In 2007 on this very blog, I asked a question. The question "is killing black males not illegal anymore?" I went back and read that blog a few days ago. That blog was written after the death of Martin Lee Anderson, a 14 year old black male who was beaten to death in a Florida boot camp for minors. You can say Mr. Anderson was on the wrong path, you can say he was a menace to society because he was placed in this boot camp, but watching that video of him being beaten there is no doubt he was a child who was no match for the four men beating him. Those men were not punished. All you have to do is google "cops shoot black man" and you will see countless articles popping up from as far as the U.K. about questionable situations where lethal force was used on unarmed black men. This phenomena is astounding, not because it happens, but because it happens so often and repeatedly the shooters are not punished. Wouldn't the outrage after just one of these instances be enough to make the justice system take note. Aren't enough of these cases public record in the last 40 years to have some kind of focus on prosecuting police who go all vigilante on unarmed citizens? Apparently not. What message does that send to black males around the world?Over the last few weeks I have truly been saddened. The senseless loss of life has continued. This time a 17 year old boy from Florida, Trayvon Martin. What's worse, this time it was not police officer. It was not a person charged with serving and protecting citizens. It was not a person who puts his life on the line for the good of the people. This time, it was a regular Joe. A self appointed neighborhood watch captain. A person with no training no jurisdiction to patrol and a license to carry a handgun. Martin was not on the shooters property, he was committing no crime other than being out at night. His skin was his sin. By now, we all know the ending to this story, it ends with Martin dead and his killer free. This time the police can't rely on mistaken identity or dark shadows that appear to be weapons. It wasn't a police chase, there were no warrants for arrest, no drugs, not even a criminal history used to paint the young man as some kind of degenerate thug that the public hates so much. There were skittles and Iced tea.
Over that last few weeks there has been outrage growing especially with the release of the 911 tapes. Tapes that tend to poke holes in the shooters self defense story. All that is horrifying, a man shoots a kid and goes free. What's more frightening is a man shoots a black kid and goes free, again, and again and again and again. What makes these kinds of stories so maddeningly disturbing is that as a black man, it could have been me, it could have been one of my brothers, and unfortunately, it has been at least one of my friends. It makes me think, what exactly is my life worth to society. What was Trayvon Martin's or Martin Lee Anderson's or Sean Bell's or Adu Diallo's or Robert Tolan's (who was fortunate enough to survive his wounds) life worth to society that someone could gun them down in cold blood and walk away. What is so dangerous about black men that you can shoot them on site and be defended by society? Society is more than willing to give you the benefit of the doubt not only to cops, but apparently to regular citizens. As a black man at what point do I fear for my life?
Recently, I was watching a rerun of one of those gold mining shows. You know, the shows where they are up in the Alaskan wilderness digging for gold. During this episode a bear was walking around the outskirts of the miners camp. Of course there are kids on the camp so everyone was worried. "What's the bear doing?" Everyone asked. Realistically, the bear was just exploring, it probably smelled their cooking and was checking it out. One of the miners mentioned that they could only drive the bear away, they could not shoot it unless it made an aggressive move towards the camp. The next day the bear came a little closer to the camp. At this point the miners had had it with the bear. To them, the bear had encroached into their space. The bear had to go. So two miners went out into the woods to find that bear and kill it. To the miners, they were protecting their families and their lives. Most people would not fault them for shooting the bear. Bears are majestic beautiful creatures, but they are wild and can be dangerous and unpredictable. To the bear, he was just looking for a meal in its own wilderness. Probably with his own family to feed. But to the men, the bear was threat that had to be eliminated. Watching this episode in light of what I have seen over the last 28 years on this earth. It dawned on me. I am that bear, Sean Bell was that Bear, Trayvon Martin was that bear, Robbie Tolan was that bear. See, that bear those men shot was threatening simply because it was a bear. Not because of anything it had done, simply because it was a bear and bears are inherently dangerous to humans. Society didn't cry for that bear, they sympathize and justify the killing. Understanding that the bear had to be dealt with. Who would argue that the life of the miners and their families was more important than the bear's?
Most won't admit it or can't see it, but that is the plight of the black man in this country. He is dangerous simply because he is... Black men are great in movies and music, but they are wild and unpredictable, animals. Police and citizens of all races are indoctrinated to believe that they need to be at a higher level of alert in the presence of strange black men. That higher alert level creates a need to defend oneself at all cost, even if it is not justified by reality. Now that split decision a cop makes when I reach in my pocket goes from non lethal to lethal forms of restraint. My hoody is now a cloak to hide my face, not from the rain, but from recognition. That can of soda or that wallet in my hand begins to resemble a gun. The diminutive stature of my child becomes the overwhelming presence of John Coffee. My rotund frame begins to resemble a track star who will definitely be too fast to catch if I flee. Most would not call this indoctrination racism, that's debatable. Most are not consciously taught to look at black men this way so they hide behind ignorance. Sadly, sometimes we teach citizens to view us this way. Unfortunately, for many reasons we would rather be feared than loved. Some of us feel we need to be "scary" to be respected. Society has some black men proud of their "goon" status.
As a staunch supporter of personal responsibility I felt these shootings were more our own fault than the shooters. I felt we were making it hard for ourselves. If we would just pull our pants up and start valuing education, society would feel no need to fear us. right? See, I was buying into societies ideology. The same ideology that made it ok for those gold miners to shoot that bear. The same ideology that has allowed society to turn a blind eye to the aforementioned injustices. "One way or another they brought it on themselves." is what society tells you. When I realized the flaw in my thinking, I was sick to my stomach. I felt like I knew how adam and eve felt when they were fooled by the serpent in the garden of eden. I had allowed society to make me believe that rap music and hip hop culture were the true culprits. It had me believing that the culture portrayed us so poorly, how could you blame cops and citizens for fearing us the way they do? Feeling this way made me feel like a disgrace, how could I be so closed minded? While, we are portrayed poorly in media, and there are some issues that we as black men need to address in popular culture and in our own communities. The unpunished killing of black men pre-dates Drake and lil Wayne, Wacka Flocka and Plies. It was around before Jay Z, DMX and The Lox. Before Biggie and Tupac used lyrics to weave a complex tapestry of black life in America, black men were being murded and their killers were going free. Before N.W.A came straight outta Compton and Ice T said fuck the police, cops and citizens were murdering black males and being set free without punishment. These kinds of crimes pre-date hip hop, soul, funk, jazz,blues big band, swing, gospel and negro spirituals. Actually, most of these forms of music were coveted as a method of shining a light on mis-treatment.
I had an introspective moment. I was putting the chicken before the egg. We as black men weren't degrading ourselves to the point of draining our lives of worth. Society has told us we are worthless for so long we began to believe it. It's sad. The beefed up gritty persona's you see in hip hop culture today are manifestations of hundreds of years of conditioning. Conditioning that taught young black males that no matter what you do we will not respect you, so you must settle for fear. Just look at the way some in society disrespect President Obama, a man who did everything right. He never got in any legal trouble, got an education, a law degree, became editor of the Harvard law review turned down what would be six figure jobs to be a community organizer. He is one of the most disrespected Presidents in history. His opponents don't attack him on policy, they draw him as an ape, a pimp, a Nazi a black panther. They disrespect his wife and kids, they pass around incendiary emails etc. I am not completely blaming society for all the black man's problems, we have definitely caused a number of our own, but you can't deny the effect this country's checkered past has on our community and its men. We must remember that the civil rights movement was only fifty years ago, One generation. Most of our parents were born into a segregated world. Just as we can't fix all of our problems in 50 years, society can't fix all of its problems in 50 years.
Despite all these issues I have mentioned, the fear, the brash way in which we carry ourselves at times, these killings are not and can never be justified. No matter how violent we are portrayed, killing of an innocent unarmed man should never be justified. That day I saw the miners shoot the bear, I saw a young black man treading through life minding his own business, his presence alone was reason enough to be considered a threat. The men eliminated the threat life goes on. Unlike the bear, no other human has Dominion over us. Our lives should have the same worth as any cop or citizen of any race. When innocent black men die, the outrage should be so loud that society cannot ignore it. The outcry should be so great that no judge or lawyer can get an mis-trial or acquittal. When I see the Trayvon Martin case, I see a crime that if unpunished opens the flood gates for lawlessness. Citizens will feel empowered to seek vigilante justice. Black men will arm themselves for protection. Violence only begets violence. On the other hand, if we can generate enough outrage that this young man's killer is charged and convicted with murder, maybe we will send the message that black men's lives are not worthless. Maybe society will no longer turn the other cheek when young innocent black men are taken from this earth. Will cops stop shooting black men? I doubt it, but we cannot let a regular citizen go free, the back lash could be too great. Let's do what we can to make sure Trayvon Martin's killer is charged and convicted. We can't do anything about the last 30 years but starting now we can and should force society to make a change. If not, the next name you see in bold letters on television could be mine.
To Trayvon Martin, Martin Lee Anderson, Sean Bell, Adu Diallo, Robert Tolan and countless other black men who have been weighed and found worthless, your lives are not worthless. We will always remember you and it will be your names that foster the change we seek.
