Less than 48 hours apart two black men were killed by police. Seemingly only for the crime of being black.
#AltonSterling and #PhilandoCastile join the list of hashtags memorializing all the black lives lost to police brutality. In 2016 alone over 100 black men have been killed by those who have sworn to “protect and serve.”
As a black person in America it is becoming blatantly obvious we don’t fall into the category of the protected. We are the hunted, the victimized, the stereotyped and the murdered.
Two men were murdered in cold blood, both incidents caught vividly on camera, and yet people still want to question the situation. Is it not enough that two human lives were taken far too soon? Is it not enough that there are multiple witnesses, whether it was at the scene of the crime or as one of the millions of people who have viewed these disturbing videos circling the internet?
Alton Sterling was murdered by two Baton Rouge officers on July 5 2016. He was pinned to the ground by two officers and shot in the chest at point blank range. The argument is that Sterling was in possession of a firearm and that he was a threat to the officers. Anyone who has watched the triggering footage can see it’s incredibly clear that even if Sterling did have a firearm there’s no way he could have reached it, let alone fire it. He was killed outside the convenience store he sold CD’s in front of every day.
Of course the subject of his criminal record was immediately used to justify the two officer’s use of deadly force. It is a reoccurring trend in our media outlets, when a black person is killed it must be their fault. Let’s ignore the fact that a human was brutally murdered in public and on camera, because their past indiscretions prove they deserved to die.
Philando Castile was shot four times by an officer in Falcon Heights, Minn., less than 48 hours after #AltonSterling started trending. Castile was reaching for his license and registrations, just as the cop asked him to, when he was shot four times through the rolled down window. Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, documented the entire incident live via Facebook. Castile complied with all the cop’s orders and he was still murdered; in front of Reynolds four-year-old daughter.
Two fathers were taken from this earth today by three officers who clearly aren’t cut out for their jobs. The worst part is knowing that these officers will most likely not be held accountable for their crimes. They’ll get suspended with a slap on the wrist as we’ve seen in cases such a Freddie Gray’s or Tamir Rice’s.
The killing of African-Americans by police is an issue that seems to have no end in sight. For hundreds of years black people in this country have constantly been reminded that their lives mean less. Their lives do not matter. These incidents are definitely about race, and anyone who says otherwise is just plain wrong. There can’t be any resolve until everyone can acknowledge that black people are being profiled and murdered for being black. There can’t be any peace until we hold these law enforcement officials accountable for their crimes.
So we ask for is justice. Justice for those individuals, who the media and the government want to criminalize and dehumanize as a way to justify what they are doing to us. Black lives are being lost almost daily to people who have taken oaths to protect the community. Only if it’s the right (white) community. It’s scary to watch your father, mother, sister or brother leave the house and wonder if their name will be the next trending topic. Maybe it will be your own.
Yes, I understand #NotAllCops. Yes, I understand #AllLivesMatter, but right now this is about black lives. This is about black lives being taken and nothing being done about it. This is about no longer being quiet and just waiting for the next name to become a hashtag. This is about changing the system, it’s about accountability and it’s about reminding the world that #BLACKLIVESMATTER.