Is the Prosecution of Gosnell Really Racist?

 

Racial discrimination present among law enforcement officials is a constant topic of conversation in today’s society.  Police officers are often accused of racial profiling by people who claim that the police target certain races more than others. It seems that we are at the point where almost every arrest involving an African American suspect arrested by a white or non-black police officer has accusations of racial overtones. 

I have been a law enforcement officer for almost 23 years and have seen my share of prejudices among both white and black officers. I’m not here to defend racial discrimination or prejudices on any level but I do think that cries of “racism” are overused as a defense mechanism in today’s society.

A common theme for most defense attorneys (especially in Philadelphia courts) is that the police are racist and targeted the defendant on trial because of the defendant’s race.  In doing so, they put the focus on the accusers instead of the accused and his or her crimes. For example, Kermit Gosnell is currently on trial in Philadelphia for eight counts of murder. Gosnell is a former West Philadelphia abortion doctor who is also African American.

 

In defense of his client, Gosnell’s attorney, Jack McMahon, who is white, portrayed Gosnell as a “victim of a prosecutorial lynching by an elitist, racist prosecution.” I find this interesting since in 1997 while McMahon was a prosecutor for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office he was recorded on video teaching lawyers questionable techniques for “gaming the jury selection process using race as a criterion.” During the video, McMahon was quoted “The blacks from the low-income areas are less likely to convict,” McMahon said in the video. “I understand it. It’s an understandable proposition. There’s a resentment for law enforcement. There’s a resentment for authority. And as a result, you don’t want those people on your jury.”

 

 

 

Gosnell operated his clinic for 31 years in West Philadelphia, which is predominately an African American neighborhood. Many of the doctor’s patients and victims were African American. In fact, as the prosecution pointed out in response to the defense claim of racism, it was Gosnell who treated his “white female patients better than woman of color” by personally meeting with them and ordering his staff to keep him advised of their treatment. Lost among all of theatrics of playing the race card are the innocent infant victims who were allegedly butchered by this doctor (regardless of his race), who murdered them by “snipping” their spinal cords after they had been born alive.

Today's blog included a case that has been in the headlines since the arrest of Dr. Gosnell. I chose to blog on it because the trial opened this week, and involves racial overtones.  However, instead of focusing on discriminations between the police and the public, I want to examine discrimination and prejudices within law enforcement organizations themselves.

Racial discrimination is the practice of unfairly letting a person’s race or skin color affect who receives a job or promotion. Usually this affects minority men and women who feel they have been discriminated against in favor of a white person. However, there are cases where white people have claimed “reverse discrimination” where a minority individual has received favorable treatment at the expense of a white person.   

Unfortunately, many police departments do not take serious actions against racial discrimination, if at all, until an incident takes place and they are named in a lawsuit.

One recently filed case, the Galloway Township Police Department, Atlantic County, New Jersey is being sued by the only African American officer on the force alleging racial discrimination back to 2003. In addition to discrimination, the officer claims a hostile work environment, retaliation, and differential treatment. A review of the complaint which names several high ranking officers including a captain and Police Chief, cites several incidents where racial slurs were open used while the complaining office was present. The officer also claims to have been removed from a special unit because of his race.

I was amazed and saddened at how many similar cases could be found on a quick Google search. As was the case with the Galloway Township incident, many police departments spend their efforts defending the allegation but seems to spend little time and effort on sensitivity or other relevant training to take a proactive stance before problems arise. To help prevent racial discrimination, police departments should follow the lead of some of our largest corporation such as IBM for example, who has established employee task forces for almost every group employed by the company. This includes men, women, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, disabled persons, gays and lesbians. The groups, meet regularly to discuss diversity and workplace concerns.

 

References:

Hillstrom, K, & Collier, L. (2002). Racial Discrimination. Encyclopedia of Small Business.(Vol. 2.). Gale Cengage.

http://articles.philly.com/2013-03-18/news/37817849_1_west-philadelphia-clinic-women-s-medical-society-kermit-gosnell

http://www.gallowaytwpnews.com/2013/02/galloway-police-department-faces-racial.html