Andrea J. Ritchie

Women of color are disproportionately targeted by the war on drugs and broken windows policing.

An excerpt from Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color, by Andrea J. Richie, just out from Beacon Press. In this chapter, subtitled, “On the disproportional impact of police violence on women of color,” Richie writes about the impact law enforcement’s common misconceptions about women of color can have on the women’s safety. In cases where mental illness is an added factor, police officers often know even less, and are violent toward women who aren’t dangerous.