By Roger Caldwell
America is at war with Black People and people of color.
How could a credible Minneapolis police department put out a factual press release, which was a complete lie, and had no truth in it? “Man Dies after Medical Incident during Police Intervention,” says the Minneapolis police department concerning George Floyd’s death. This is an indicator of what you can believe when you read or look at the news.
As long as the lie sounds good, it is assumed everyone will swallow the lie, and it’s okay. When the story includes a Black person, and a police-person, it is rare for the police to lose. This incident was done in the daytime, and the murder was executed with citizens taking photos and videos.
If the 17-year-old young lady, Darnella Frazier, did not have the courage and tenacity to video the incident, the policeman Derek Chauvin could be free, and the truth would had been pushed under the rug. When it comes to the credibility of any police department in the country, everyone is sprinkled with some corruption and lies. Everyone will tell you that is how it is so don’t get too excited with just one win.
“This week’s verdict provides a critical measure of accountability; there is so much more we must do to achieve true justice in this country. Justice would mean George Floyd was alive today, It would mean Daunte Wright was also alive today. It would mean so many others were alive today. And simply being alive is not enough. It would mean that we were breaking the grip of racism and white supremacy that prevents us from achieving true justice,” says Rahna Epting of Move On.
It is time to rejoice and breathe a sigh of relief, because there was a conviction on all three counts. The protesters, all the demonstrating, the praying, the dreaming, the crying, the fighting -it all paid off. The police are still killing, in every Black community in America, but they saw Chauvin being led out of the courtroom in hand cups. Too many police are criminals and the question everyone keeps asking in the Black community : “Why are there so many drugs in our community?
The blue wall of silence is starting to crumble because the police force is starting to reflect and look like the people in the community. When police in a trial tell the truth against another member of the force, something is starting to change.
But, after 24 hours of the verdict being read in the murder case against Chauvin, at least six Americans were shot by officers, mostly Black. There was a 16-year-old girl in Columbus, Ohio, an oft-arrested man in Escondido, California, a 42 year old man in eastern North Carolina, an unidentified man in San Antonio, another man killed in the same city within hours of the first, and finally a 31 year old man in Massachusetts. It means the fight is not even close to being over.
It is very easy for the police around the country to say that they are doing their job, and killing is part of the job. But when we compare the numbers of deaths of other police departments around the world, our violence and deaths are the most around the globe.
In the days, weeks, and months ahead, these new deaths will spark new cries for justice, and an urgent need for radical change.
“Yes 4 Minneapolis is a Black –led growing coalition of grassroots, community organizations and individuals who are working to replace the violent Minneapolis Police Department with Department of Public Safety that would address community safety holistically, and with a public health approach,” says Rahna Epting.
This is a historic and visionary approach to start to resolve the violence and deaths police departments are having around the country. Killing of Black people and people of color must stop and end now. May, George Floyd and the hundreds of thousands of Black people who have died at the hands of the police, rest in peace.
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