When I started this blog I worried that I wouldn't be able to update it often because of my schedule. I wanted to talk about MANY things (hence the blog name), but as I thought, LIFE got in the way of regularly updating and promoting.
When writing a blog post, I like to put a little more thought and organization into it than I put into the often interesting and long Facebook discussions that I have with friends, in which I just pour out my thoughts as they come. But somebody asked me today to help them understand how things would be any different if different races were involved [in the altercation between Michael Brown and Darren Wilson]. I'll be honest...I thought the statement was a bit disingenuous, and it frustrated and even angered me. But I wanted to respond honestly and calmly, because I want people to be open to discussion. I want people to be open to asking questions that come from a genuine place. And I didn't want my assumptions about intent or my frustration to hinder that. So...I just want to share my response.
DISCLAIMER...The wording is conversational, because it's from a Facebook conversation, not how I would write a blog or an article. I didn't include statistics, references, articles, etc. My thoughts might be a bit jumbled, not concise, and certainly some important things were left out. But I think this is INFORMATIVE and IMPORTANT enough to share even in that state. So I'm about to information dump on y'all the way Bob McCulloch did on that grand jury. And if you haven't already seen it, check out my previous post Black Boys Don't Scare Me.
Why is this about race? Well I hope you read the [previous] blog post. But beyond that. Black people are killed in encounters with police more than any other race in this country, and at a MUCH higher rate. Stereotypes, prejudice, fear, ignorance lead to these incidents, as well as a general disregard for black life. Policies like stop and frisk make it worse. Police militarization is certainly an issue, but it goes beyond that. Police in our country are not well trained, increasingly violent, and increasingly fearful. Being a police officer has always been a blue collar job...it doesn't require extensive education beyond general policing tactics. It's local so it doesn't require getting out of your comfort zone. And often, officers these days don't live in, understand, or even LIKE the communities they police. Many of them believe racist and prejudiced stereotypes and they are inclined to act based on their ignorance and fear. The most basic encounters with police end up being deadly for too many African American men. This is justified with the argument that they are engaging in criminal activity. But there are many problems with that argument. First, it's OFTEN not true. Many times you will see black people have encounters with police that end with ONE charge-resisting arrest. Now...if there is no other charge, then what were these people being arrested for in the first place? Secondly, it is a police officer's JOB to deal with criminals and/or bad behavior. That's the whole point of police. And thirdly, petty crimes, or even serious ones, don't justify murder. Police officers are often judge, jury, and executioner and it's not ok. The smallest offense or even the FEAR of offense is used as an excuse to kill black men. And that's a huge problem. These aren't just opinions. This is backed up by research and by numbers.
Now...one of the underlying issues here is how black men/boys are viewed by society (and thus by police officers). The way black boys are described, the way they are targeted, the way they are viewed is very different from their white counterparts. Black boys (kids and teens) are not seen as boys. 12 year old Tamir Rice, a small boy with a baby face, was repeatedly described as a young man. They are not seen as innocent, they are not seen as kids, they are not seen as juvenile unless it's in combination with the word delinquent. A friend of mine who is biracial and has a white boyfriend often talks about how different people would respond to him if he were black. He's over 6 feet tall and built like a line backer. White boys/men who look like this are called teddy bears, corn fed, meat and potatoes men. etc. It is seen as endearing and even cute. Especially in southern areas. People look at them and see big guys, football players, gentle giants, etc. Black boys who are built that way (and even those that arent: see Trayvon Martin, see Jordan Davis, see 12 year old Tamir Rice) are seen as menacing, dangerous, threatening. WE-black people-KNOW that's not most often the case. But the majority-white people-often see them that way. This was very evident in the Micheal Brown case. A major problem is that Officer Wilson was not forced to make a statement immediately. He was able to wait until his lawyers had information about all witness statements and evidence presented, to make a statement that "fit the evidence" that police had months to skew in his favor. But what's more, and worse, is the way he described Brown (who had been described by family and friends as a gentle giant). He likened him to the Incredible Hulk. He was allowed to frame his grand jury testimony just as he wanted to. (Another problem: the prosecutor didn't present this case, the defense did.) And he talked about Micheal Brown as if Michael was some superhuman creature, which is OFTEN the case when the media and white witnesses talk about black men. Mind you, Darren Wilson is NOT a small man. And he also had a baton and a taser to use if he really thought he was in harms way. If indeed Micheal Brown "lunged" at him, which goes against witness statements, because his hands according to all witnesses were visible and he was clearly unarmed, the use of force was gross at best, completely irresponsible and murderous at worse. This kind of language-making black men out to be threatening and menacing-is ALWAYS used to blame black men and boys for their own murders. Even when there is proof that they were unarmed and not engaging in criminal activity. Remember, when Darren Wilson first approached Micheal Brown, he had NO knowledge of the incident that happened at the store. And also remember that the store owner's account of what happened was different than the initial police/media accounts. And remember the justice department chastised the Ferguson police department for even releasing that information.
Black people are also not given the same freedoms as white people. John Crawford was standing in Walmart, in Ohio-an OPEN CARRY STATE-talking on the phone, looking at a toy gun that was SOLD AT THE STORE. He was ambushed by police and killed with no warning. There is VIDEO. Tamir Rice was playing with a toy gun in a park. Also in Ohio. A place where white people walk around with REAL guns. But see...the NRA isn't interested in gun rights for ALL people. The person who called 911 in the Tamir Rice situation said multiple times that the gun was likely fake. A friend of mine who is white called the police in her Colorado neighborhood just recently and gave a description that she described as very similar as the one given about Tamir Rice, about a group of white boys walking around with guns (at night) in her neighborhood. She was basically laughed at and told not to worry about it. The young man that shot up the Colorado Movie Theater-who had a REAL gun and used it to actually kill people-was apprehended alive. These black boys and men are being killed in cold blood for walking down the street. Trayvon Martin was walking home from the store. Jordan Davis was sitting in his car listening to music. Renisha McBride and Jonathan Ferrell were involved in car accidents and went to ask for help. Eric Garner was standing on the sidewalk. And even though he was involved in petty crime-selling loose cigarettes-it didn't justify the constant harassment from police or the chokehold that ultimately killed him. (This goes back to police understanding and getting to know their communities). Just this week...Akai Gurley. Read his story. This man was literally walking in a stairwell. NOTHING ELSE. An officer pulled the trigger because he was scared. Not of anything Akai had done. But simply scared of his surroundings. THIS is why the dangerous rhetoric on the likes of FOX News is unacceptable. Because a son, father, partner, friend is being buried simply because an officer was afraid of black people. White men react violently to police often and are usually subdued and taken in, especially when they are unarmed. Black people are OFTEN killed by police and citizens alike simply for being black. I could go on. Anyone who doesn't get it or denies it doesn't want to get it. And I can't believe that anyone who denies it values my life or that of any black person. And Hispanics face some of these issues as well. I think that's worth mentioning. Although the incidence rate and the long history is not the same.
These problems are rooted in the history of our country and the way things are framed now. Yes, black people kill each other. So do white people (at about the same rate). Yes there is crime in some minority and many poor communities. But what causes that? This idea that black people are just bad and bring this on ourselves is ignorant. And that's exactly what Rudy Giuliani pushed on the news just recently. That's even what some black people have been conditioned to believe. But people don't pay attention to the fact that there are folks working two jobs that still can barely make ends meet. People fight against a living wage but don't understand why people living in poverty resort to crime or why young people are attracted to crime. Cities/counties go out of their way to end busing policies that keep schools integrated-racially and economically-to ensure that preferential treatment isn't given to certain students, but blame poor people and minorities for the education gap. Schools are FAILING, arts programs cut, some of these parents went to failing schools and don't even know that they should or can fight for something different, but people blame poor people and minorities for their own plight. I could go on and on--corporate tax breaks, housing discrimination, education gap, low wages, flat out prejudice and racism, appropriation of culture and ideas. All the underlying issues that lead to the stereotypes that lead to the murders of innocent people. And people are still walking around saying it's not about race. It's most CERTAINLY about race.
Want to read more and see some numbers? Check out the article Exactly How Often Do Police Shoot Unarmed Black Men? from Mother Jones.
