By: Dave Devereaux
Changing Our Narrative
On Tuesday, May 25th. I sat watching the news as Nora O’Donnell of CBS Evening News ended her broadcast with the statement that “ America is truly the greatest nation.” I had to really digest the statement in light of the most recent violence against black males that has taken place. I question whether the end of that statement should end … but not for black men.
The Ahmaud Arbery story brought me to tears some weeks back because it was apparent that some white Americans still see us black men as pariahs and monsters. We are perceived as a threat merely jogging down a street minding our own business, momentarily oblivious of the hatred that looms persistently in this county. From the murder of Trayvon Martin, by the self appointed neighborhood watch idiot to Freddie Gray, Jr. in Baltimore, who was basically killed by some of those of his own race in that gang mentality displayed by Baltimore police for possessing a knife, and let us not forget Eric Garner in New York, who kept telling the white cops that he could not breathe any longer, or Michael Brown, Jr. in Ferguson, Missouri, who never had a chance but was assassinated by that cop in plain site; there are no real answers to why we continue to be treated so inhumanely by the vast majority of white America. The saddest commentary is that police departments can even be complicit in minimizing their wrong and use a strip tactic to vilify the victim’s character. Repeatedly.
Moreover, to compound the pain of this Memorial Day, I hear of the senseless killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota by a policeman who kept his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck after he complained that he could not breathe, and then the park incident in New York City where a white woman out walking her dog off leash was asked to leash the dog by a black man and she stated that she was going to call the police and say that he threatened her and she was in danger. And she did just that, embellishing the story to a level that was almost unbelievable. Luckily he filmed the incident which saved any explanation to police later. But I am horrified to think of what may have happened had he not.
And I am again left with great questions and intense anger at why this continues to happen. Much of it looks like the days when blacks were hung from trees as a spectacle. White communities acted as judge, jury and executioner without allowing the true balance of the law to prevail. I’m not even sure if there is any court today that really sees black males as worthy of doling out equal justice. Is this a ploy to commit genocide against black males, thus culling a generation of future fathers and parents? Or perhaps eliminating the competition that each day becomes more literate and learned and superior?
Ahmaud Arbery’s case could be one for the textbooks if it’s in fact prosecuted as it really is, a murder, and not some stand your ground crap that seems to exist when white communities want to insulate themselves from the real issues, or an excuse that the neighborhood watch was looking out for the neighbors based on a made up statistic of crime affecting a community. The eloquence and class that his grieving mother has demonstrated lends you to know what type a young man he was. She has had every news entity in her face, yet she always maintains a calm and rational nature in the midst of great pain and loss. I applaud her as a mother and a black woman who raised a good male child.
While I could not begin to list all the cases that have been presented in the last 10 years that are similar to these and the unfortunate outcomes where police or white culprits are exonerated of a crime and get to go home to their families after the dust settles. But if I can get one more person to say WHY and say it loud, perhaps the police and vigilante community people will think twice about their actions toward black males. Our black communities should step up and demand balanced policing and if they don’t get it, demand that police force be turned over so that there are those who will respect the rule of law and at least give our black males a chance. I’m not saying that all white people or police officers are prejudiced or bad, but you have to look at the statistics and make an informed decision about what to call it how it is being perceived.
The big question is, what have we as black males, done so wrong to be treated inhumanely for so long? An unarmed black male is four times more likely to be killed by police than an unarmed white male. We demand justice. We have never aspired to undermine the establishment, though that is often the description attached to all our race. It becomes apparent that there is some fear that we will overcome and overpower, when we merely want to override the deep seeded misconceptions about us and simply live a fair, safe and good life. We want our kids to be safe when they are out of our sight and to not have to worry they will lose their lives behind unfounded racial profiling and racism. America must do better.
