This Week ...

This is not my usual type of post, but I shared with my Communication students today it would be educational irresponsibility if I did not bring up this topic during this week of all weeks as the syllabus has us scheduled to discuss recent scandals in the news ... the week the United States of America turns 240 years old ... 

In recent years, African American males (and at least one African American female) are dying at the hands of police officers or after coming into the custody of local authorities (Sanchez, 2015; Shoichet & Berlinger, 2016; McLaughlin, 2016; Bloom & Imam, 2014; McLaughlin, 2014; Death). In most instances, the murder of these individuals appears seemingly unprovoked and senseless. And time after time, the people on the right side of the firearms are tried before juries and court officials only to walk away having been found not guilty (Sanchez, Cook, & Ly, 2016) or there is no indictment at all (Davey & Bosman, 2014; Smith, 2015) while the families of the lost are left still confused, frustrated, and without their loved ones.

What I believe to be the main causes or contributing factors leading to the controversy are ...

1. African Americans are not fully aware of the fear police officers have when officers approach them. Law enforcement officials leave their homes each day and are charged with the primary goal of serving and protecting with the hopes of returning to their homes safe and sound once their shifts conclude. Unless you are a police officer, you cannot fully appreciate or understand the weight of that reality. Because of the work they do, the rest of us are free to enjoy our liberties and walk the streets feeling we are safe. When they approach any situation, they have to assume the worst; many do not want to hear that, but it is the world in which they live. It is the premise under which they must operate by the virtue of wearing the badge and the uniform. They have to know and believe they are in place to keep or restore peace. They have to be on guard and ready for anything. They know nothing about the person in the car, on the sidewalk, on the street. Nothing. Can you imagine working a job where terror could be around any corner?! They have to put so much into motion when they are faced with a situation: judgment, sensibility, heightened awareness ... It's complex, and I can only imagine. The choice is either "I go home alive, or I don't."

2. Police officers and most who are of non-African American descent are not fully aware of the feelings African Americans have in their day-to-day lives. We do not live in the same worlds as everyone else and are often mistaken as being angry, aggressive, and even frightening when that is not the case. And in instances when non-African Americans try to get to know us, it oftentimes turns into us trying to defend why we are the way we are as opposed to us proudly and unequivocally sharing that yes, we can be loud; yes, we can be colorful; yes, we can be incredibly energetic, which may seem abnormal or scary to others but is perfectly the status quo for some of us. That is who some of us are. 

If we see a Korean, a Japanese, an Australian, a Russian, a Chinese, a Brazilian ... we automatically respect he/she has a different background, possibly different demeanors, attitudes, et cetera. Although Africans were brought to North America centuries ago, and while it may be presumed that by now our cultures, values, and attitudes should be perfectly aligned with those of White America because our ancestors were stripped of anything remotely close to their roots, they are not. Just as a Korean, a Japanese, an Australian, a Russian, a Chinese, a Brazilian is automatically regarded as having some differences, why can we not do the same for African Americans? Because Africans were brought here and then made devoid of most of their culture, it is assumed, all these centuries later, that they should act, sound, and react as the majority believes they should.

3. Social media has promoted a "Black Lives Matter" mantra that often garners negative reactions from non-African Americans, prompting some to respond with "#alllivesmatter." The point is this is not a competition; it is not a #blacklivesmatter vs. #alllivesmatter situation. The suggestion is not that Black lives matter, that they are the ONLY lives that matter while everyone else's existence is irrelevant. The suggestion is because Blacks are the ones we keep seeing in the news as the ones who are dying at the hands of police over and over again, the message it sends the Black community is ... well ... your lives do not matter. You are no more than wild, untamed animals to us that need to be snuffed out.

What is the answer to the fatal police encounters? I have no idea. What will stop African Americans' disdain for and/or distrust of the police? I'm unsure. Some say training for the police, and others say it's improving and increasing the conversations parents have with their children about how they should interact with the police; however, in light of Philando Castile getting stopped for a broken tail light, his mother's words that she told him to always comply with an officer's requests, and he still ended up dead (McLaughlin, 2016), you just don't know what to do.

And what do you do as a police officer going on your route today? How do you feel? What is going through your heads? What do you do differently? Do you do anything differently at all? You saw your colleagues in Dallas last evening working to protect our First Amendment rights, and five of them did not return to their families at the ends of their shifts (Karimi, & Shoichet, 2016). Do not be discouraged. Find and embrace the strength to go on with the pride and power you have behind your badge and pray your decisions are guided and measured. 

My respectful request is you avoid merely reading and disregarding this but that you read, reflect, and responsibly react. 

Please agree, disagree, support, or refute my claims. They are only my personal points of view as an African American who sat and cried last night, watching and listening to the news, viewing disturbing stories of working police officers getting killed as people peacefully marched for justice (Karimi & Shoichet, 2016), as an African American who is married to an African American man, trying to figure out how African American parents today go about raising their children so they grow up attending graduations, not funerals.

Bloom, D. E., & Imam, J. (2014, December 8). New York man dies after chokehold by police. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2014/07/20/justice/ny-chokehold-death/

Davey, M., & Bosey, J. (2014, November 24). Protests flair after Ferguson police is not indicted. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/us/ferguson-darren-wilson-shooting-michael-brown-grand-jury.html

Death of Freddy Gray. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Freddie_Gray

Karimi, F., & Shoichet, C. E. (2016, July 8). Dallas sniper attack: 5 officers killed during protests against police violence. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/08/us/philando-castile-alton-sterling-protests/index.html

McLaughlin, E. C. (2014, August 15). What we know about Michael Brown's shooting. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2014/08/11/us/missouri-ferguson-michael-brown-what-we-know/

McLaughlin, E. C. (2016, July 8). Woman streams aftermath of fatal officer-involved shooting. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/07/us/falcon-heights-shooting-minnesota/index.html

Sanchez, R. (2015, July 22). What we know about the controversy in Sandra Bland's arrest. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2015/07/21/us/texas-sandra-bland-jail-death-explain/

Sanchez, R., Cook, III, L., Ly, L. (2016, June 24). Freddie Gray verdict: Baltimore officer who drove van not guilty on all charges. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/23/us/baltimore-goodson-verdict-freddie-gray/

Shoichet, C. E., & Berlinger, J. (2016, July 6). Alton Sterling shooting: Second video of deadly encounter emerges. Retrieved https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/06/us/baton-rouge-shooting-alton-sterling/

Smith, M. (2015, December 21). Jury declines to indict anyone in the death of Sandra Bland. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/22/us/grand-jury-finds-no-felony-committed-by-jailers-in-death-of-sandra-bland.html?_r=0