What I am talking
about here are the uncivil actions of a small number of police that although
their sworn duty is to “Protect and Serve” and one has to wonder who they are
trying to protect and in whose interests do they serve because it certainly
isn’t for Black folk. Is this any worse than some of the members of the White
Citizens Council or Ku Klux Klan when they targeted Black neighborhoods with
the violence of fire bombings and murder after the Civil War ended? As KRS-1
asks, “While the white robes and hoods are in the laundry hamper or at the
cleaners, who dry cleans these uniforms?” A short answer is they wear the blue
police uniforms of LA, NY, Detroit, Ferguson, and Chicago, Philadelphia or
Baltimore’s finest. As comedian Chris Rock said the most terrifying thing for a
Black man is when a White man approaches him with a badge on his chest and a
gun on his hip; even more so if the gun is drawn and nervously pointing at his
body. Black men are dying at the hands of the P-O-L-I-C-E (Five-O) without
apparently the constitutionally protected benefit of “Due Process.” Maybe this
is the New World Order of policing depicted in the movie “Judge Dredd” where
the officer is: Judge-Jury- and Executioner.
Getting back to the
main idea from the title of this article, I must admit that when I see protest
signs that read, “Black Lives Matter” it causes me to ask the question, “To
Whom?” Clearly, Black lives don’t matter to some people in our society because
the same value or worth is not placed on Black lives as it is for White people.
This should not be too surprising considering this country’s legacy of slavery
and these events are occasional reminders of the power relationship between
slave master and slave. Perhaps just as insidious and intentional is the
psychological as well as physiological change on the psyche of the Black man. I
see it as the emasculation, marginalization and feminization of the Black male
and one of the main reasons for the feeling of hopeless, impotence, and
powerlessness. There is the seething rage that erupts in rioting, looting, and
arson of property in the Black community because what else can someone do when
they have no power. This also leads to dysfunctional relationships and a loss
of identity and self. It means that the Black community incurs a stage of siege
mentality and lives in a constant state of anxiety, fear, and uncertainty
leading to depression and displaying various symptoms of mental illness. No
wonder there is an almost epidemic rise in stress-related illnesses,
neurochemical substances that produce imbalances in our nervous and immune systems,
leading to diseases such as heart disease; which is the number one killer among
Blacks- more than HIV/AIDS, cancer or diabetes. In a word, “Black Lives Are
Disposable.”
Hopeful Future:
I think a
reasonable direction to head in is to attack the problem indirectly. Instead of
using “race” as the main issue as far as seeking legal remedy for mistreatment
and disenfranchisement, why not expand it to the broader contextualization of
the matter of “human rights” violations which draws in a larger international
audience. As I have mentioned previously, black lives may not evoke the same
sympathies but ‘human rights’ should matter to everyone, regardless of
race, color, creed, national origin, ethnicity, or religion. Instead of being
reactive when someone is once again deprived of their right to the pursuit of
Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness as eloquently described in the
Declaration of Independence, it is past the time to go on the offensive and be
proactive. We cannot afford to sit back and wait for the hammer to fall again
or in this case for the trigger to squeeze and another Black man’s body is seen
outlined in chalk on the sidewalk.776 Commerce St Apt B11
Tacoma, WA 98402
May 19, 2015
robertrandle51@yahoo.com
