The red tape, loopholes, lies and deceit being deployed to deny a population of people their constitutional rights.
As the world decries the brutal deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, everyone from Dr. Phil to Amazon are now pledging solidarity with Black Lives Matter and other freedom fighters. Overwhelmingly, those who have heretofore remained silent or espoused anti-black sentiments (Amazon, NASCAR, L’Oréal, the NFL, Facebook and Citibank), are now pledging an oath to unite in the cause of ending police brutality and racial injustices.
Minneapolis public schools and universities were among the first to sever ties with its boys in blue. The Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art and the NYC Education Department have emulated this bold endeavor. For now, a myriad of businesses have vowed against summoning local authorities in future instances of nonviolent crime. It gives me cause to speculate if other self-appointed snitches—Permit Patty, DoubleTree Hotel, Starbucks, Yale, and Huntington Bank—will do the same.
Despite the foregoing, the intolerable actions of our nation’s tough cops seems uninterrupted.
Turn on the TV and cops nationwide are out wielding batons, crashing them into the bodies—and skulls—of protesters who seem to be willfully deflecting all manner of physical pain.
In a moment’s leisure, many have laughed at President Donald J. Trump's buffoonery. Blasphemously, he stood in front of an Episcopalian church he has never attended, brandished a bible he has never read, and promised things he could not easily deliver—vicious dogs and unleashing the onslaught of his mighty military force.
What is no laughing matter is that an incorrigible justice system and its ruinous cops have been emboldened by Trump’s spicy tongue.
A prosecutor has meanwhile responded to the melee with the arrests of the sinister curruptocrats (i.e., depraved cops) and promised that this time, justice will be served. In George Floyd’s case, the stage has been set for a courtroom showdown that just might put the Trial of the Century to a shame.
But you know the defense's mindset, right? Let those grouches have their moment. For every ten disgruntle citizen who demonize these cops, hundreds will say their actions were justified—in the end, they will prevail.
So let’s recap for a moment. Three innocent, upstanding people of color are dead. They died at the hands of callous militiamen who neglected their oath to protect and serve. In all probability, each case is rife with screw-ups, lies and deceit, cover-ups, policy breeches and eye witnesses to the whole debacle. So why does the story not end there?
Why? Because this is America! America’s justice system is wrought with wrath and imperfections! So imperfect in fact, that there are grave inequities—one justice system for black people and another for everyone else. Within its tainted corridors, cops are beloved—white cops are cherished even more. In a manner of flawed reasoning, America’s justice system has granted its beloved a license to kill anyone bearing the skin color of black.
Blacks in America should brace themselves. The orchestrator's of injustice will undoubtedly find a way out for its cherished men in blue. Consequentially, black people will be required to dismiss the monstrosities seen and heard—a dead man asphyxiated; a woman killed in a botched police raid; a man shot by a racist ex-cop and his vigilante son.
For blacks, the story of our long suffering never ends. Our pursuit of justice is an unending link of chain and our victimizer’s repetitive declamations—fear, threat, resisting arrest, justified use of deadly force—reverberates like a broken record. Stymied, we clench our fists, buckle our knees, and throw weary hands up to a smoldering sky. Asking ourselves all the while, When is wrong, just wrong!