketamine into McClain. The doses of this drug are measured by weight. They injected him with a dose for a 200 lb male, when in reality he was only 143 lbs. At this point, McClain went unconscious and showed signs of ketamine overdose. He never woke up from this sedation. 3 days later, he was declared brain dead (AP News, 2021). McClain’s organs were donated from this point. The investigation of the Aurora Colorado police department and paramedics was ongoing for 14 months. They found that the Aurora police and fire departments had been wrongly administering ketamine by not following the protocols or administering appropriate doses. The data provided in the AP News Article shows patterns of racial bias during policing in this department. They note that 2,800 cases from the Aurora police department are being reviewed for unlawful force (AP News, 2021). It is crazy to think that many people in these departments sacrifice their license and their lives to harm someone else. It seems like racism is taught in their training. This story reminded me of Spivak’s article “Can the Subaltern Speak?”. In this case, McClain was speaking to them and not using aggression towards the police officers, but he was still not heard. His pleas were ignored. The only thing that was acknowledged by the police was the color of his skin. The police used their power to take this innocent man’s life. The men involved in this case were just convicted of their crimes and found guilty earlier this week (CNN, 2021). We see too many articles discussing how innocent people were killed because of police aggression. They found that police are 2.5 times more likely to be aggressive towards a Black male or female than a White person (CNN, 2021). This is a clear example of systemic injustice. The power that police feel they have is sickening. They feel that they have the power to harm individuals based on the color of their skin. This poor man, Elijah McClain, did not live to tell his story, but there are many people out there that fight everyday for justice in America. 

Citations: 

Levenson, E. (2021, September 1). Grand Jury indicts police officers and paramedics in 2019

death of Elijah Mcclain. CNN. Retrieved November 3, 2021, from

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/01/us/elijah-mcclain-death-officers-charged/index.html. 

Nieberg, P. (2021, September 15). Officials: Police in Elijah Mcclain hometown racially biased.

AP NEWS. Retrieved September 16, 2021, from

https://apnews.com/article/police-colorado-aurora-3d031ab7c20a5496c5249535cefdcf85. 

Vera, A. (2021, September 15). Colorado attorney general report found Aurora Police racially

biased and fire department administered ketamine illegally. CNN. Retrieved September

16, 2021, from

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/15/us/aurora-colorado-police-fire-department-investigation/index.html. 

Video of police encounter Elijah McClain