The police playbook has been opened and in full effect. Blah blah I was in danger, he tried to ram me with his car blah blah blah.
Now I am not making light of this situation. A young man lost his life under iffy circumstances at best and it appears he was a victim of excessive force and the engine of defense that more often times than not leaves police officers unaccountable for their actions is tuned up and going strong.
What is pissing me off here is his parents injecting race into the conversation because, minor detail, Zach is white. His parents are upset at the lack of a national outcry about their sons death (which they should be) but it's directed at the wrong people.
“It’s sad, but I think the reason is, unfortunately, the media and our government officials have treated the death of an unarmed white teenager differently than they would have if this were a death of an unarmed black teen,” Bland told The Washington Post this week. “The hypocrisy that has been shown toward this is really disconcerting.”
So lets read the coded language and general misunderstanding of reality involved in this statement.
By media do you mean the same media that couldn't wait to find the most unflattering pictures of victims as possible, de-humanizing them. How can you find sympathy for criminals? So Trayvon Martin was a thug who needed no sympathy to the point where people, through social media, attributed a picture of the rapper The Game as Trayvon.
Or the same media that couldn't wait to remind you Eric Garner sold loose cigarettes.
Or that Walter Scott owed back child support and how many time he was arrested.
Or that Michael Brown was a weed fueled animal who strong arm robbed a convenience store, tried to steal a cops gun and then charged after the cop after being shot.
"At this point it looked like he was almost bulking up to run through the shots, like it was making him mad that I’m shooting at him. And the face that he had was looking straight through me, like I wasn’t even there, I wasn’t even anything in his way."
- Darren Wilson's Grand Jury Testimoney
Or the family life of Tamir Rice.
Miss me with that.
And lets be 100 here when you say "government officials" you mean Good Ol President Darkie.
So what I think is going on here is that the question he really wants to ask but wont is where is all the outrage from BLACK PEOPLE. Why aren't the BLACK PEOPLE marching for his son?
To this I say you are asking the wrong damn people.
Where is the outrage from WHITE PEOPLE? Where are all the #AllLivesMatter hashtaggers?
First of all, do your own damn work. Since when is it my responsibility to convince you and others that there is a problem with excessive force in this country and the voracity in which officers are protected when they commit these acts only emboldens them as they fear no repercussions. They believe can plant evidence (see Walter Scott), lie in their official accounts of events (see Tamir Rice and John Crawford) or not even bother to identify themselves as police officers (see Steve Blake) and will not be held accountable
I can't even convince people that racial prejudices can and do sneak into police interactions with people (which is why in New York People of Color are subjected to Stop and Frisk far more often then whites though whites are found to be in possession of contraband far more (by percentage of total and total amount) than People of Color.
Whites Are Almost Twice As Likely To Be Found With A Weapon
The NYPD and politicians have repeatedly justified the racial disparity in stop and frisks saying that they cops essentially go where the guns are, i.e. minority neighborhoods. Yet, only 1.9 percent of frisks in 2011 turned up weapons and interestingly, according to the NYCLU, "a weapon was found in only 1.8 percent of blacks and Latinos frisked, as compared to a weapon being found in 3.8 percent of whites frisked."
I can get people to admit to me "when I see someone driving erratically I presume they are Asian" but somehow that same logic and "racial transference" is impossible with police officers.
If you want justice for your son then challenge your fellow white people to confront their own assertions about the police. To admit there is an issue. Form protests, speak out. Don't just blame the shit on black people.
To ask where is all the black outrage is to ask the wrong questions to the wrong people. Question white people.
Ask them how they can be so supportive of police when (pick a darkie any darkie's) situation is the same as their sons. Why does their son have to go through the same slander and dehumanizing that (pick a darkie any darkie) did? How can you say #AllLivesMatter in response to #BlackLivesMatters but not speak out for their son?
But asking these question are problematic because those people wont respond. They cant because:
1. Having to all of a sudden backslide on the unwavering consistent support of police (#BlueLivesMatter) when white people are victims exposes their own inert or intentional racism because there is no bend, no wavering when the victim is black even though the situation is damn near identical.
2. That racism skirt is pulled up and they are exposed because there was no outrage from them when black victims are in the same situations as this young man (Hammond’s).
Or maybe white people can admit this is different. Though the circumstances are the same the vibe is different. This feels like an aberration and not the norm. There wont be screaming #AllLivesMatter or #BlueLivesMatter at his funeral. There will be no memes suggesting because he was a criminal (and he was) he deserved to die. There wont be GoFundMe accounts created to help with the officer's "legal defense"
To do so would be in poor taste and would be vile. Funny how that applies to some people and to others it does not.
Where is the outrage?
Ask a white person and see what they say...Everything I've read about it in social media has been from people of color.
Instead of blaming them maybe you should start realizing that maybe those crazy #BlackLivesMatter people have a point. Maybe instead of assuming #BlackLivesMatter really means ONLY #BlackLivesMatter you listen to what people are saying and have been saying
He added: “The issue should never be what is the color of the victim. The issue should be: Why was an unarmed teen gunned down in a situation where deadly force was not even justified?”
It should when it disproportionately happens to one section of people over another but I digress.
We've been saying the same thing you are just too busy blaming President Darkie and the rest of us People of Color to see that I want, WE want race to not play a part in any of it. To be treated as a human being. As an equal. I dont want to be judged by my pants or my minor offenses or how I speak or how uncomfortable I make you because of your own issues and prejudice.
Matter of fact let me know when you get rid of this shit, and then maybe then you can be outraged and blame all of us, including President Darkie.
Dont worry, I'll wait...
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