Another day, another black male gets shot, and then another day, it happens again, and then in Dallas, police are getting shot and killed. I don’t mean to sound passive when I say this, but it’s almost becoming routine here in the U.S. As I’m writing this right now someone is getting shot by the police. By the time I’m done writing this piece, one more person will be shot by the police, and by the time this article hits the web, who knows how many more people will be shot by the police.
It’s been a crazy last few days, to say the least, in the U.S. You can look around everywhere and see that people are automatically going into their corners, their talking points, and watching every video on the internet to reinforce their point of view. We’re all guilty of it, hell as much as I try to not fall into that trap I can guarantee you I’ve made those mistakes over the last few days. This problem is more complex and requires multiple layers of thinking, though.
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Everyone should know you can hold two conflicting opinions at the same time. For example, I am in favor of raising taxes on corporations, but if a grocery store decides to donate their food to some sort of organization that can get it into the hands of those in need I think they deserve a tax break for that. Makes sense right? You see I’m simultaneously for raising taxes and lowering taxes, and they don’t conflict with each other. You do this in your everyday life without thinking about it consciously.
Also, sometimes variable “A” doesn’t necessary conclude “B.” How do I know? Because I despise the 49ers. As a Seattle Seahawks fan, watching the 49ers lose is a close 2nd to watching the Seahawks win, but just because I don’t like the 49ers because of some dumb rivalry about what color laundry grown men wear every Sunday four months out of the year, doesn’t mean that I don’t like football. I get withdrawals from football every time the offseason hits.
Why am I explaining this to you? I want you to know that you have the ability to do this with no problem when it comes to benign issues. It seems that people lose the ability to do so when issues of police brutality are brought up. If we can accept that I don’t like the 49ers but love football, why can’t we accept that people who are speaking out against police brutality are also pro-police? I am against the killing of innocent people at the hands of police, but if I ever see a video of someone drawing their gun out to point it at an officer (I know there is one), and that officer shoots and kills that person I’m ok with that. I’m glad that there are police officers and I want them to be able to defend themselves and have the tools necessary to deal with an unthinkable situation.
I also know that my experience with police officers is vastly different than some. The reasoning behind this is because of where I live and the color of my skin. This doesn’t make my interactions with police officers, along with many others with similar experiences, any less real or valid. It just means that people may not always have the same outlook because of their experiences.
I know the term “white privilege” turns people away from even having a conversation with someone, so let me explain it to you in terms that hopefully you won’t feel attacked by. You’re given the benefit of the doubt. That’s all white privilege is. It doesn’t mean you didn’t earn your way to where you are at, they aren’t attacking your work ethic, and certainly nobody is telling you to apologize just because of the color of your skin. White privilege means that when it comes to some sticky situations, more often than not you’re given the benefit of the doubt while others are not afforded that same courtesy sometimes.
I remember being 19-years-old on a normal summer night. I was at a friend’s house with a bunch of people my friend’s parents had invited. During the middle of this shindig, a couple of my friends and I decided we were going to go smoke some weed.
Being the bright and intelligent young minds that we are, we decide to go into my car to enjoy our recreational activity. Not in the woods, or behind somewhere nobody can see us, right in the open where the whole world can see us.
Needless to say, someone did see us, and yes they called the cops on us. There was no hiding it, my car was as the kids call it, “hot boxed.” Lucky for me it was my turn in the rotation, so who did the cops see with everything in their hands? The guy sitting in the driver’s seat thinking in his head “I’m screwed.”
Turns out I was just fine. Even though the rest of the party came outside, adults and all, to watch what was going on between four young men and two police officers, I walked away with no wounds, no handcuffs, no tickets, nothing. I went back to the party drank more and smoked more and went on with my life. The two cops not only lied to everyone that attended the party that it was a misunderstanding, they pointed to a place to go next time we want to smoke so we don’t get caught. Let me say that again, the COPS showed us a hiding spot to smoke weed in so we don’t get caught.
I’m not saying I’m not grateful for what those police officers did, I’m not even saying they handled it in a wrong way, in fact, more cops should just say “listen you idiots, don’t waste our time with nonsense like this go find a better hiding spot.” What I am saying is that an interaction like that is unique strictly on the basis of where I live and what I look like.
A twelve-year-old boy by the name of Tamir Rice didn’t have the same luxury that I had. Tamir Rice was playing with a toy gun, in a park, in an open carry state, and the cop rolled up to him and shot him in two seconds. No questions asked, just a bullet. I committed a crime and got away, Tamir Rice didn’t commit one and is dead.
The reason I bring these two examples up is because there is a study that shows the disparities of how police officers interact with different races in different counties, and if they are armed or not. The study found that if you are black and unarmed you are about three and half times more likely to get shot by the police than a white person who is unarmed. An unarmed black individual is shot at roughly the same rate as a white individual who is armed. In certain counties, the ratio of getting shot by the police being black and unarmed as opposed to being white and unarmed can be as high as 20 to 1. Lastly, the ratios can’t be explained on the crime rate of the different counties, or even the black crime rate of these counties. Police are trained and taught to handle things vastly different depending on the are you are in and the color of your skin.
So, yes, a lot of experiences with cops are straight to the point with no harm done, but a lot of experiences come with harassment, beat downs, and deaths. What’s wrong with all of the shootings is that people like Tamir Rice are considered threats even before police officers get to the scene, and it’s because of the training. Police officers don’t wake up in the morning and say 'well it’s time to shoot some black people today'. No, it’s the system that perpetuates a behavior that results in a disproportionate amount of unarmed black people being killed. That’s what people are upset about. Not cops defending themselves, not police as a whole, but a consistent problem that keeps happening that can be avoided and easily fixed.
It’s possible to go into a situation and not quickly go into survival mode right off the bat. An armed man can leave a situation unharmed. A black man can have a gun defending himself and not get shot. Police departments can reduce shootings and reform. It’s all possible.
It doesn’t matter if the victim is a twelve-year-old boy, or the biggest scum bag on the planet, nobody who doesn’t pose a threat to police deserves to be killed by them. I know for a fact nobody is perfect. I’ve done drugs, vandalized property, mouthed off to cops, stolen things from stores, and if I’m ever shot by the police and I wasn’t posing a threat, none of those past transgressions matter in that moment.
The struggle of black people in the United States has and always will be an American issue. When we get rid of an injustice somewhere, we get rid of injustice everywhere. If we don’t stand up for injustice it’s only a matter of time before the injustices start to creep into your neighborhoods, and I hope that your son, daughter, mom, dad, or anybody that you love isn’t the next innocent unarmed person to be shot by the police.
