Even as children, everyone knew that "Good Guys" wore white and "Bad Guys" wore black.Many in today's world will say that "Bad Guys" are white and "Good Guys" are Black. (Or vice-versa)
But the recent rash of police shootings of unarmed Black males is more rooted in the Fear of a Black Man than in just being a racist.
Do you really run from the police for fear of being shot?
Nope... me neither.
These shootings were also class issues.
Or perception issues.
Race is only part of the equation (Okay...a large part. Factors like unfamiliarity and under-training being others.) in these shootings.
Black has always been a harbinger of bad tidings.
Even in the simplest of nursery rhymes - black is bad.
Even Deuces affect a stilo (estilo) similar to Black gang members, in their efforts to obtain a level of Street Cred.
(I am assuming that everyone can remember the rantings of Martin Lawrence's character in Boomerang or the first teachings of Malcolm X while in prison - Blackball, Blackmail, etc...)
To tell the truth... I'm more in fear of a Black cop trying to prove that he treats all perpetrators equally by being tougher on another Black person.
Police misconduct is nothing new. (Just Google "Police Misconduct" - there are too many links to list here.)
In fact, it's fairly common.
But add to these under trained and fearful officers the image of a Black male,
and what do you get?
A police shooting of an unarmed Black male.
But how much of this negative perception is brought on by a certain segment of our population being infatuated with portraying the "Gangsta" image?
Do many cause the Fear of a Black Man to become heightened by their inability (or lack of desire) to acculturate to their new environment?
What I'm saying is; Race wasn't the sole motivation in these shootings.
No comments:
Post a Comment