Stop Press
In the aftermath of recent Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstrations, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, issued a Press Release announcing policy changes. Read about it here
We hope other cities, the nation, and the global community will follow suit.
. . .
Why now and not then?
That something needed to be done is an understatement. Something needed to have been done before the killing/brutality of George Floyd in the hands of the Police. Actions needed to have been taken, several years back, to prevent further killings and brutalities.
Why was it not done? Why now and not then? Where then were all the people who are speaking up now? Seems hypocritical in my opinion.
Police and Legislative Reforms, that included administrative, operational, and tactical procedures needed to have been initiated, implemented, and instituted nationwide sooner. But, no, we wait till there is unrest and what appears to be grassroots retaliatory actions. The government has affirmed that it is slow to (or will not) act except there is unrest. By so doing, the government has turned adults to babies-throwing-tantrums rather than the adults and mature individuals that they are. This is not good governance.
So now everyone is chanting “Black Lives Matter!” Black lives should matter; not only now, but always. All lives matter. But the problem is that, rather than dealing with people, we witness black men/women killings and brutalities that reflects animalistic dealings in the hands of those who are supposed to be protecting them. It makes me gasp in wonder and ask why. Where is the fear of God? The killing of an animal such as a dog or cat in America often leads to the person being prosecuted. But killing a black man in America leads to no one been prosecuted but a pat on the hand/back! And unless there is a demonstration or riot! This is, among other things, what BLM is standing/fighting for. It took me a while to understand it myself.
The irony is that everyone – blacks, whites, media, sports, businesses, religious organizations, etc., are NOW all talking against racism and police brutality. Where was everyone before now?! Where were they when Colin Kaepernick took the knee and got booted?! Not even his NFL, or the sports world, protested on his behalf! The only organization that he seemed to have gotten his support from was Nike. (p.s. I’m not advocating for Nike). Now we hear and see sports icons speaking up and joining in the peaceful protests. Uhm. Could this be a political or intentional social stance of some sort knowing that being mute or neutral could jeopardize their fan base and/or businesses? I’m merely thinking out loud. Anyone out there who hears my thoughts can comment – agreeing or disagreeing.
Aside from blacks who are directly affected and impacted, and who have singly been handling the problem, where was everyone? They all contributed to the systemic problem.
According to a CNBC article, referencing Mapping Police Violence, Police killed 3 people per day in 2019, and over 1,000 in 2018. The source also revealed that for the previous five-year period, the numbers slightly changed. We’re half-way through 2020, and the numbers if not curbed, will parallel or surpass the previous years.
According to Statista, “as of June 4, the U.S. police shot 429 people to death in 2020.”
African-Americans are saying enough is enough.
Police killed 3 people per day last year
You are part of the problem when you keep quiet when you ought to have said something. I repeat, you’re part of the problem when you keep quiet when you should have said something. Not in my backyard, aka if it doesn’t affect or impact me directly, why should I bother, right? Wrong.
Racism didn’t just start
Racism has been ongoing in America way before the first Freedom March. It was peaceful then, but still no action. We merely band-aided the issue and behold sixty years after, we are still dealing with the same issue and it’s gotten drastically and blatantly more dangerous. It’s gotten to a heightened hatred scenario.
The narratives must change all-round; not only with the Police but also with the prison, jobs, businesses, schools/colleges, sports, religious organizations, etc.
Racism does not only happen within the Police Departments, nor the Courts/prisons, nor in education. Racism happens daily, at work, in schools, youth and college sports, professional sports, in religious organizations, and our backyards (aka neighborhoods). I’m sure that we all know someone, black or minority, who has been unjustly dealt with. What did we do then? How did we react to it? Permit me to say also that I bet you that some of the other races who have now joined in the demonstrations have equally perpetuated racism at some point either on the job or school or college or sports. This is hypocritical. If everyone is now speaking up and are joining in the demonstration, who then is responsible for the systemic problem and perpetuating the systemic crime? Let’s ponder on that for a second … The Police whom we are trying to hold accountable have families, young and probably adult children, and friends who are probably biased too or who also share their views and reasons for their actions.
But, let us be truthful to ourselves. Racism did not start with Donald Trump’s presidency; granted that Mr. Donald Trump grossly encouraged it with his open “uncensored” statements. Racism was prevalent during Obama’s tenure, as well as the Bushes, albeit subtly during the Bushes era.
It appears that folks however prefer the subtle and covert racism than the overt type. But racism is racism, covert or overt, and it needs to be condemned.
As much as we all loved Mr. Obama, and I am glad that he represented every black face – men and women, I kept asking myself, “why didn’t he institute the policy reforms against racism and police brutality?” Here’s a couple of links that I found of the policy changes that Mr. Obama made during his presidential tenure; all but police reforms:
Thanks for the organizing … Racism must stop
Nevertheless, I am grateful for the ongoing community grassroots organizing regarding this systemic problem. The organizing has shed more light on the problem and garnered global attention and followership. Community organizing, especially at the grassroots, had been known to be effective in bringing about change. Other groups such as the Hispanics, Jews, LGBTQ, women were known to have successfully used community organizing.
Though some may still try to justify it, I reiterate that I do not support the looting and vandalism that we witnessed earlier. I still believe that the looters took advantage of a serious issue to commit a crime. I am however glad that their actions have not distracted from the systemic issue nor deterred recent demonstrations, which have been very peaceful and even festive, from taking place. We hope that this pattern of the demonstration will continue if necessary.
Finally, we grieve with families of those whose lives have been insensibly cut shot by Police brutality. May God strengthen and console them.
Peace!
ThinkTalk 