Seeing the world through a white man's eyes

Seeing the world through a white man's eyes

Last week saw the verdict announced in the trial of the police officers who killed Tyre Nichols. Yet I saw hardly anything about this in the news. Compare that with the media coverage of George Floyd's murder during the trial.

Is this one more sign of the retreat of DEI in organizations....

At the time of Nichol's death I wrote this and thought I would share it now...


“If it hadn’t been for those five

Tyre Nichols would now still be alive.

Having committed no crime,

Taken away in his prime.

To his home he was on his way

At the end of an uneventful day.

When without any apparent cause,

Regardless of what it says in the laws,

They stopped him and without a pause

Grabbed him with their scorpion claws.

Threw him to the ground,

Five on one they did surround,

Demand he not resist,

Tried to get handcuffs on his wrist.

And though he did as he was told,

Their anger could not be controlled

First he was tazed,

As these five became more crazed.

Then they used the pepper spray,

Instead of sending him on his way.

Just asking what he had done

Angered them more each one.

No wonder then he chose to run.


The dispatcher asks “What’s the charge”

Who is this criminal still at large?

Of course the cop has no idea,

All he has is his anger and his fear.

And so the hunt then begins

Echoing so many earlier sins.

The escaped slave running free,

Ends up as strange fruit upon the tree.

Now those sworn to protect and serve,

Determine justice undeserved.

Believing the cloak of immunity

Allows them to act with impunity.

He clearly complied with their commands,

Did everything the law demands,

Yet still died at their hands.


So while he can run he cannot hide

The chase, the anger intensified.

The panting officer out of breath

Out of shape, an angel of death.


Three minutes, 20 blows.

They beat an innocent man head to toe.

And as for the measure of their hate,

They took the time to get their stories straight.

But this time the camera doesn’t lie,

And the microphones picking up his cry.

“Mom, Mom” was the last thing we’d hear him call out,

Leaving their very humanity in doubt.


To those who say this is not about race

Let them look Tyre’s mother in the face.

Yes, those officers were black

That carried out this brutal attack.

But we all know if Tyre were white

He would have gotten home safe that night.

So may these events shine a bright light

On the fact it’s the system we must fight.

Those officers were cogs in a wheel,

Of a system designed to bring Black people to heel.

Even with no White people on the scene,

There rules an ideology quite obscene.

See white supremacy’s infected society’s soul,

On everyone it takes a toll.

A system all internalize,

Inequality legitimized.

So please don’t be surprised,

When black cops see the world through a white mans eyes. “


#diversity #DEI #racism

Wesley Etheridge

Executive Operations Support | Data Gathering & Analysis | Process Improvement | Project Coordination | Business Continuity | Onboarding | Research & Writing

1 个月

“…When black cops see the world through a white man’s eyes.” This is a powerful statement and one that is reiterated by some black cops who brutalize other black people then claim they bleed blue. It will be interesting to see if their fellow officers, unions and precinct superiors defend them as staunchly when they find themselves held accountable by our justice system.

要查看或添加评论,请登录

社区洞察

其他会员也浏览了