Race and Police Brutality Debated Following Death of Tyre Nichols

Following the death of Tyre Nichols, who died three days after being beaten by five former members of the Memphis Police Department who now face murder charges, many are reflecting on police brutality and the relevance of race in Nichols' death.

Policing Is The Problem, Not Racism: Both Nichols and the officers involved are black, leading some to question or critique race being discussed in response to the tragedy, instead placing the focus of the incident on flaws in policing. Theresa Dear, a NAACP board member and writer for Deseret News, determined the death of Nichols to not be about race, but instead about “the use of force and brutality by five police officers.” Piers Morgan (Lean Left Bias) wrote that “high-profile black people have raced to blame white people for what happened in a way that is as ridiculous as it is disingenuous.”

Racism Is A Problem In Policing: Others are arguing that the race of those involved is a crucial factor to consider in preventing this tragedy from repeating. CNN host Van Jones wrote that “society’s message that Black people are inferior, unworthy and dangerous is pervasive,” and that black people are “not immune to its pernicious effects.” A writer in the Wall Street Journal Opinion determined that in order to address “stereotypes of particular demographics” that persist in America, it is necessary to “ponder how the race of suspects affects how they are treated by police.”