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The goal of this paper is to trace the inception, progression, and normalization of militarized policing as it relates to black communities in the United States. To achieve this, three key periods in the timeline of police militarization will be examined: The Watts Rebellion of 1965 and the creation of SWAT teams, the implementation of the War on Drugs and the normalization of the use of militarized force against black civilians, and the killing of Michael Brown that sparked the Ferguson Protests of 2014 and the subsequent investigation into Ferguson's police force. These touchstones will provide bases that will anchor discussions of more theoretical concepts surrounding militarized policing, namely the otherization of black communities. Through this analysis I hope to convey that while policing in the United States has always sought to control black populations, the relatively recent militarization of police forces has only exacerbated this oppression.