Finishing the thought in Sean Bell part 2...
But what is it that makes it alright to go to such extremes. And it must be alright on some level because across the nation Black American men are assaulted like this often. I don’t recall a single white male that was attacked in a similar manner once in my entire life. I’m not talking about a shootout with officers, or hostage taking. I mean beatings by half a dozen officers, being fired at enough times to necessitate reloading firearms, and abuses that even the prisoners at Abu Ghraib have not received.
How many White American men have had guns placed in their face by a police officer once in their life? To my knowledge I know of 5 in my life that have had it happen once, two of them being criminals that were being arrested. That’s out of maybe a couple of hundred White American males I have known in my life across this nation. Again this is versus virtually every African American male I have ever known, regardless of age. And I would not be surprised if it happens a couple of dozen more times over the rest of my life.
The question is not if this one incident was excessive. The anger is not over this happening to one group of men. The fact is that this is a pattern, systemically happening across this nation for more than the almost 4 decades I have been alive. So the question is, why?
If I seem angry, I am. If I seem disappointed in the system, I am. If the question is if I respect police officers, the answer is in general I do. I’ve known several I call friends (of all nationalities and race). But beyond all that is fear. For my brothers, my friends, and myself. Because even though we all may avoid drugs, escape the ‘ghetto fabulous’ mentality, earn an education, and struggle to become successful in careers we may still be killed by those enforcing the laws of the nation for nothing more than a speeding ticket or getting our wallet out to identify ourselves.
What more do I need to say?
This is what I think, what do you think?
No comments:
Post a Comment