THE SUFFOCATION OF BLACK MEN
- Details
- Category: Justice
- Created: Saturday, 16 August 2014 15:27
- Published: Saturday, 16 August 2014 15:27
- Written by Attorney Jerry Girley
by Attorney Jerry Girley
A little over a month ago this nation was riveted by the choking death of Eric Garner at the hands of five New York police officers. Striking instances like the brutal death of Eric Garner are a painful reminder that the problem of race and racial oppression has not been fully resolved in America. At this juncture it is doubtful that we ever will get beyond the issue of race. Instead, what we will likely continue to do is react the next time that another black man is shot. I think of these occurrences as spillage from the containment tank of national denial.
The homicide of Eric Garner laid bare the festering wound of the Fruitville Station shooting of an unarmed young black man. He was shot in the back by a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), police officer while laying face down on the ground. Garner's death also harkens images of the Rodney King beating. Rodney was nearly beat to death by several white Los Angeles police officers. More distressingly, an all white jury acquitted Los Angeles police officers of all charges. This week we are confronted again with another national tragedy, the shooting death of Michael Brown. Michael Brown was due to start college this week. Instead, his family was forced to make funeral arrangements for him. He was literally cut down in his prime.
The nation, in general, is aghast, but the African American community is outraged and deservingly so.
 |
 |
 |
We have reached a tipping point. The death of Michael Brown is but one tragedy in a chain of so many others. The fact is that the American structure works very consistently, efficiently and often very brutally to keep the African American male in his proper place: subservient in every meaningful respect to white people, regarded as a suspect everywhere he goes and on the verge of suffocating because the system has its proverbial foot on his neck. If you listen very carefully you can hear African Americans all across America, especially young African American men, echoing and even amplifying the final words of Eric Garner, "I cant breathe."
I have often agonized, out loud, and among a few close friends regarding the fact that when some people see me, they don't see a father, an ordained minister of the gospel or civil rights lawyer. Instead, what they see is a suspect first, a black man second and a citizen of this country lastly. To illustrate the point I ask my family and friends, "what might you call a white man walking down the street carrying a gun? " The correct answer is a patriot. He is regarded as a patriot because he is simply exercising his Second Amendment right to keep and to bare arms. Next, I flip the question and ask, "What do you call a black man walking down the street with a gun?" The correct response is a suspect. He is a suspect because to most people there is no other legitimate explanation for why a black man might be carrying a gun other than he has committed or is about to commit a crime. And if he is seen by an over zealous police officer or an unstable neighborhood watch leader, he will be referred to as the decedent because he will likely be shot and killed.
Related: The Dred Scott Rule: Why White Men Get Away With Killing Black Men
The Presumption of Correctness In Ferguson, Mo.
Living under such constant suspicion is suffocating to any people. When we see the self-destructive behavior that many of our young men engage in such as gang violence and black on black crime, we should not regard those invidious acts as the problem. Rather they are symptoms of the problem. These acts should be construed as statements to the much larger society that mirrors society's conclusion about them: there lives have little value. This is not to excuse such behavior, but rather to fully explain it so that we can get to the heart of the matter.
Large cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles or New York, are concentrations camps of economic scarcity and social despair. They were created and they currently exist because of decades of dejuir and defacto housing discrimination. As African Americans migrated from the south, fleeing racial oppression, we found ourselves locked out of certain residential communities and confined to others. In a very real sense these housing projects function like modern day reservations or open-air prisons. There are no barbwire fences locking the residents in but there are societal attitudes that limit economic opportunity and that serve as substantial barriers to outward migration. There are no armed guards, in some cases there are, but mostly the local police provide the muscle and the firepower. The police and the people of the projects have an antithetical relationship. The police are quite successful in ensuring that the madness of the reservation does not spill over on to the calm of suburbia. The people of the projects are locked out of employment opportunities, afforded substandard educational opportunities and denied access to capitol to start their own businesses. In short we are squeezed in to confined living spaces where we are literally forced to live on top of each other. Since the time of slavery, we have been gasping for the air of opportunity and the air of equality. We are desperate to breath a sigh of relief from the hundreds of years of oppression. If America listens it can hear the voices of countless millions of African Americans saying over and over again, I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I CAN'T BREATHE!
It is quite suffocating to the African American community when the police are allowed to slaughter our young black men with impunity. It is a symptom of a problem. The problem is that the Dred Scott rule is still in effect in America. In the matter of Dred Scott v. Sanford, The United States Supreme Court shackled African Americans with a permanent badge of inferiority when it ruled, " The Black man has no rights that a White man is bound to respect." Every time a white police officer shoots a Black man without sufficient cause this heinous Dred Scott rule is in effect. We don't have a police brutality problem in America. What we have is a, "white male officers shooting unarmed black males problem." Its time that we call it what it is. I have spent several years looking at the empirical data on this matter. Disturbingly, I discovered that white male police officers shoot at suspects more than all other officers. Further, white male officers shoot unarmed black men more than all other officers. We cannot tolerate this any longer. Many supporters of the police are quick to point out that young black men are killed by other young black men more than by police officers. This is a true statement. However, we have the capacity to be concerned about more than one problem at a time. We must address both problems. Further, the larger issue is that we hold highly trained law enforcement officers to an entirely different standard of behavior than we hold angry, confused and obviously misguided youths to.
Until this country rises up an repudiates the Dred Scott rule and affirms the innate value and importance of every human life we will continue to see more Eric Garners, more Michael Browns and countless others. The powers that be expect African Americans to make a ruckus for a short while and then lapse back into political lethargy and apathy. If we do, then we should not be so surprised or outraged by the next lynching of a young black man. This is the time to stand up and to speak with one voice; All those who love freedom and who demand justice for all. This is that time for us to make our voices heard. If we speak loud enough they will be forced to listen and to take appropriate action. If we do not speak our sons and our daughters may fall victim to the suffocation of the system. So let us speak loudly. Speak in unity and speak continuously until our message is heard.
Founded in 2007, The Girley Law Firm, P.A. focuses it efforts in three main areas of the law: Civil Rights, Criminal Defense and Social Security. Web site: http://www.girleylawfirm.com/
Location: 125 East Marks Street Orlando, Fl. 32803 Ph.(407) 540-9866 Fax:(407) 540-8767
 |
The Orange County School Board has such little respect for District 5, they voted to remove over $2 million a year from Jones High School. The board transferred over $30 million away from the district over the last 10 years. Save Jones High School and Save our Community. Vote NO on half penny tax extension. |