What happened in Ferguson, MO, with the police shooting of 18 year old Michael Brown, is a travesty. The fact that it's getting as much air play as it is, is warranted and justified.
The mishandling of this young man's death was bungled from the beginning (as noted in my previous post), and the missteps keep coming. The fact that the policeman who killed this young man was protected by the blue wall of silence, only aggravated an already volatile situation.
Here's what we know for sure.
This kind of thing didn't just happen this week. Black and brown men have been beaten senseless and killed at the hands of over-zealous police officers for as long as this country has been in existence.
This is why, as black parents, we are negligent if we don't teach our sons how to stay alive when (not if - because it's sure to happen) they are pulled over by the police.
Now, like before, we hear this familiar refrain from police authorities . . .
The call for more diversity training.
This is useless.
Why?
Because there is a disconnect in the two communities that police training alone can not change.
First of all, the lives of men of color have to matter. They have to be seen as valuable members of our society, worthy of help. They have to be seen for what they are - fathers, sons, brothers, husbands, friends - human beings. The policemen have to see themselves and their families when they look at our men.
Until the police can connect with men of color on this human level, we'll continue to see these senseless acts repeating themselves.
Our saving grace is the ubiquitous use of cell phone cameras, shedding light, that is being seen around the world, on what we've known for years.
The threat of foreign terrorists isn't alarming. It's the home grown ones with badges that scares us the most.
Check out the video below. It's powerful.
http://www.msnbc.com/all-in-with-chris-hayes/watch/the-paradox-of-race-in-america-317627459554
The mishandling of this young man's death was bungled from the beginning (as noted in my previous post), and the missteps keep coming. The fact that the policeman who killed this young man was protected by the blue wall of silence, only aggravated an already volatile situation.
Here's what we know for sure.
This kind of thing didn't just happen this week. Black and brown men have been beaten senseless and killed at the hands of over-zealous police officers for as long as this country has been in existence.
This is why, as black parents, we are negligent if we don't teach our sons how to stay alive when (not if - because it's sure to happen) they are pulled over by the police.
Now, like before, we hear this familiar refrain from police authorities . . .
The call for more diversity training.
This is useless.
Why?
Because there is a disconnect in the two communities that police training alone can not change.
First of all, the lives of men of color have to matter. They have to be seen as valuable members of our society, worthy of help. They have to be seen for what they are - fathers, sons, brothers, husbands, friends - human beings. The policemen have to see themselves and their families when they look at our men.
Until the police can connect with men of color on this human level, we'll continue to see these senseless acts repeating themselves.
Our saving grace is the ubiquitous use of cell phone cameras, shedding light, that is being seen around the world, on what we've known for years.
The threat of foreign terrorists isn't alarming. It's the home grown ones with badges that scares us the most.
Check out the video below. It's powerful.
http://www.msnbc.com/all-in-with-chris-hayes/watch/the-paradox-of-race-in-america-317627459554
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