The Bullseye Brothers.
- The Gentleman Esquire
- Nov 26, 2015
- 4 min read
When you think about it, it would seem that the recent rash of police killings and uses of excessive force make certain things rather clear as it relates to the use of force, in general, and the use of deadly force, more specifically, by the police.
Recent events, very logically, could lead one to believe that there are certain individuals in the upper ranks and the rank and file of the police force who have no problem in the excessive and unwarranted uses of force against members of our communities at a higher rate because they view us as a threat.
Think of all the stories that are blasted throughout the media, whether print, TV, or digital, about our communities with the labels of high crime areas and at risk communities and the dangers within them.
Scaring all the middle class soccer moms and businessman dad types out there.
Making them think our communities are filled with savages and uneducated thugs, which is so far from the truth that its really ridiculous.
The natural effect of these scare tactics is that the same soccer moms and businessman dad types go and vote for more police, more jails, and more prisons. If you really pay attention you will see and hear more and more stories about the militarization of the police forces across the county. Body Armor, Armored Vehicles, Assault Rifles, and now they are even using drones like the west side of Chicago is Baghdad….
And don’t even get me started about the Privatization of the Prisons, the demand for inmates, Companies suing states for not keeping their new private jails full, etc, etc, etc, all real odorous bull manure…
The fact that we are viewed as a threat is one thing as it relates to the use of force, but the quickness in which deadly force is used against those in our communities is the most appalling and insulting.
The fact that the police will so quickly shoot down a black suspect instead of a white one, time and time again, in similar circumstances shows a total disregard for the value of a black man’s life by certain individuals who have unfortunately, and sometime intentionally, been allowed to exercise their prejudices and insecurities through their position.
Can’t be anything but fear, jealousy, and envy for whatever reason they have. I can’t explain it. Can you?
How else does a black boy with a knife walking away from cops get 16 shots but a white boy who shoots up a church is taken in alive?
How else do you explain a little black boy gunned down while holding a toy gun in public but a white young adult can shoot up a movie theater and be taken in alive?
Most of these shootings were by white officers and in the situations where the white fugitive was not shot, those officers were white too.
Easiest solution would be to have predominately the cops in our communities to come from our communities, but would never happen because since the majority of policing is done in our communities that means majority of the cops would be in our communities meaning majority of the cops would have to come from our communities and you know that isn’t going to happen.
And why?
It all goes back to the basic purpose of the police. It’s stickered on most of the cars. Right there, displayed proudly “To Serve and Protect”…. But have you really asked yourself the questions, To serve WHO? And to protect WHAT?
Looking at the past 100 years of US history, a random selection of a person from our communities, coast to coast, country to city, would probably 9.5 out of 10 times would yield the answer “Not me, my family or my property” to the question of To serve WHO? And to protect WHAT?
It stands to reason that, collectively, a lot of things that have happened involving the police, local, state, and federal, and our communities over that time would definitely support an intelligent person to reach that conclusion.
Unfortunately, it would seem that sometimes the law itself furthers this unpleasant belief. As recent as the case of Castle Rock v Gonzales, the Supreme Court has recognized that the police have no duty to protect you from harm and have a long standing and honored tradition of police discretion even in the presence of what most would think are apparently mandatory arrest statutes, basically meaning they can arrest who they want, when they want, for what they want.
So what do we do? Not all cops are bad cops; they just share the same uniform. That is obvious and never disagreed with. However, since we don’t know who all the bad cops are, it would be extremely difficult to root out and expose all the bad cops, politicians, and the like in the world. Our communities don’t have the time for that.
More importantly is that these tragic, senseless, and most times unpunished events must renew our efforts to reinvent our communities in a way in which positivity, brotherhood, family, and the spirit of the earth replace the strife which makes the powers that be feel justified, empowered, and emboldened in the senseless, cowardly, brutal, and inhumane ways that they act towards those from our communities.
We can cry about Tamir, we can protest for Michael, we can block shopping for LaQuan,
But if we don’t fix ourselves, and quickly, the sad part is, more than likely, at some point we will be crying, protesting, and boycotting for ??????
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