Dear friends, I know that I have been putting a
renewed focus on storytelling and fiction to get my points across lately. I’ve
enjoyed the experience, and I will continue to do so for the foreseeable
future. Today, however, I am sad. Today I am not going to tell a fiction to
make you think, I am simply going to tell the truth, and how it makes me feel.
In the past two days, two black men were killed by
police in the states in front of witnesses. The attacks were recorded by the
witnesses, and were sent to various news agencies, and uploaded. One was even
livestreamed to Facebook. The men’s names are: Anton Sterling, married with a
son, and Philando Castile, who was shot while in his car with his girlfriend
and daughter. No matter where you stand in this, you must admit that the
officer who fired shots into a car with a young child was in the wrong. I’m not
going to post links to the videos as they are extremely graphic, but if you
feel like you can handle it, I do recommend watching them so you can actually
see what happened.
Anton Sterling was shot point blank in the head while
being restrained on the ground. The officer who fired said Anton was reaching
for a weapon. It should be noted that both of Anton’s arms , were being
restrained, one even by the officer who fired. Earlier in the night, police had
been called to investigate an apparent altercation between Anton and an unknown
party. The officers, in the video, tackled Anton into the hood of a car, before
forcing him onto the ground. One officer knelt on Anton’s back, pinning one
arm, while the other knelt on Anton’s other arm. Seconds later the officer on
Anton’s arm fired his gun several times, killing Anton.
The next day, officers pulled over Philando Castile
for a broken taillight; also in the car were his girlfriend and his young
daughter in the backseat. Philando, cooperating fully, informed the officer
that he had a license to carry, and that he would only take out his ID as the
officer had requested. The officer fired several rounds into Philando as he reached
for his ID. Again, the officer fired into a confined space that contained a
woman and a young girl with no regard for their safety. The girlfriend began to
livestream the events immediately after the shots had been fired. In the stream
you can see the officer still pointing his gun at the now severely wounded
Philando, who is drenched in blood and having difficulty breathing. The
girlfriend calmly explains the situation as the officer swore outside the car.
More police arrived at the scene and made the girlfriend get out of the car.
They tossed the phone, still streaming, away from her, and you can hear them
put handcuffs on her. During this, she is constantly asking about her daughter.
The stream ended with the girlfriend crying and her daughter repeating: “I’m
right here.” Philando later died from the gun shots in hospital.
He was shot and killed in front of his girlfriend and
young daughter because of a broken taillight. Because of the actions of this
officer, this young girl not only has to grow up without a father, she had to
watch her father die.
Watching the video involving Anton made me sick,
watching the video about Philando broke my heart, and knowing that their
children will now have to grow up without fathers made me angry. You can argue
all you want to try and justify the officer’s actions; I will not care for what
you say. Their actions were caught on tape. You can see what happened clearly.
These officers murdered two black men. The officers, in both cases, fired at
point blank range. It is evident in Anton’s case that the officer executed the
man, and it is evident in Philando’s case that the officer had no regard for black
life when he fired into a car that contained a young black child.
The American police system is broken. It has been
broken for years, but with the advent of smartphones and livestreaming, the brokenness
has become so much more apparent. The police are no longer able to sweep these
things under the rug—but they still try! Just look at all of the officers who
have killed unarmed black people, and have had nothing happen to them. Most of
them are still cops. In some cases, even white civilians have been let off the
hook after murdering a black person.
I don’t understand how people can see all this and
not think white privilege is real. I don’t understand how people can see all
this and think that Black Lives Matter is a waste of time. I don’t understand
how people can see all this and think that racism is dead. In 2016, police in
the States have killed 561 people, the majority of which have been people of
colour. In 2015, the total was 1146, of which over 72% were black people. And
let’s not forget that in 2014, an officer shot and killed a 12 year old boy for
having a toy gun, a mere two seconds after arriving at a park.
I made myself watch the videos because Anton and
Philando deserve to be remembered. I watched the videos so I could see what
actually happened. There is so much hate in the world right now. Everyday there
is more and more, and every day it gets harder for people to stay positive.
Every day it gets harder to believe in a better tomorrow, and every day the
hope for that seems more like a foolish dream.
Over the past few days, I have had friends attacked
and receive death threats because of their race or religion. This hate has
always existed, all the way from the beginning of recorded history has the
human race hated each other, but lately it just seems so much worse.
I want to believe in humanity. I want to believe in
the goodness of man. I want to. But some days I can’t.
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