BEING BLACK IN AMERICA AND POLICE BRUTALITY
It seems hardly a week goes by without another report of a seemingly
innocent, unarmed Black male being killed by the police. I have
written several quotes about this issue and have received harsh
criticism for writing them.
You have had recent killings by the police of Michael Brown in
Ferguson, Eric Garner in New York, Oscar Grant in Oakland, Ezell
Ford in Los Angeles and now Freddie Gray in Baltimore, just to name
a few.
In many instances, police are shown to be guilty of using excessive
force against Blacks; but based on the way local and state laws are
written, an overwhelming amount of deference is given to the police.
The legal standard in most cases to justify using deadly forces is “
a reasonable fear for one’s life.” Legally, that is an extremely low
bar to meet.
So, Blacks must come to terms with this simple adage of streets, “
It’s not what you know, but what you can prove.” Most Americans will
confess that many of these policemen are out of control; but based
on the law, the police can easily justify their actions.
This issue is easy to deal with; it’s just a matter of getting
consensus regarding what changes need to be made legislatively. The
more complicated issue that no one seem to want to deal with is the
issue of what I call “ Black culpability” What is it that we , as
Blacks, are doing to create an environment where Black lives are so
devalued that we are viewed as expendable?
Now we seeing a Baltimore city uprising. For the past 30 years
America created images of Blacks in the most negative of lights. For
those who would say it is just music, it’s just movie, it’s just a
reality TV show; I say now there is just another Black body lying in
the streets of America.
Before you go to war, the first thing that is needed is to create a
psychological operations campaign ( psy-ops). This is a tactic that
the military uses to marginalize its targeted population so that
when the troops are sent in to destroy this group, there is no
public outcry.
Just look at how the U.S. military vilified and demonized former
Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and Terrorist Osama Bin laden before
U.S. military out to kill them. Upon their death at the hands of the
U.S military, the American people cheered because they had devalued
and marginalized them before the American people.
I can not help but ask the Black community, have we unleashed a PSY-OPS
campaign on our own people? In the horror movie series Frankenstein,
Dr. Frankenstein did not set out to create a monster; but rather he
was a scientist playing around in his laboratory. As a result of
this experimentation, he created a monster that neither he nor
society could not control.
In a similar manner, one could argue that Blacks, specifically in
Hip-Hop, have experimented in the laboratory called a recording
studio; and by exercising their First Amendment Rights of freedom of
speech and expression through music, they have created their own
version of Frankenstein.
Now, the establishment, especially the police, had become the enemy.
Hip-Hop become a counter-culture movement that turned into a monster
that could no longer be controlled.
When rap music started, it was a verbal extension of the Civil
Rights Movement of the 1960s in the spirit of the Dr. Martin Luther
King. Jr; It was about the uplifting of the Black community and
providing a vice to those often without a voice.
Then in the 1990s. Rap took a more militaristic tone with the
creation of “ gangsta rap” This too, was a verbal extension of the
Civil Rights movement ; but more in the spirit of Malcolm X on
steroids .
These artist represented those in the ‘Hood” who felt trapped and
abused by the system. They felt like no one cared about them and
that life was about the here and now---immediate gratification; so
screw the future. They wanted to “ get their now” they wanted to
live fast, even if it meant dying young.
Then they had the crack epidemic of the 1990s with the violence that
it brought into the hood. All these factors combined to create a
narrative that black life was worthless and Black youth brought no
value to society.
So again I ask the Black community. What have you done to make your
lives so worthless in the eyes of the public? I think this is a
conversation worth having.
ANIIS A. ESSA
WASHINGTON DC. USA
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