A terrible thing happened in Ferguson, Missouri when white American police officer Darren Wilson brutally shot unarmed African American teenager Michael Brown. At least six bullets fired from Officer Wilson’s pistol lodged into Michael’s body, including two in his head—kill shots if you will—and many more were fired but missed.
The only thing worse than one teenager being gunned down in cold blood is the frequency of the occurrence of many black deaths at the hands of whites. Sadly the unnecessary and deadly violence waged by whites—many who are members of the police force—against blacks in the U.S. needs no introduction.
But American journalists are reluctant to discuss race with regards to the killing.
For example, the excerpt to Amy Davidson’s “Drawing A Gun In Ferguson” article in the New Yorker poses the question: “What happens in the moment before a police officer shoots, or doesn’t shoot, a person in the middle of the street?”
However, the question—what happens in the moment before a white police officer shoots, or doesn’t shoot, a black person in the middle of the street?—would be appropriate.
Even more to the point: what happens in the moment before a white male police officer shoots a black man in the middle of the street?
One thing is certain: once an officer reaches for his gun, the chances of not shooting are very low. The chances of not killing are miniscule.
Thea Traff in her New Yorker post “A Look At Ferguson” never mentions Michael Brown’s race or the race of the police officer who murdered him.
On the same site, a brief article about cover art inspired by images from the Ferguson protests also brushed aside race as a major factor in police murders. Cover artist Eric Drooker describes how the Ferguson shooting reminded him of a prior incident:
“An artist friend of mine was killed by a cop in lower Manhattan, back in 1991. He happened to be black, and the police officer was never indicted.”
To Drooker, race is happenstance, a mere coincidence.
The police officer never being indicted was a result of the victim being black too. When whites commit crimes against blacks, the penalties are either lenient or nonexistent. However, if blacks commit crimes against whites, or even if they don’t, they are swiftly convicted—guilty unless proven innocent—and dealt the heaviest hand of punishment the law can muster.
All the while, liberals evade equating race to injustice.
In actuality, the people killed by the police never “happen to be black.” The very reason they were murdered is because they were black.
The treatment of blacks and whites in America is markedly different.
Had Michael Brown and his friend been white, it is unlikely that the police would have approached them, especially with hostility, for allegedly not walking on the sidewalk. It is unlikely that the situation would have escalated to the point where it became a physical encounter. It is unlikely that they police would have hurled a series of bullets at the two unarmed young people, had those two unarmed people been white.
Unconvinced?
Tell me, when is the last time we heard that the police shot six bullets in an unarmed white teenager? Or that the police choked a white man in broad daylight on the street before a crowd of onlookers?
This is not how white police in the U.S. treat white citizens. It is only how they treat black citizens.
The American criminal injustice system has drawn the line against black Americans and black people who permanently or temporarily reside in the country.
Clearly, the denial in America–both that racism exists and that racially motivated crimes are committed–is great.
Though it’s true that whites have the liberty to write whatever they feel about the murder of Michael Brown, blacks should at least be cognizant of the fact that when liberals talk about Michael Brown, they generally do not make it a monumental race relations issue.
Instead, they gripe about the militarization of the police. The proliferation of guns. The killings of police against people. Not black people.
Blacks should know that white liberals do not have their interests in mind. They only want their votes.
The black death toll based on such unnecessary incidents is climbing and the world is watching.
If anyone will do something to change the epidemic of white gun violence on black citizens, the agents of change must acknowledge the role of race in these shootings.
Therefore, change must come from blacks themselves.
