Enough is Enough

Man, this is the third blog post I've written concerning a black man being shot and killed in some sort of scenario. I told myself I wouldn't write anymore on issues like this, but I just couldn't keep silent on this one. If you haven't heard by now, a South Carolina man named Walter Scott is the latest in a long line of black men who have been killed by the police, seemingly for no reason. I can't even say "seemingly" in this instance; Trayvon Martin? Ok, maybe he attacked Zimmerman and his murder was an act of self defense. Mike Brown? Ok, maayybe he did try to take Darren Wilson's gun and his murder was an act of self defense. Walter Scott? No. He was flat out murdered. Anyone who's seen the video cannot dispute that the officer had no justifiable reason for killing Scott. No reason at all (check it out here if you haven't yet. Be warned, it's graphic).

The media was dying to make him a thug, too..try again. 

Officer Michael Slager has been charged with murder and now faces 30 years in prison or the death penalty. I can say that this is one of the rare occasions that the justice system has worked and for that I am glad.

But I'm also angry. And scared. 

Officer Slager fired EIGHT shots into Walter Scott's back while he was RUNNING AWAY. The man was scared and running for his life; but he was shot down like a dog in the street. Officer Slager then filed a police report stating that Scott took his taser and that he acted in self defense; a claim that likely would have kept him a free man if some brave soul hadn't been recording the incident that day. I'm sorry but my faith in America's law enforcement has been severely shaken. This is a cop who shot a man dead in cold blood, cuffed his dead body, dropped his taser beside the body, then tried to convince the public that he deserved to die. I've always had a pretty good idea of how evil the human race can be, but this story has appalled me to no end. After watching the video, I had to stop and seriously ponder if this is the sort of country I want my kids living in. Would I in fact be guilty of child abuse and/or negligence to even bring a child into an environment that's obviously hostile towards them? 

Something has to be done about these policemen. Now. 

I see now what Huey Newton and the Black Panther Party were facing back in the day; black people in California were being brutalized by the policemen then also, but Huey discovered that if he knew the law, they couldn't touch him; thus, he made sure that every member of the Party carried a pocket version of the California law book at all times. This frustrated the police to no end, as Huey had figured out a way to beat them at their own game. I'm not saying that simply knowing the law will protect us from police brutality, but it's surely a great place to start.

People wonder why black people in America don't trust police...

It's hard to trust a police department that's overwhelmingly staffed by people who do not look like you nor share your interests (check out these statistics on how homogeneous police departments are across the nation). I've said for the longest that if the government wants to show that it cares about us, it needs to provide incentives for more minorities to attend police academies. As long as police departments are brimming with white men, there will be problems. I am not a racist; I'm simply aware of reality. Despite how people like Raven-Symone feel, we are different. I understand how Raven feels; yes we are all Americans, but we are DIFFERENT, and that is perfectly fine. America has long been known as a "melting pot" of people and cultures; well, you can't have a melting pot with a single ingredient, right? We are Black, we are White, we are Hispanic, we are Middle Eastern, WE. ARE. DIFFERENT. And I don't believe black people will ever truly feel protected in this country until we have people who look like us on patrol in our neighborhoods. 

Rest in peace, Walter Scott. 

-Nick G.