Akia German

25 November 2014
PSC 364
Cartoon Essay
Title
African Americans, particularly young Black men, still share the lived experience
of many African American men during the 1960s. Although slavery is no longer blatantly
accepted, there are a plethora of programs and laws that continue to hold the Black man
in captivity. Stop n Frisk is one of those programs. The purpose of Stop n Frisk was
supposed to help deter crime in New York City. However, it has become the way that
police implicitly practice racial profiling and harass young African American men. Since
2002, there have been over five million New Yorkers stopped and over half of them have
been Black victims. There is no evidence to prove that Stop n Frisk has decreased
crime. However, there are many testaments of mistreatment, sexual abuse, and disrespect.
The political cartoon that I chose indicates that when detecting criminals is left up to the
discretion of the police, a black man is almost always chosen; even when there is an
obvious white criminal in sight.
The top portion of the cartoon depicts a Black man walking and a White man
running. The Black man is empty handed while the white man is carrying a huge bag that
reads SWAG. The White man is also wearing a black scarf over his eyes and there is a
badge that says BANKER. There is a police officer behind the two men and he
screams, Stop Right There, Obvious Criminal!! The bottom portion of the cartoon
depicts the White man running away while the Black man has stopped and is now in the
presence of the police officer. The Black man sighs and holds his arms up in the air. The
police officer proceeds to pat him down while the White man escapes.

Though this is a cartoon, it carries a very serious message. This cartoon shows
that in America to be Black, especially a Black man, means to be a criminal. A police
officer does not have to witness the Black man engaging in crime or have any real proof
of criminal behavior taking place. They are allowed to use their personal discretion to
determine who is a criminal and who is not. In this cartoon, even though the obvious
criminal was the White thief, the police officer looked past his criminal behavior because
a Black man was around. This cartoon demonstrates the lived experience of many Black
men in New York City. It presents clear evidence that Stop n Frisk is not used to deter
crime but instead harass the Black community.
This cartoon also reveals the lived experience of White men in America. It
divulges that they are not only privileged but that they lack respect for authority. In this
Cartoon it is not dark and the White criminal is not hiding his criminal behavior. He is
running in broad daylight with a huge bag of money that he stole from the bank. The
White man is not fearful and he knows that when there is a Black man around he can get
away with anything.
The Stop n Frisk program is a program that was designed to place fear into the
Black community. It is a program that makes parents fearful for the lives of their young
Black sons. It is a program that gives police officers the right to racial profile and target
Black men. The lack of criminal deterrence of the program should be enough to either
alter the law or dismiss it altogether but it is not. Instead, supporters of the law argue that
it is in fact decreasing the crime in New York and that it is beneficial. Ironically, those
same supporters are not subject to Stop n Frisk tactics nor are their sons because they
are White.