A Desire To Change Will Make The Difference
- Details
- Category: Justice
- Published: Sunday, 03 May 2015 04:14
- Written by Dr. Vincent Polite
by Dr.Vincent Polite
The only thing it takes to make a difference is the desire to do so. In this entire Baltimore saga, I think people are losing sight that all these people lives changed based on beliefs they have about each other.
Freddie Gray ran because he believed based on the past action of the police who patrol his community that he would be at the very least be mistreated. The police believed that because he ran, he was committing a crime or guilty of something, so they had a duty to pursue and arrest him. Because we are not able or no longer willing to see each other's humanity, tragedies like this will continue to take place.
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While most will choose not to believe or accept it, the weight of changing this social dynamic rests entirely with the police and the criminal justice system. Why? Because you have the power and with that power comes the responsibility to impose equal justice.
We have these social outbreaks and opposing voices because justice is not equal, it currently serves only those who qualify based on skin color or bank balance while giving the promise and illusion of fairness, it has no intention of ever delivering to everyone. It's the system that made that promise to it's citizens, not the people in Ferguson or Baltimore. Trayvon Martin was told as an American citizen he possessed the right to walk anywhere he chose, without fear of meeting a vigilante that would take his life. And if his life was taken in such a manner, a jury of his fellow citizens would hold his killer to the highest standards of the law.
Eric Gardener, had the expectation that if arrested it would be done so in a manner in which was in keeping with the rules of conduct for police in apprehending suspects. No illegal choke holds or unreasonable force would be used only enough to subdue him. Those are the rules of that police department, that are expected to be applied fairly to all citizens facing arrest in New York City.
Has it become too much to ask our law enforcement communities to follow and adhere to their own rules? Has it become too much for communities of color not to look at every police person as the enemy?