Is it a crime to be black?
The question I ask you is a simple one and you have already answered it. And through this answer, you have done more to shatter the fabric of America. You have continued the torture of a group of people who have been through so much already, and all through the one question:
Is it a crime to be black?
Does being black automatically invoke fear in another man? Does being black call seven shots to be fired at point blank range when the civilian who is being shot at is being respectful and cooperative?
Does being black warrant an officer shooting so carelessly he almost killed the passenger and child in the backseat of the car?
Does being black warrant getting killed even as you respectfully alert the officer that there is a licensed firearm in the vehicle, and do not attempt to reach for it?
Does being black warrant getting killed, just because you’re black?
Well, Philando Castile’s jury seemed to think so, because they charged this officer with nothing. This officer now gets to live his life without having to pay the price of taking another innocent man’s life away from him.
How do you expect black Americans to continue to not only respect a system that constantly makes it a crime for them to be black but also to respect, us, their fellow Americans?
How are black Americans supposed to continue to live in a world where not only the police and judges continually make it a crime to be a black individual but now their peers rule that when a black man is shot down for NOTHING OTHER than being a black man there is no justice to be served. How is a black person supposed to continue knowing that now every institution is against him, and now his peers are against him as well?
How is a black person supposed to live in that world, and how will this end?
What are black people supposed to do? Have different traffic stops? Should they have a different procedure so that police can stop pissing their pants and reach for their guns every time they see a black person behind the wheel?
Should black people put their hands on the roof of their car so police don’t have to feel like they’re in any danger? How is this any different from Jim Crow laws in the1890s showing that black people are inherently different. Why, policemen, are you so trigger happy when you see a black man behind the wheel? Why is it any different?
I have some news for you, sir. It isn’t. So please, understand that.
Stop shooting black men who are running away from you. Stop shooting black kids in hoodies. Stop shooting black kids who might have knives in their pockets (You, Mr. Police man sir should have lots more training and should be much stronger.)
And STOP shooting black men in front of children who calmly and respectfully tell you that they have a licensed firearm in their car and then make no attempt to reach for it.
And fellow Americans who served on the jury that tried the officer who shot Philando Castile, that officer killed an innocent man, and that is murder. There is nothing else to see, it doesn’t matter what color either man was, or who was wearing what uniform. A man was murdered, but still the verdict was not guilty and that is the jury’s fault, and that’s on you fellow Americans.
I’m sorry we failed you Philando Castile.
