Finally.
An officer who racially profiled a black person and overreacted during an interaction with a black person would have to face the consequences; the consequences of killing a black person. The after math of the shooting was live streamed on Facebook. There was a child in the car. The victim's gun was licensed. No reports stated the victim even pulled the gun out. He politely told the officer he had a concealed weapon. The victim had no criminal history . This was a homicide. Right? This was racial profiling .
More telling than anything to the claims of racial profiling was the audio of the officer's call for back up which was later released in court . The officer stated the black passenger was being pulled over because he looked like a robbery suspect. But why did Jeronimo Yanez, the officer say Philando Castile, the victim, looked like the suspect from a robbery days earlier? Because Castile had a “wide set nose.” There you have it. He is dead technically because he had wide nostrils. But is that a specific enough feature to get a black person confused with another one? Many black people have wide nostrils. It is an evolutionary trait which came from ancestors who lived in hot climates . So when a non-black officer says a random black driver looks like another black person simply because they both have wide set noses , a trait which many black people have , it's just preposterous that American society and an American jury does not see the officer's actions as racial profiling . The officer at that point could have targeted any black man with wide nostrils; and there are a lot of them. So it's preposterous that Yanez's traffic stop was not deemed unlawful to begin with. A wide nose is not just cause to stop someone.
After the unlawful stop Yanez said he feared for his life . And the jury bought it . Yes, there is a possibility that he was genuinely afraid . His fear however was not because Castile was threatening . The audio released actually presents Castile as calm and polite. So Yanez was not afraid of Castile himself. His fear which he expressed to the jury was more of a stereotypical, non-specific fear of black people . And I know this fear . The assumption that you are always out to hurt someone because you are black. I have had so many jokes misconstrued and just general over reactions to things I say as a result of this stereotype. Aftet moving here six years ago, I quickly realized black people are seen as inherently threatening in American society. Not as threatening as Muslims, but pretty up there on the scale of one to threatening . So what Yanez felt was that general good ole American fear of blackness. We are feared even when we are good, kind and gentle like Castile . That is how many coworkers who were interviewed by the media described Castile.
But to Yanez , Castile and his wide nostrils were threatening. And it's nothing new.
It's in fact a "Tale as old as time . True as it can be. Barely even friends ... Both a little scared. Neither one prepared. Beauty and the Beast." We all the know the song . And it's a reflection of interactions between black and non black America. And black Americans are always the assumed beast. Never the beauty. Never the victim. Never the person whose death needs to be vindicated. Always feared, and the fear always seems justifiable to a jury . This is especially true when the person who fears us is a police officer . Because officers are princes in the eyes of the American public. And black men are beasts . The fear of a prince is worth his weight in gold and is it expected that he slay the beast. How else would everyone else have their happy ending?
This unfortunate story has been the nature of America for centuries. But can America change? Inquiring black minds want to know. Can America accept that officers are too quick to pull the trigger at routine traffic stops with black people?
Media portrayals show black men as disproportionately criminal. The American narrative (which is usually told by non-black people ) in general has painted black people as more likely to use drugs , even though evidence from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has shown this to be untrue. Yet police officers who you would expect to be versed in truth believe the hype . They go out into the streets with these lenses colored by years of conditioning and when they interact with a black person they interact with us as if we are all beasts , until we prove otherwise. Most times however we don't have the chance to prove otherwise, as we are dead within minutes of officers arriving at the scene. You know , like what happened with Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old who was fatally shot for having a gun, before the police realized it was a toy gun. Does anyone else think if Rice was a 12-year-old Justin Bieber-esque looking white boy he would still be alive?
Philando Castile had been pulled over a total of 52 times according to AP News . For most Americans that is an outrageous number of times . But for black people in America it's believable . Because you know we all look alike, and are all criminals, breathing up all of white America's air with our large nostrils.
Even black celebrities are not immune. Earlier this week Trevor Noah , host of the Daily Show said he had been pulled over "eight to 10" times in six years. Trevor Noah is a half white, half black television host...still not immune. So think about how many times the average non mixed , dread locked , non celebrity black male like Philando Castile gets pulled over. I am a black female who drives a Mazda Miata (possibly one of the most non-ideal cars for gang bangers) yet I have been pulled over about 5 times in my six years living in the United States . I have 30-year-old Caucasian friends who have been driving for over a decade and have not been pulled over even three times . The bad driver stereotype is usually reserved for another ethnic minority in the US among comedians. But among the police force it appears black drivers are public enemy numero uno. And the disproportionate number of traffic stops we are pulled into, coupled with an unreasonable fear that black people are all beasts, many times results in our deaths for the smallest infractions or miscommunications.
All this while Dylan Roof who killed nine innocent church goers got gently walked out of his house with a bullet proof vest on. Police also admitted to the media that they bought this alleged mass murderer Burger King while in custody. Oh to be a white male in America. It sure is a stark contrast from being a black one.
