Man, a 50 year old Black man was gunned down by a police officer as he was running away from an altercation. Given that running is the surest way for some yo-yo to justify doing bad things, this was terrible. Yes, he should not have run from the law. However, I started to think, had I started sprinting...I don't think the cop would've shot at me. And to fire 8 times is really scary. Now, a lot of us may want to believe being a police officer...you never know what to expect, but a 50 year old who probably didn't have the same spring in his step as a 20 year old...it's just different. We would hope someone who has authority could tell the difference.
I'm not saying it was racially motivated, but one could argue the cop seemed to have placed a "danger" label on this guy over say...maybe a preppy white polo wearing frat boy.
I think it would suck to be Black in America. As Chris Rock had said, you either take up sports or sing and dance. White folk don't want to see you in their corporate world. Unless you happen to be the President. To which I've always argued, it's just a figure head. He's usually surrounded by old white haired dudes.
I can't imagine a world where you go day to day always wondering how people perceive you. It's usually a negative sense. I got a tiny taste of that being a dark skinned Asian in 1980's white Cincinnati, Ohio. For the most part, we've gotten past our stereotype. That part of America who was angered by Pearl Harbor, now turned on Muslims. But for Black folk, it is neverending. And this leads to a sense of defensiveness and defenselessness.
I recall riding the school bus. A Black family just moved into our lily white neighborhood. It was crazy enough we jumped that shark, now it was a brand new family in a brand new house. I went over once, just to hang out. I was pissed because where his house was built it use to be pure wilderness. A trail that we use to ride bikes in. Now it was housing. Sucked. Anyway, he was a nice guy, but on guard. A Black kid in preppy Ohio must've been awful. He sat next to me on the bus and we chatted. Never about race. Teens just don't have it in them. I do remember we didn't hang out at school. Oddly enough I hung out more with his sister, as she joined marching band. And I played the mellophone. He had a massive chip on his shoulder. I recognized it, because it was the same chip I had when I first got there. Luckily I was only 10 when I got there. He was already in his teens when we met. I noticed the white families started to move away. Call it coincidence, call it whatever...it was news. It's hard to crack these types of nuts. Because everyone was scared about property value and shit we never knew existed. I just didn't care. But I knew the kids at our high school did. He disappeared into the crowd though. Didn't say much. Stayed out of trouble. I'm not sure what became of him, but I'm sure he's doing well, because our school just didn't allow for kids to fuck around. We're surrounded by Ivy League minds. And the competitive education was what drove us. Me? I was into chicks so I was dumb as shit. And barely made it into college.
My folks still live in that same neighborhood in the same house. They do bring up that Black family as in "there's no Black people who live here anymore." So that fear of "more coming into our neighborhood" was unfounded. Seems people generally don't like being in places they aren't welcomed in. I think it was good my folks didn't know English all that well. Sure they would've heard the murmurs.
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