The Sterling shooting looks like your standard “police shoot black man for being” that we’ve seen many times before. I doubt that anything is going to be different from all the other shootings, we’re already seeing him denigrated in the press, and he was a black man with a gun so of course he was up to no good.
The Castile shooting is different, and I really wish we had video of the whole incident. It sounds like this was a licensed gun owner who did what the NRA says to do: identify yourself as a gun licensee and that you have a weapon if you’re pulled over. He was getting his license out, and following all instructions by the officer, who then shot him, clearly out of unjustified fear that Castile was going for his gun to shoot him. If Castile was white he wouldn’t have been shot, the criminalization of black people in police departments got him shot in spite of doing everything right. This is the case that the NRA should be all over: a licensed gun owner shot down by the government out of fear of his gun ownership…of course they aren’t touching it, because their entire modus operandi is selling fear of non-white people taking over to whites in order to sell more guns.
Both cases are BS of course, and just another marker on the grim path of police shooting black people with little or no motive. I predict no charges in LA…MN might be different because of the government there being run by Democrats and there clearly being no reason for the shooting. I guess we’ll see.
There needs to be some sort of mandatory reporting system and a mechanism to analyze use-of-force especially when a death is involved.
The DOJ could receive it all and send it for analysis by experts, whom are selected by the DOJ for their expertise and objectivity. This shit of having law enforcement investigating themselves or other close units is effing ridiculous.
Each state should have a number of use-of-force experts, maybe split by region. They would be the final arbiter of whether force was used properly or misused. If corrective or legal action is warranted, the experts would make those recommendations.
All of this would roll up to the DOJ, and LE wouldn’t know about any of it until the investigations were complete and the DOJ had an opportunity to review it.
Clearly, LE isn’t capable of performing their jobs in the US without supervision.
As a black person old enough to have experienced the face of the Old Jim Crow, I can now say this is the face of the New Jim Crow. Not surprised mind you. Since I’ve never bought into the promise of America, I’m not the least bit surprised. The duplicity and hypocrisy of all those American values, has always stood out.
I hate backshooters. You needn’t wonder what will happen to these cops…the will be exonerated, most likely. The same justice system that disproportionately doles out punishment to blacks over whites, will rescue their azzes.
This is disgusting beyond words. If your job is public safety and you’re quaking in you boots that the next black guy you stop in the line of duty is going to gun you down, then, DAMN It, turn in your badge and go get some job flipping burgers out of the line of fire. If you don’t have the guts to do your job right, you don’t belong there. Why the hell when one of these bastards is exonerated aren’t they required to turn in their badge and get a job as a school crossing guard in a lily white neighborhood. And yes, I’m an old white guy who also remembers Jim Crow, hated it and was hoping we were finished with it.
Heart breaking.
Children prove the evil.
Surely a laudable sentiment. So how does your favored candidate Trump feel about this phenomenon? I’m certain he has a reasoned, nuanced response that you’d like to help us understand.
Minorities get 3/5 of the second amendment.
What are the people who blamed prior killings on failure to comply (apparently, a capital offense) going to say about the latest killings?
I mean, really, conceal carry and open carry are for white people only. Doesn’t the legislation passed by so many states expressly say that? And, oh yeah, it also says - (in very small secret print) - that if you are black and have a gun, or if you are black and do not have a gun, you are subject to immediate execution … just because.
Thank you. This is a good round-up of the two cases.
My guess is that the New Jim Crow isn’t so new. That the real newness is in the ubiquitous recording devices. I cannot echo your cynicism, but I’ve had different experiences. I do believe in the power to change. I have no idea whether there is yet will to change–at least where it counts.
Enough!
(Sitting in my chair shaking my head yet again, and not able to speak a friggin’ word.)
Nice reporting but if you want to understand watch the videos. They will make you angry and sad beyond tears. That all three officers will get off makes me ashamed to be white. Hell the two thugs in Louisiana will probably get raises.
Could you remind me?
Those guys, armed to the teeth, who took over the wildlife refuge in Oregon;
Were they Black or Hispanic? I just cannot remember.
I do recall they were given breaks to go to Arby’s
Just can’t recall their skin color…
Hmm. Sounds familiar.
Was that the bunch where one of the leaders was brutally assassinated by law enforcement officers even though he calmly and carefully came to a stop at a roadblock, was unarmed, had fully complied with instructions from the officers, and kept his hands visible and away from his body throughout the incident?
I think he must have been black, because a whitened person probably would have been belligerent and disrespectful.
I used the phrase New Jim Crow, to distinguish between the past and the present. It never went away, just took a slight hibernation. Yes, the newness can be attributed to how communication has helped define the way people connect. But I am under no delusions about the climate that exists. As long as America continues to use the BS she passes off as history, her society will continue to be what it is now, ignorant and malleable. Not to mention the complicity of all types of media to disseminate the stereotypes they use to promote the negativity towards those who are not white.
I appreciate your different experiences, but I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for that change. There were two black officers in LA who stopped a white motorist and during the situation somehow his young son was shot and killed. Next thing you saw were two mug shots of these officers. They weren’t allowed to claim they were afraid for their lives. Not that they shouldn’t answer for what happened, but wow, what a difference.
Peace.
What happened to “Step out of the car, sir?”