The biggest critique is that this movement receives, is that it makes it seem that only Black lives have been effected by the issues in this country. To be fair, the foundation of that criticism is legit, that not only do black kids and their families get effected by troubling issues, we all do. But I will say without a DOUBT, there is not a proportional effect the way the media and general public views black individuals to white individuals. Some of the biggest movements come to support awareness of unarmed black men being shot or being abused by the authorities in this country. This is a major concern, because while looking into these cases it seems that these people are shot because of only their skin color. They disrespected an authority while also being black. Disrespecting a police officer is NOT a crime. That should never constitute the reasoning behind shooting them dead. We see multiple issues where unarmed men are killed instead of just apprehended and that is unacceptable. I don’t view all cops badly, I have said and will say again the problem is the system. We train people to go out and not trust anyone and to take physical action into your own hands whenever you don’t get the result you want immediately.
A clear example of this racism at work is the 17 year old Laquan McDonald in Chicago. There was a recent video released showing what happened that day. Granted Laquan did have a weapon, I will not lie and say he didn’t. He had a small knife and had it out as he was running down the street. That can be very dangerous. I also know because of the video that he was shot while being at minimum 12+ feet away from any police officer. I also know the cop who shot him had only stopped his car and waited less than 15 seconds from | |
arriving on the scene, to begin shooting the kid with his first 2 shots that dropped Laquan’s body. I also know that the officer then proceeded to unload 14 MORE BULLETS into Laquan’s body as he laid in the street. How is that justice? How is that ok? If this were the only case of this type of drastic behavior we could think it was just a bad cop. But this happens often. The media and Fox news then paint like this is a Black people problem, they aren’t raised right, and they are thugs. That IS racism. Never is that argument put onto a white person.
| Another example is another released video from a shooting in November 2014 in Ohio. A 12 year old kid, Tamir Rice, was shot to death by police officers. This wasn’t as violent as Laquan shooting, he was not shot excessively, but still a 12 year old kid was shot to death. Let’s look into some of the facts. First, there was a 911 call about this kid. That is why police responded to the scene. Second, the kid was playing with a toy gun. Third, he was shot in less than 5 seconds from when the police arrived. |
Yes you read that right, he was shot dead within 5 seconds of being on the scene. I will admit we do not see clearly if the child made some threatening action. I will assume a kid would be scared and not make such a fake threat, since his gun was a toy. I also would ask why the officers decided they needed to pull right up to the kid. This is a very dangerous situation for them and why I am sure they were so on edge. Though that is not an excuse. The problem is the 5 seconds. How could these officers ever had a chance to deescalate this situation in that time? I would not have blamed them for pulling their guns, because they were under the assumption he had a gun. To shoot though before any attempts to deescalate the problem is Disgusting! Let’s also note that Ohio has an open carry law. It is legal to carry a gun out in public, doesn’t even need to be concealed. That means that a person could have all the legal right to outright have a gun out in public. Yet this kid was black, and so a threat, and needed to be killed to “prevent” crime. I mean, we might as well kill anyone we think Might perform a violent act. I mean who cares? I care. We should all care. By the way, the police officers in this incident received no legal action. The prosecutor, who is supposed to charge crimes, spent the time in front of the Grand Jury defending the cops and telling them not to allow a trial. Why? So he could respond to questions of why he did not press charges with the mere response, “Well it is the Grand Jury’s fault…”
In December 2015 we have another young black man killed by police. In this instance, the father of Quintonio LeGrier called police because his son seemed to be having a breakdown. The father later states that he thought the police may have better experience and opportunity to deescalate the situation to calm his son down. Quintonio was a 19 year old Engineering student. This was just a father asking for help from the police to calm his son, I guess it is clear that is a mistake in this country if you are not white. The police did respond and when the door was being answered by a neighbor lady, a 55 year old woman. While the door was being opened, because the cops had announced their arrival, they opened fire and killed the woman. Then the son, who was the entire reason the cops were there, ran down the stairs in response to the gunshots with a bat in his hand. While he was still a fair distance away they proceeded to shoot and kill Quintonio without trying to communicate or ask him to comply. CNN did an interview with the father, and it is hard to watch because it is obvious he is working so hard to be calm, but reliving the incident proves too much for him. He apologizes to the reporter and tries to continue, but it is obvious his grief is too high. This is unfortunately not a particularly unique situation for Chicago police. They have been under high scrutiny over the last couple years, and it is obvious nothing of any real value has happened.
A study that had cops using a video game simulation in common police situations, had some results that reinforces the belief this is a huge issue. It showed that police officers without a doubt shot and killed black young males much faster and more often than white offenders. The overall real world statistics show that a black male is 21 times more likely to be shot by police than white males. THIS IS A PROBLEM!
The opposite then comes from recent domestic right-wing terrorism of the man who shot up a Planned Parenthood in Colorado. This is a man who had already shot and killed people, INCLUDING a cop. He had an assault rifle and threatening lives, yet somehow that man was taken away alive. Those cops did what they were supposed to do and found a way to minimize the situation without killing the man with less than a few seconds on the scene.
I will not say being a police officer is easy or glorious. It is a Tough job done by some EXTRAORDINARY people. We as the people, pay for law enforcement and they’re integral to the protection of the American people. But we must keep them responsible for doing things that are biased against 1 race and hold them accountable for making changes that will help protect all individuals not just those with lighter skin tone. What would you do if these kids being shot without any regard by police? I think the peaceful, non-violent BLM movement has been a great show of compassion. They are not using violence. They are people who are upset that the very people they are expected to trust, could easily kill them even if they are the ones who need help. How could you trust the system after these issues effecting your friends and family, your race?
In December 2015 we have another young black man killed by police. In this instance, the father of Quintonio LeGrier called police because his son seemed to be having a breakdown. The father later states that he thought the police may have better experience and opportunity to deescalate the situation to calm his son down. Quintonio was a 19 year old Engineering student. This was just a father asking for help from the police to calm his son, I guess it is clear that is a mistake in this country if you are not white. The police did respond and when the door was being answered by a neighbor lady, a 55 year old woman. While the door was being opened, because the cops had announced their arrival, they opened fire and killed the woman. Then the son, who was the entire reason the cops were there, ran down the stairs in response to the gunshots with a bat in his hand. While he was still a fair distance away they proceeded to shoot and kill Quintonio without trying to communicate or ask him to comply. CNN did an interview with the father, and it is hard to watch because it is obvious he is working so hard to be calm, but reliving the incident proves too much for him. He apologizes to the reporter and tries to continue, but it is obvious his grief is too high. This is unfortunately not a particularly unique situation for Chicago police. They have been under high scrutiny over the last couple years, and it is obvious nothing of any real value has happened.
A study that had cops using a video game simulation in common police situations, had some results that reinforces the belief this is a huge issue. It showed that police officers without a doubt shot and killed black young males much faster and more often than white offenders. The overall real world statistics show that a black male is 21 times more likely to be shot by police than white males. THIS IS A PROBLEM!
The opposite then comes from recent domestic right-wing terrorism of the man who shot up a Planned Parenthood in Colorado. This is a man who had already shot and killed people, INCLUDING a cop. He had an assault rifle and threatening lives, yet somehow that man was taken away alive. Those cops did what they were supposed to do and found a way to minimize the situation without killing the man with less than a few seconds on the scene.
I will not say being a police officer is easy or glorious. It is a Tough job done by some EXTRAORDINARY people. We as the people, pay for law enforcement and they’re integral to the protection of the American people. But we must keep them responsible for doing things that are biased against 1 race and hold them accountable for making changes that will help protect all individuals not just those with lighter skin tone. What would you do if these kids being shot without any regard by police? I think the peaceful, non-violent BLM movement has been a great show of compassion. They are not using violence. They are people who are upset that the very people they are expected to trust, could easily kill them even if they are the ones who need help. How could you trust the system after these issues effecting your friends and family, your race?