The House I Live In Analysis

- Prior to reading this report, I had long held the opinion that the most crucial step needed in order for the police to become trusted and respected by the vast majority of the American public is for the police to be held to an elevated level of accountability. Police officers are granted a wide range of powers, the most important of which include the authority to make arrests and to take a person’s life if necessary. Therefore, the officers that possess these powers should be held to a level of accountability much higher to that of any normal civilian. Officers that abuse their powers or break the law should be punished far more severely than non-law personnel. When officers are not held accountable for their actions, they often tend to commit
In the report, this cycle presents itself in the from of financial paralysis. The report stated that because of the actions of the Ferguson municipal court, many of Ferguson’s most vulnerable residents, especially those living near or in poverty, end up subject to a cycle of financial burdens that prevent any type of financial gains from occurring. The excessive fees and fines of the municipal court lead to many African Americans constantly racking up debts or even jail time, which in turn leads to many losing their jobs. Thus, the cycle never ends for many of these individuals, leaving them stuck in a position of poverty, a position that they can do very little to change because of the symptoms of this cycle. This directly connects to the cycle present in The House I Live In that focuses on the war on drugs and the profound effects that it has on the African American community. The film drew much of its attention on the never-ending cycle of incarceration that has occurred because of the war on drugs. Countless of African American families are broken apart because of the war on drugs, leaving thousands of children without their fathers, leading to many of these kids dealing or using drugs later on in their lives. This in turn leads to them becoming incarcerated as well and their children having to repeat the same cycle as their fathers and their father’s fathers. This cycle feeds itself, claiming more and more African Americans as time goes on, preventing any of them from moving up in the world and escaping their current tragic situations. The two cycles mimic each other, pointing to the sad