April 4, 2015. That is the date that Walter Scott, a 50-year-old African American father to four, was shot in the back 5 times by officer Michael Slager.
Let me be clear, when I say Scott was shot in the back, I mean he was literally shot in the back as he was running away from the officer. An officer shot an unarmed man running away in the back five times, and he did not get convicted.
Yesterday, the trial against Slager ended in a mistrial because a juror was unable to “with good conscience consider a guilty verdict”. Despite the clear video evidence that Scott was unarmed and running away with his back toward the officer at the time of the shooting, Slager walks free. Why did this happen?
The answer is simple: Black lives DO NOT matter.
If Black lives mattered, Walter Scott would be alive and able to see his family. If Black lives mattered, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, and Freddie Gray would all be alive and able to see their families. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement is not an anti-cop movement, it is simply a movement trying to change a justice system that does not care about Black people. While the need for justice reform is absolutely evident in the wakes of these atrocities against African Americans, the vast majority of this country dismisses the Black Lives Matter movement by uttering the phrase “All Lives Matter”.
Now let me tell you precisely why that phrase is incredibly inaccurate. Nobody is saying all lives do not matter, they are just simply saying that the justice system does not value Black lives the way they value white lives. This is not an opinion; it is a fact.
It’s a fact that can be backed up by the evidence of the unnecessary black deaths at the hands of law enforcement that go unpunished. The Black Lives Matter movement is not a black supremacy movement in any way shape or form, it is simply building awareness that the justice system does not work. Black Lives Matter is nothing more than a non-violent call for reform, and it is absolutely imperative that America answers that call.
How many more unarmed African Americans have to die at the hands of law enforcement before something is finally done to help these people? Being a White man in New York City, I never think twice when I am walking past cops. For dozens of my friends of Color, this is not the same reality. I have personally experienced getting extra looks by law enforcement when walking around the city with my friends of Color. I, by no means, am trying to accuse these cops of being racist, because they probably aren’t. It just means that these cops have been trained through years of experience to give people of Color a second look. How do you train cops to not racially profile, when they often do it sub-consciously?
I don’t have an answer to this question, but it is a discussion that needs to be had. The facts are simple; the solution is not. I wish Black lives mattered, perhaps one day, they will.
