That the news is drastically unsettling shouldn’t come as a surprise in 2020. This year has gone out of its way to make things intense… but it’s not enough that we’re doing our best to negotiate uncertain and very turbulent waters during a pandemic, three black people have been murdered – not accidently killed, not mistakenly killed – but murdered and two of them on video in this year alone while a black woman was killed in her own apartment. That’s just 2020. If you look in the past 5 years, the cases have been there and people were robbed of their life because of some b.s. law that protects people clearly affected by deep roots of prejudice, because someone used excessive force, or because yet another gung-ho desperado who has way too many guns in their home decided that martial law was the route to go because ‘Murica. It's been 8 years since the murder of Trayvon Martin... and the murders that have occurred since then are deeply unsettling.
And let us dispense with pleasantries, ignorance, and political correctness. It took over two months for charges to be filed against Ahmaud Arbery’s killers. Now George Floyd has been unjustly and brutally killed, point blank, video taped from different angles, and still the murderer has not had charges filed against him (*updated finally in custody). Breonna Taylor was shot dead inside her apartment. They’re calling for the dismissal of these charges lord knows for what reason.
That’s just 2020… actually that’s just a couple of months of this year.
But All Lives Matter continues to trend… people come to defend murderers because they’re “god fearing men” or some other platitude catering to religious belief or any other paper thin excuse. It’s not measuring an act as heinous for its very nature but measuring if it’s vile or not depending on the circumstances and the color of the skin of the people involved… and saying otherwise is being ignorant. Absolutes rarely apply, but how many examples are needed to see a situation for what it is.
Charges against people of color are harsher than for white people. Sentences are harsher for people of color than for white people. And don’t look for exceptions to the rule, look at the average, look at the tendency, look at what happens more often than an exception. Police brutality against people of color and especially black people is out of control. This country is out of control and there are no blind eyes left to turn. There is no excuse left to give. That’s why people are repeating themselves.
The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides for "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
That’s the right to your privacy or the right to due process, something grossly lacking in all cases mentioned above. That’s the fourth amendment. And it’s not the fourth amendment for some people more than for others. It’s the fourth amendment. Period. It’s also the amendment that should protect people from the very racial profiling that’s at the core of so many issues in this country.
The aftermath of the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Abnery, and Breonna Taylor is that riots are occurring and if these surprise or offend you, then I’m not sure what it’ll take to show the problem point blank. If you still don’t get it, please let me know how many white men with automatic firearms were arrested in the stay-at-home protests we’ve seen lately. More importantly, explain to me why unarmed black men are killed during their arrest when they do not resist while white terrorist shooters are apprehended. If you still need it clearer, be aware that a black news reporter was arrested during one of those riots. Also note that a white man in riot gear was seen vandalizing, breaking windows, and starting fires in the riots. Yet we still don't accept the problem and insist we're Great. Sorry, but I disagree completely. Things are far from great and catchy slogans and fancy rhetoric won't change my opinion.
This blog is normally as chill as possible and as happy as possible in the search of something lighter and kinder to try to balance things out, to distract, to give some light during dark times… but silence is acceptance for too many people. You have to say outwardly that you have a problem with racism, that you have a problem with police brutality, that you have a problem with prejudice against people from the LGBTQ+ communities, that you have a problem with social inequality and countless other things. It’s not enough that a black man died… so we wait for another… and another… and another.
Because it’s sad to say that I really wish I could say this is a tragedy… but I can’t… because it’s another.
Stay safe, be kind, and love all thy neighbors, not just the ones that think like you and look like you.
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