Concluded from A discussion of police, race, America, and what to do
That brought up a point for my friend. I was being unfair to the police. Because they must be more aware and on guard in high crime areas. Which I agree with. But that does not justify their actions, nor does it excuse them.
My friend brought up a case he felt that was an example of such an understandable use of deadly force. The Amidou Diallo case. Which I lost my mind on. The fact that a man can be shot at his door 41 times, while unarmed, is inexcusable to me. My friend felt that in the heat of the moment, with adrenaline pumping, and the sound of shots going off these officers feared for their lives and thus it was understandable.
Except I noted, that Diallo was unarmed, so the police had no reason to begin shooting in the first place. And the police continued to shoot Diallo after he was laying flat on the ground, since it was found that he was shot through the sole of his foot. And this was a violation of police procedure as they are trained, and to my knowledge is part of written policy (correct me if I am wrong), to shoot in small bursts to protect the populace and prevent such overkill events.
Worse yet, I reminded my friend that in the last decade alone, we have seen dozens of times where police confront an armed individual, that may have already killed innocents, and is an obvious danger to their lives. Yet in those documented, and occasionally video taped, events the suspect is fired upon maybe 6 times by multiple officers. With the same adrenaline, the same fear, though with a real threat and a White antagonist. If police overkill is so understandable, why do police never kill armed White murderers with hails of 30, 40, 50 bullets?
Again we came back to the central thought, how can this be changed or prevented. My friend noted that he felt the Black community must stand up and kick out the criminals, not allowing them to continue. And he noted that the White community must learn to recognize that people of color are not an unequivocal threat.
But again I find fault with that argument. Because often in the most poor areas of major cities, where crime is highest, there is no where else to go. Where can the Black community move its criminals to? There is no where else to go. And it avoids the root of the cause of crime, education.
In any poor community, the one factor that is the same is the fact that the education system is abominable. School books are older in many cases than the students. Teachers are burnt out, or unqualified. The buildings and resources sub-standard. Yet it is expected that students from these schools should be the equal of those with far better resources? That these students will have the means, en masse, to improve their standard of living?
Yet something else came to me as I decided to write about this event. The discussion of what is ailing America and influencing crime, prejudice, and racial disparity is not just one thing. It is a multitude of events and actions. Each plays a part in creating the whole. And in trying to limit the subject to 1 thing we fail to reach a point of reasonable change.
I understand that most police officers are good people. I realize they have a difficult job, and do not question the actions they take to defend themselves and the populace from criminals, in general. But I also realize that these same reasons are not excuses to act in a manner that harms those they are supposed to have been sworn to protect.
I understand that the Black community has its share of fault in this process. But I realize at the same time that it is difficult to wage such a battle when the community is being assaulted by the media (with a message of inevitably), denied a fair education, presumed at large to be wrong and violent, and poisoned by dreams of instant wealth (either through attainment of entertainment's highest circles or by enlisting in the inner circles of hell and selling drugs - both of which are presented as equally available options).
But I am left with a horrible thought in the end. America is ingrained with the residual thought that people of color are not equal or similar, and that means inferior. This thought started with the first slave, no later than 1619, and was reinforced with Jim Crow laws until 1965. And even then it was not until the mid to late 1980's that the nation accepted people of color into positions of familiarity (television and movies) or power (politics, business, ect) with any regularity or trust.
The seeds of our past still continue to grow, though at a far slower pace today than ever before. That is an improvement, but it still hides the causation and thus a remedy.
There is no one answer to the problems that plague America. There is no one cause for the racial divide in the nation. Though it is clear that the longer we do not address the causes we will keep having more incidents of violence and discord among our people and thus law enforcement too.
I know that I do not see these issues objectively. I cannot because I have been their victim, and may be so again in the future. As well as my family and friends of color. It prevents a calm and separate view. At the same time the completely dispassionate view of some Whites is just as wrong. Because it refuses to see the multiple vines of this infestation, refuses to acknowledge that this is all connected since it will never truly affect them in their life.
So again I come to the thought that communication is the key. Angry, calm, loud and quiet. Passionate and dispassionate. An ebb and flow of discussion that will annoy and grate on the nerves of everyone involved at one point or another. Because if we cannot communicate fully, with all that is vested in the conversation, with all the things we are wrong about, we will never resolve this. It will just create another vine and choke off some other aspect of our lives, plaguing yet another generation of Americans.
But what do you think?
2 comments:
Comment as found at Black and White Blog, where I am a co-author.
Brent Crouch Says:
February 20th, 2009 at 6:30 pm e
Michael,
You put into words exactly what I find to be wrong with America. It has nothing to do with black or white, it has to do with choice and accountability.
You said, “often in the most poor areas of major cities, where crime is highest, there is no where else to go. Where can the Black community move its criminals to?”
Have you ever heard of prison? Maybe that would be an appropriate place to move criminals to?
I’m also not sure how you excuse blacks that don’t take advantage of the free education we offer in America. I graduated from a high school that was 87% black. Most of the kids lived in the nearby projects. I’d venture to say less than 10% of them cared about getting an education. We were in a new building with new books. It had nothing to do with good or bad teachers. There were so many fights and disruptions that most teachers gave a grade based on conduct and attendance. But guess what Mike? I made it. So did the others that worked hard and wanted to. Should we excuse those who made the choice not to make it? Shouldn’t they be held accountable for their own actions and choices?
You also mention the racial divide, but are you willing to lay some of that blame on blacks as well? Your entire story is about white officers that shot and killed an unarmed black. I think this is unforgivable and these guys should be punished. But why do we have to make a black / white issue out of it?
In our area we had a white man that was killed when he was tasered repeatedly by a black cop. I never heard a public outcry from whites mentioning it as a black / white issue, but there was a public outcry about the user of tasers.
I also find it just a little hypocritical that you talk about the racial divide and run a blog titled “Black Entertainment Blog”. Would it be acceptable if I opened up the “White Entertainment Blog”, or started the “Miss White America Pagent”, or created my own site called WhiteRefer DOT com to encourage white people to deal with white businesses? If you answer no to any of these questions then why do we have a Black Entertainment Blog, a Miss Black America, and BlackRefer DOT com?
Brent,
Thank you for commenting.
Yes I do believe that fundamental issues in America stem from the problem with lack of education, and the generally approved thought of lack of self-responsibility. These are factors that affect all Americans, are found in all forms of media, and espoused by the Government at levels never before seen. And it is tearing up the nation.
But at the same time, and in more subtle ways, the issues of race are still working to divide the nation as well. It is the combination of these events that cause so much more difficulties than just 2 decades ago. It is why the youth of the nation are so often screwed up. It's a battle that the nation is losing a bit more in each generation.
Now as for prison, we must be realistic. First I believe that ANYONE committing a crime should be punished. Society cannot function if its members live in anarchy. And just as when we all were children, there are rule we must abide by, that ultimately work to our benefit even if we don't realize it immediately.
But it is infeasible and a lie to assume that every criminal can be locked up. Or that this is the best solution for the symptom that crime is. So there have always been, and will be, criminals that exist in communities of all sizes and economic status. Whether they are Bernie Maddoff, Michael Milken, Gov. Blagoiovich, Rep. Rangel, President Bill Clinton or the drug dealer down the corner.
In the poorer communities of America the lesser criminals are created most often by a lack of proper education. And there is no where for a community to move these criminals to, as the chain tends to be that a criminal is moved to a lower rung of communities until they reach the most poor areas.
Lock them up and throw away the key is an interesting idea, except it does not work forever. In addition there is the fact that in America people of color are routinely over punished by the legal system as compared to White counterparts, or to more economic-based criminals.
Michael Milken did not serve the same time, DeLorean did not serve the same time, as a person of color for the same or lesser crime. Check the D.O.J. stats, this is a proven fact, and thus a statement of bias in our legal system. Which is a separate issue.
As for excusing anyone, I don't do that. There is a difference from noting a fact as it exists and forgiving that fact. You may have only read one item out of several hundred that I have written. But if you were to read more of my posts, here and at my sites, you would understand that I disapprove of ANYONE that does not take the opportunity to educate themselves.
I went to high school in the 80's. The school was very old, with books that were older than I was at the time. My siblings that went to this same school encountered the same thing. That, by itself, is a hurdle to gaining a proper education and an impediment to being able to gain higher education and competing in the world after school ends.
From my high school a small portion of the graduates went to college. But then again, across the nation only some 11% of the population goes to college. But that does not infer that the students did not care about an education en masse. Of the 500+ students in my graduating class I'd say some 15% or more went to some form of college. The rest were not all lazy, troublesome, criminals or nay-do-well. Many have gone to become managers, business owners, city and state employees. And they were all the products of projects, a few bad teachers, horribly old books, and overcrowded classes.
Now some never cared about an education. Of that group, some grew up and gained better lives (a couple became state police officers as an example), and others continued down the spiral. In each case each person made a personal choice. And it is that choice that I judge them by.
But it is also a fact that had my school had the resources and opportunities of other schools it would be a different story. Case in point, I was a somewhat better than average student. I was that because I did not care about high school, and could easily pass any class without effort. Once a teacher reprimanded me, noting that if I were to be moved from the school I was at, and placed in a school just outside of NYC, I would be challenged to maintain my B+ averages. I was in fact an underachiever. Today most find me to be articulate, educated, and worldly. Imagine what I could have been if given a better foundation to start from? Accountability is important, but so is the position in the race that you start from.
Mention the racial divide? This entire blog is about that issue, and it is something I deal with from time to time in my other blogs. And as I clearly stated, and have in many posts, there are issues in the Black community as well as White and America at large. I have never denied that, though on any given post it may not be the foremost issue I deal with.
But my focus on the continuing event of generally White police officers shooting and killing young Black unarmed, innocent, males is because it is a pattern. It is obviously a Black/White issue, unless you can provide me with examples of White unarmed innocent males that were excessively shot and/or killed by police (of any color) in the past 6 months - hell the past 6 decades.
When I say excessive I mean an execution or at least 1 dozen shots that hit them (Oscar Grant was executed, Adolph Grimes was shot 12 times in the back twice in the chest and shot at 48 times, Robbie Tolan was shot twice in the chest while kneeling to see what altercation was occurring with police and his mother - each man was unarmed, innocent, and shot on the same 24 our period which was New Years Day 2009).
Honestly I am unaware of a single White male that has been shot excessively by police, even when the person in question was armed and proven a danger to police and the community at large. As I stated in the post White males with shotguns and rifles, videotaped by the news media, do not get shot as many times as Adolph Grimes has been, or Sean Bell, or Amadou Diallo. I've never heard of one case, and especially not when the White male is unarmed.
So there is an issue. And it seems by definition to be racial. But do provide me the examples and proof of where I am wrong in that view.
Lastly, as to the nature of my blogs. I own VASS, which is a political based blog. It is named after myself. I own M V Consulting, Inc. which is my corporation. It too incorporates my name. And Black Entertainment Blog? I am Black and Puerto Rican, it is based on my views of entertainment and other issues. Why would I not call it that.
Going beyond that, yes I do need to make the further clarification of Black Entertainment. Because by default 95% of all Entertainment in America, since the inception of film and television, has been exclusively White. The orientation of the programing, the actors, the roles enacted, the backgrounds, the storylines all deal almost exclusively with Whites.
Of the millions of African Americans, Latino/Hispanics, Asians and other people of color in this nation, how many shows star a person of color right now? 2 in over 500 channels available via cable, and none if you look only at broadcast television. Movies are slightly better, though in both mediums about 5% of all people in front of and behind the cameras are a person of color. So Hollywood is stating that of the hundreds of movies produced each year, and the dozens of television pilots created, of the tens of thousands of actors available in the nation, virtually none but less than a handful of people of color are capable of any form of work in the industry. Does that make any sense? Especially when you realize that this is the same mindset that has existed for 100 years?
So to state that any program, that is already near exclusively White, that any media format - that is almost entirely White dominated, needs to add the title of White in it is to be redundant to the point of idiocy.
I am not hypocritical, I'm honest to state that I am running a blog that focuses on the world of entertainment from a Black/Puerto Rican view. And for me not to state such is de facto to imply that I am another White cog in the media machine.
Put another way, Japanese television does not need to state it is Japanese dominated in Japan. Or Irish in Ireland, or Zimbabwe ect. It is a given that this is the norm of the area. But America is a mix of cultures and people, except when it comes to television, movies, politics, law enforcement, large business management, and so on.
So yes, I make a distinction about what I do. And I will not apologize for it as there is no need to do so.
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