The space that this blog occupies is usually filled with stories regarding racial and social issues, tragedies and the subsequent aftermath. The names that have appeared in my posts will not soon be forgotten by me nor anyone who understands the content of my posts and can relate to my opinions. But these names will be forgotten by those who don't understand why an unjustified shooting of an unarmed, or allegedly armed, Black man, woman or child, can resonate with an entire community of strangers that have never met these individuals. It resonates with each and every one of us in the Black community because we know we could be next.
As these tragedies mount and become news fodder, as videos of our fallen brethren dominate our social media threads, headlines and news broadcasts, as countless debates are had regarding use of force by police and the perception of Black people in general, we are forced to find ways to heal, or at the very least try. At the most recent community gathering of Speaking Down Barriers that I attended, we talked about the path from trauma to healing and how forgiveness comes into play. One of the audience members commented that you can't heal or forgive if the trauma keeps occurring. Likening this scenario to a person who is constantly abused, physically, mentally or verbally, the first step in healing is removal from the abuse, or trauma. When it comes to the recent tragedies involving police shootings and the riots that have followed, many on the outside looking in have asked questions such as "What sense does protesting or rioting make?" and "How can you expect things to change when the reaction to these things always becomes so extreme?"
Before I go on, check out this article: The Truth According to Carmelo Anthony and try to understand this question and exchange between the writer and Melo:
Howard Bryant (writer): Yet you hear this cognitive dissonance when Baltimore hits and people say, “Why are they burning down their own neighborhoods?” without realizing they aren’t ours.
Carmelo Anthony (athlete/ activist): That’s right. We don’t own anything. That Rite Aid? That isn’t ours. And that’s what I’m talking about when I say it’s all part of something bigger. These times, they’re crazy. It’s not about the one thing. The system is broken. You hear people saying, “Justice or else.” I think you’re starting to see what “or else” looks like.
Carmelo Anthony grew up in West Baltimore. It was the case of Freddie Gray, a Baltimore man who died while in police custody on April 19, 2015, that sparked Anthony to action. Violent protests and riots ensued shortly thereafter, forcing the city of Baltimore to declare a state of emergency. The Baltimore City Prosecutors charged six police officers with various criminal charges ranging from 2nd degree murder to illegal arrest and reckless endangerment. When the cases began to go to trail, there was hope that justice would be served in some way, maybe not to all involved, but on some level. The first officer charged had his case end in a mistrial and the charges against him were later dropped. The next three officers to stand trial were found not guilty. All charges were dropped against all of the officers involved shortly thereafter. While the state medical examiner ruled the death a homicide due to "acts of omission" by the officers' failure to adhere to safety procedures while transporting Gray, not one officer was found accountable. Not even one. Not even the officer who drove the van, even though the autopsy report shows that Freddie Gray suffered a single "high energy injury" to his neck and spine, most likely caused by the van he was being transported in decelerating suddenly. Gray was loaded into the van with his hands cuffed and his ankles shackled. He was not strapped in. And yet, no one was held responsible.
Carmelo Anthony said in the aforementioned article that when he talks to his family and friends, the ones who've been around a lot longer than he has, say that these events are nothing new to them. And that is not just in Baltimore. If you go to Ferguson, Missouri where Mike Brown was killed, or you go to Charlotte, NC where Keith Scott was killed, people there will tell you similar stories. Go to Staten Island, NY where Eric Garner was killed and I'm certain that you can talk to people on every street and hear years and years of accounts like that. Walter Scott, the man who was shot in the back by former North Charleston police officer Michael Slager, was pulled over for broken tail light and fled because he didn't want to go back to jail for missing child support payments. And while there is video supporting the fact that Slager lied when he said that he felt Scott was a threat and that his life was in danger (the video shows Slager shooting Scott as he was running away), Slager's defense attorney says the video is “the main source of the false and incomplete narrative that permeates this community.” While this was in reference to having the trail changed to another venue since the defense team feels like their client will be subject to a "pervasive bias" if the trail is held in Charleston, I'd be pressed to not be convinced that he could also be referring to the Black community as a whole. Even when justice is trying to be served, accountability is still non existent.
I came across these interesting quotes and statistics when looking through articles related to the Walter Scott shooting. this was in response to the swift action against Michael Slager after he had shot and killed Scott.
"For a police officer to be so swiftly punished for wrongdoing was exceedingly rare.
"Police in South Carolina have fired their weapons at 209 suspects in the past five years, and a handful of officers have been accused of pulling the trigger illegally – but none has [been] convicted, according to an analysis by The State newspaper," the Columbia, S.C., daily reported.
"In South Carolina, it remains exceedingly rare for an officer to be found at fault criminally for shooting at someone."
As a citizen living in Greenville, South Carolina, I can't help but be concerned.
Where there is no justice, there can be no healing. Where there is no change in mentality there can be no healing. I am through talking about the perception of Black people in society and that affecting the "threat level assessment" in situations where officers or others are involved in shootings with Black people, armed or unarmed. The decision to shoot or not to shoot is a choice and it is a choice that is made too hastily too many times. I say this as a Black man who is deeply affected every time I see another unarmed Black person shot and killed by police or anyone else. I say this in regards to Terence Crutcher because he was complying to police orders with his hands up and then later with them on his vehicle when he was shot and killed, even though the police weren't responding to a violent situation in the first place. I say this in regards to the Keith Scott case as well, even though there isn't a definitive word or whether or not he had a gun. This report on the autopsy results is quite sobering. Keith Scott took a shot to the back and that shot, along with the shot to his abdomen were "the mechanism of death" according to the autopsy. His death has been ruled a homicide. As of right now, no charges or disciplinary actions have been filed against any officers involved. but yet, we have this.
If there is no justice, then the open wounds every Black person who gives a damn about our advancement in this society as a people will never heal. There will be more protests and more riots. Society will notice and one of two things will happen: either things will change swiftly or they will not. Either we will continue to bleed in the streets or we will all heal together as a human race, instead of factions of people that are constantly vying for supremacy or survival. Either we will have justice, or no peace. Unfortunately, I don't see even a little bit of justice on the horizon. All I see is more tragedy. We'd all better prepare ourselves.
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