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Saturday, March 24, 2018

Suffering or Inconvenienced?

An excerpt from the Sacramento Bee -

Mad about Stephon Clark protesters shutting down the Kings and I-5? Check your privilege
BY ERIKA D. SMITH

Dear well-meaning progressives of Sacramento:

So I hear you’re a little upset about the way, on Thursday, some people — OK, people with Black Lives Matter — were peacefully protesting the police shooting of Stephon Clark.

I know, I know. You’re as troubled as any other "woke" progressive about his death on Sunday night. The 22-year-old father of two shouldn’t have died the way he did, standing in his grandmother’s backyard in Meadowview after being chased down by two cops and a helicopter.

You think it’s unacceptable that the officers didn’t identify themselves before shouting “gun” and sending 20 bullets flying through the dark toward his body. And you’re suspicious about why, after the shooting, cops at the scene turned off the microphones on their body cameras and had a conversation amongst themselves for a couple of minutes.

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First of all, let's get one thing straight: Being inconvenienced for one day or even two is not “suffering,” a word I’ve heard far too many times since Thursday. “Suffering” is what Clark’s family is doing right now. "Suffering" is what young black men do all over this country, living with the fear of their lives being taken by gun violence.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/erika-d-smith/article206567754.html#storylink=cpy




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