I did not need any more proof to know what happened to George Floyd was a completely unambiguous act of injustice. I value the sanctity of all life enough and no vilification of a victim’s past record can determine their lives ‘worth. Like every black mother in America I have heard the story of unarmed black men killed by the police too many times. The statistic and the headlines were weighing in heavily on me, as name came to mind like Eric Garner, Mike Brown, Tamir Rice, Philando Castile, Freddie Gray.
I felt the world closing in on me, you see the black man is who I hold dear to my heart. He is the husband that I love, the sons I adore, the father I honor, the brothers I admire.
My husband and I have always worked hard to provide security and stability for our sons, as did our parents for us. If I want to be honest with myself, I have no experience with police brutality and racial profiling, yet the resentment and the hate that was growing inside of me was not something I wanted to pass down to my children. So before I sat my black boys down and tell them the rift taking place outside, before I send them on emotional plea against tyranny they had never experienced before, I had to do my own research.
They ain’t black
According to washington post on average close to 1100 civilians are killed by police officers every year and a very small number of officers are being prosecuted. The findings showed nearly 80% of those who were fatally wounded were not black. 50% white, 28% Hispanics, 2% Native Americans or Asians.
I was raised to believe every man has the stamp of divine creation in him and police officers are supposed to be trained to use their moral authority to resolve conflicts. We should always emphasis the need to practice de-escalation techniques to preserve lives at all cost. The need for accountability each time a life has been taken is necessary and I don’t say this to pretend not to understand the dangers police officers face every day.
But why were blacks in the front page of this injustice when nonblack victims outnumbered us?
I often hear the scenario of a group eating at a restaurant being use, where everyone is eating except for the black man. When the black man asked for his plate, his friends and the waitress are talking over him and calling him a complainer and that everyone should eat. Ironically I see the scenario being played out only in reverse
Yet no one is eating, everyone is dead.
Marketing strategist in the mainstream media pick the face and title of their stories carefully Tony Timpa or George Floyd, police brutality or racial injustice. Over and over we are being spoon-fed images of black men dying. We chant and manifest the energy we receive and respond with anger and hostility, then pass it on down to our babies. Is it out of love for Black America that the media silence the voice or identity of nearly 80% victims of police violence?
How do you censor their own plea for justice by keeping their identity behind shadow? Victims like Ryan Whitaker, John Gear, Justine Damond, Fransicso Serna, Daniel K. Harris, Zachary Hammond, Fong Lee, Daniel Shaver, Pedro Villanueva, Dylan Noble, Hannah Williams, Jesse Romero, even 6 years old Jeremy Mardis who was gun down by police officers while inside his father's truck did not get national attention. They all lost their lives to police excessive force yet received little to no justice. For every tragic trending video shooting of a black man the media choose to traumatize us with, there are nearly eight stories of other race suffering the same tragedy. Are their death a privilege? Do our lives really matter over theirs? Or do they not fit in the social narrative being painted? Maybe it’s because it is a crucial election year and they ain’t black.
The Statistics
The only logical explanation I got on the hysteria of the headlines was how the 20% black victims (200 on average)of police shootings was disproportionate since we are only 13% of the population. So the logic is, if the black population was more then its current percentage rate like the whites or the Hispanics, it wouldn't get as much attention as it is getting now. The goal is to preserve the black lives because they are endangered. Yet the government spend nearly $500 millions of tax payers dollars every year to plant abortion clinics like planned parenthood in every corner of black America where 280,000 black babies are being aborted every year. If preserving black America was the goal, they sure have a funny way of showing it. I read a quote somewhere that says “when there is no respect for human life the death of one and the death of millions are the same”.
Another hard reality we like to dodge is how 52% of violent crime in America is being committed amongst this 13% population of America. It is unpleasant to bring this fact since it does not fit the narrative, but if we must find a solution to our problems, we must confront the root and break out the numbers. Every year we are averaging well above 7,000 homicides in the black community. This number made me pause; 7756 black lives in 2016, 7014 in 2015, 6095 in 2014, and 6217 in 2013. Crimes that are not televise to linger with our emotions but are witnessed every day probably through a child’s window in the inner city. If police officers were confronting even a small percentage of those crimes while they are in progress the outcome would be a lot more than what we are seeing. Please understand this is not to diminish punishment to those who have sworn to protect and serve. But if we were to step outside of our emotions and start analyzing encounters, we would realize police do not just show up in our community, we call them when we are in distress and 7000 body bags is a hell of a lot of distress. Ask the family of Gregory Lewis, Demetrius Hardy, Jurnee Thomspon, Robert English, Tyshawn Lee, Bernadino Mercano, David Green, Danyal Jones, Angelo Bronson, Xavier Usanga where are their outrage when black criminals are taking their lives in thousands. How do we even mutter the word “black lives matter” watching this genocide happening in our inner city year after year, vote after vote?.
While we are beating the drums and burning the torches we are allowing unorganized, ill-informed interest group defund the black lives in high crime neighborhoods while claiming to defend the black lives killed by police officers. Interest group who is funding the same party that has govern those inner cities years after years thanks to our faithful vote. In the name of grievance we will succumb to anything, but statistics are statistics and reading is fundamental.
Crime and Poverty
Before George Floyd was unjustifiably murdered he was getting arrested over a fake $20 bill. While many black celebrities spoke up against the injustice, many assumed they could relate to him simply base on the color of their skin. Celebrities who live in rich gated community, whose encounter with the police would mostly be for pictures and autographs. There are middle and upper class black Americans who feel compelled to speak on police brutality not because they themselves have experienced it, but because the narrative is being painted as a “black struggle”.
This was highly display as I recall many of my middle class friends took their small children to peaceful protest in their area, while my friends who live in lower class with more criminal activity neighborhood would not dare step outside, let alone with their kids because they know it would turn into dangerous riots. The looting and burning have created so much chaos some friends have been telling me they have to drive out of state to get basic needs and groceries for their family. Those businesses employed and provide services, now many will suffer the consequences of more poverty.
We all can agree that crime is closely tied to the economy and over the past 60 years there has been little progress in the wealth of black America. Our poverty rate is well above 30%, we are so burden by issues created on poor policies that we can’t come up for air fast enough to figure out the actual problem.
Historian blogger Patrick Browne explained how in the 19th centuries the Irish Americans were notorious for crime spree and violence within their community due to poverty, and police showed favoritism towards American born protestant whenever conflicts rise. This created a stigma and many conflicts, but within time as they moved up the social ladder violent crime and police conflict diminished.
Those poor policies within our communities are very well intended, civil rights activist Bob Woodson said over the past 50 years 22 trillion dollars have been spent on poverty program, and 70% of that money goes to politicians working to keep that poor class. Twenty two trillion dollars over the course of fifty years and we are here grieving over our ancestor’s misfortune. Have we been giving the opportunity to climb the ladder socioeconomically we would have construct a different culture around us with purpose, higher moral conduct and less discrepancy. Poor government policies has disengage our progress of life and racism is the perfect emotional-hype theme to hold on to while we sink to the bottom level of powerlessness.
As the Hispanic population rise quickly in the US we will find out how black lives matter when others become the leverage for political strength.
When I started looking into this injustice I was just a fearful black mother questioning if my child could be next. Nothing I found appease that fear, it just added more. But I had the privilege to sit back, research and do my own critical thinking. It is a privilege because there are many mothers out there who are grieving because of the hate, violence, injustice and manipulation of this fallen world. We all hold a powerful responsibility to teach our children to empathize with one another, to think and analyze critically and to be part of a better society. I pray that we wake up and do so because enough is enough!
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