The problem with white people tasering black people is the simple fact that someone always drags race into the ordeal. The human race is too simple and close-minded to rise above such differences and get to the real root of the problem.

                According to the Merced Sun-Star newspaper, on September 11, 2009, a 40-year-old double-leg amputee named Gregory Williams was supposedly tasered twice, on the grounds that he was “resisting arrest” and on suspicion of domestic violence. The whole ordeal started when the police were contacted claiming that an argument had broken out at Williams’ house, and according to the Sun-Star, one of the officers involved, named John Pinnegar, claims that Williams’ wife said that Williams had hit her, a charge that Williams denied ever happening. Police said that when attempting to take away his two-year-old daughter from his lap to give to Child Protective Services, Williams resisted. This was when the drama began.

                The question is whether or not the police had the right to taser Williams in the first place. How much can an amputee really resist arrest without a weapon? Can handicapped people really pose a threat to able-bodied police officers? Williams is reported to have fallen out of his house after being tasered, his pants halfway down, exposing his buttocks to the rest of the public. A handful of witnesses from the scene reported to have seen the incident occur, yet the police are still going unpunished. This could single-handedly be the worst call on the police’s part yet.

                Many unnecessary deaths have happened because of tasers being overused in lieu of guns, pepper spray and batons. According to the Associated Press an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 people have been shocked by Tasers during law enforcement confrontations since the device hit the market in 1998. Tasers transmit up to 50,000 volts of electricity, and are only supposed to immobilize the suspect or criminal for a short amount of time during which the police are to handcuff or otherwise control them. Amputees on the ground are already quite immobilized; the use of a taser on one would seem to be quite redundant.

                Tasers should not be completely banned though; they can still be of use in select situations where violence gets out of control. Just because a few bad apples fell into a widespread story does not mean all police are this way. The true problem is that in the cases where police could be of real use, such as a person being victimized by gangsters and thugs, the person will not help the police catch the criminal because of their ignorant prejudices.

                If America is to truly overcome this horrible racial issue, then we must put aside silly prejudices and ignorant unwillingness to involve the police with problems that actually require them. With little effort, the grudge many civilians hold over the police force could be forgotten and the people of America could rest easier knowing that they are both on the same side.