Policing the Police: A Civil Rights Story

By

Sarah Brady Siff

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Demonstrators outside the White House protest police brutality in Selma, Alabama.

Demonstrators outside the White House protest police brutality in Selma, Alabama, 1965

Demonstrators outside the White House protest police brutality in Selma, Alabama, 1965. Photograph by Warren K. Leffler.

This 1964 cartoon by Herblock suggested police culpability for violence against black citizens.

Cartoon by Herblock suggested police culpability for violence against black citizens, 1964

This 1964 cartoon by Herblock suggested police culpability for violence against black citizens at the height of the civil rights movement.

African Americans protest against police brutality in Harlem, New York.

African Americans protest against police brutality in Harlem, New York, 1963

African Americans protest against police brutality in Harlem, New York, 1963. Photograph by Gordon Parks.

Sam Milai’s 'Police Brutality? . . Not Me!' appeared in the Pittsburgh Courier.

Sam Milai’s cartoon that appeared in the Pittsburgh Courier on January 20, 1968

Sam Milai’s “Police Brutality? . . Not Me!” appeared in the Pittsburgh Courier on January 20, 1968, calling attention to the continuing struggles of civil rights activists against local law enforcement.

Illustration of New York City Police officers publicly beating the unemployed.

Illustration of New York City Police officers publicly beating the unemployed, 1874

Illustration of New York City Police officers publicly beating the unemployed, 1874.

Black Lives Matter protest in Manhattan, New York.

Black Lives Matter protest in Manhattan, New York, November 2014

Black Lives Matter protest in Manhattan, New York, November 2014.

Black Lives Matter protest on the Metro Green Line in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Black Lives Matter protest on the Metro Green Line in St. Paul, Minnesota, 2015

Black Lives Matter protest on the Metro Green Line in St. Paul, Minnesota, September 20, 2015.

Bill of Rights.

Bill of Rights, 1789

Bill of Rights, 1789

September 1977 Texas Monthly cover.

September 1977 Texas Monthly cover

Following a string of shooting and beating deaths by the Houston Police Department in the mid-1970s, Texas Monthly magazine published this issue featuring a photo illustration of police officers as members of a gang

Lynching graphic.

Lynching graphic, part the “Report of the President’s Committee on Civil Rights,” 1946

Lynching graphic, part the “Report of the President’s Committee on Civil Rights,” 1946

Frank Murphy.

Frank Murphy, U.S. Attorney General, 1940

Frank Murphy, U.S. Attorney General, January 4, 1940.

Paul J. Watford.

Paul J. Watford, U.S. Circuit Judge, 2012

Paul J. Watford, U.S. Circuit Judge, 2012.

Paul Robeson and other members of the Civil Rights Congress submit 'We Charge Genocide.'

Paul Robeson and other members of the Civil Rights Congress submit a report to the United Nations Secretariat in New York in 1951

Paul Robeson and other members of the Civil Rights Congress submit “We Charge Genocide,” a report on police brutality, to the United Nations Secretariat in New York in 1951.

Charles White’s 'The Return of the Soldier.'

Charles White’s “The Return of the Soldier” depicts a sinister collusion between an armed police officer and a Ku Klux Klansman, 1946

Charles White’s “The Return of the Soldier” (1946) depicts a sinister collusion between an armed police officer and a Ku Klux Klansman. The drawing underscores racial tensions upon the return of American soldiers after World War II.

A man in bleeds on the sidewalk after he is shot by police in Watts.

A man in bleeds on the sidewalk after he is shot by police in Watts, 1965

A man in bleeds on the sidewalk after he is shot by police in Watts on August 14, 1965. Associated Press photograph by William Reagh.

'Justice' was one of five civil-rights issues studied by the Civil Rights Commission.

“Justice,” one of five civil-rights issues studied by the Civil Rights Commission in 1961

“Justice” was one of five civil-rights issues studied by the Civil Rights Commission in this 1961 report. It focused narrowly and frankly on the problem of continued police brutality toward minorities.

'Hands Up, Don’t Shoot,' protestors in Ferguson, Missouri.

“Hands Up, Don’t Shoot,” Protestors in Ferguson, Missouri, 2014

“Hands Up, Don’t Shoot,” Protestors in Ferguson, Missouri on August 14, 2014.

Editorial cartoonist Pat Oliphant used Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous words in this darkly ironic illustration of the verdict’s injustice.

Cartoon of Los Angeles police officers beating African American Rodney King, 1992

After a jury acquitted four Los Angeles police officers accused of beating Rodney King in 1992, editorial cartoonist Pat Oliphant used Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous words in this darkly ironic illustration of the verdict’s injustice.

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