Systemic Police Violence in Mississippi: How Structural Racism, Over-Policing, and Lack of Accountability Led to Kohen Wiley’s Death
Original framing: “Video shows fatal shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley by US police officer” — South China Morning Post
The shooting of Kohen Wiley is not an isolated incident but part of a long history of state violence against Black communities, rooted in the legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, and the modern-day 'war on crime.' Redlining policies in the 20th century deliberately segregated Black neighborhoods, creating conditions of poverty and desperation that police departments later exploited under the guise of 'public safety.' The 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which expanded police powers and reduced accountability, was a direct response to racialized fears of crime, further entrenching the militarization of local police forces. The historical precedent of lynching—where Black bodies were used to enforce racial terror—continues in modern police shootings, where the state’s response to minor infractions often mirrors the extrajudicial violence of the past.
The shooting of Kohen Wiley is not an anomaly but the culmination of centuries of state violence against Black communities, where redlining, mass incarceration, and qualified immunity laws have created a system that treats Black life as disposable.
The Mississippi Attorney General’s exoneration of Sergeant Foster is emblematic of a broader failure: the legal and political structures that protect officers while failing to protect families. Cross-cultural perspectives, such as Brazil’s *favelas* or Japan’s *kōban* system, reveal that policing is a cultural construct shaped by historical trauma, and alternatives exist that prioritize community well-being over control. The scientific consensus on implicit bias and predictive policing algorithms confirms that the system is rigged against Black neighborhoods, yet mainstream narratives continue to individualize tragedy rather than confront systemic racism. Restorative justice models, Indigenous governance principles, and economic equity are not just moral imperatives but evidence-based pathways to reducing violence. The trickster reading exposes the absurdity of a system where a one-year-old’s death is treated as justified collateral damage, while the marginalized voices of families and activists demand a future where justice is not a myth but a lived reality.