Race Issues
In the novel, No Hiding Place, by Valerie Wilson Wesley, the main character private investigator Tamara Hayle faces many difficulties in her career in law enforcement. Wesley explores the struggles of a black woman in a white-male dominated police force and at the same time she also comments upon the constant struggle between inner-city blacks and the oppression they face from the police force. The novel is set in the modern-day and takes an introspective look at today's problems. Wesley also uses a few flashbacks from the past in order to give insight into today's problems. As the novel opens Tamara is held up at gunpoint by a black youth. From the boy's fear Tamara can tell that this is the boy's first time robbing somebody. Because he is inexperienced, Tamara is able to escape by bluffing. She tells the boy that she is a cop and that her partner is on his way. This statement in itself makes the youth very nervous. She places the final blow by reminding the youth of the penalty for killing a police officer-life in prison. She also adds that more than likely he will be tried as an adult. This statement sends the boy running away. This situation which opens the novel illustrates the extreme mistrust between inner-c
Money was no longer allotted for the town's upkeep. Of 130 cases of reported police brutality against citizens, ninety-seven percent were directed against blacks or Latinos. " The hand of justice, which falls swiftly and heavily upon the black youth who lashes out on white law enforcement, seems to take a leave of absent when white officials are clearly guilty against minorities. This situation is also comparable to the lynching of blacks which greatly increased in the era after the Civil War. In the course of her investigation Tamara Hayle comes across many barriers and we see just how racism stands in the way of minorities. Her own son, Jamal, and one of his friends had been walking through a white neighborhood. Even today there are many benefits in keeping minorities oppressed. [After World War II] public lynchings had largely been replaced by 'legal' and secret lynchings. Thus, Tamara Hayle's mistrust of the police force can be directly attributed to the actions of those in power. The boys were stopped by Tamara's own partner. Tamara had once been a police officer herself, but she quit the force in part because of the harassment she faced as a black woman, but mostly because of one particular incident. A nations wide poll shows that many other blacks share Tamara's view of police; "three-fourths of black respondents said that the police in most cities treat black citizens less fairly than white citizens" (251). They remember Newark in its days of glory. Statistics show that the poor are more likely to be victims of crime. " This penalty is massively increased if the law officer happens to be a member of the white race.
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