Imani Perry Analysis

Imani Perry begins her essay by giving us insight about her encounter with Princeton police and how she was treated and felt afterward. Imani Perry is a professor of African American Studies at Princeton University and was arrested a couple weeks ago by the Princeton, New Jersey police for a three-year-old parking ticket, which generated controversy in her social media between those who see it as an example of racist behavior and others who believe it was an overreaction to a minor incident. According to Susan Svrluga in her article, she states that “her account tapped into the national conversation over police treatment of black people that has led to protests, including demonstrations at Princeton and many other colleges.” The problem Imani identifies in her essay is the high sensibility regarding policing particularly with respect to black people experience these days. Perry assumes that her readers know too well about what is going on
She wrote, “people in this society consistently disadvantage Black people compared to others […] This was my first time in handcuffs. They were very cold on my arthritic wrists.” By appealing to her audience’s sympathies and by helping them to identify with the subject being exposed, Imani Perry was expecting her reader to be compelling, so people will be outraged and take action against this issue. She also appeals to our reason or logos. “Some critics have said that I should have expected what I received. But if it is the standard protocol in an affluent suburb to… we have a serious problem with policing in the society” Perry added. She felt mistreated and lost a bit of her dignity by being patted down by a man officer instead of a female which reader can infer that is not general assumptions or regulation by the police