Well put by my Co-worker Keith Hamm: Here I find myself AGAIN saddened and ashamed of my country. Some of you might have just heard about this case for the first time today but I first heard about it on Democracy Now a few months ago. Ive had some time to reflect on this tragedy and other recent incidents, many of these kind of stories usually just go unreported. This finally hit the mainstream pulse today in lieu of the Ferguson decision; because like that case an NYC grand jury has also decided NOT to press charges on several police officers even though a coroner ruled Eric Garners death a homicide. Not a single officer has been held accountable for extinguishing a persons life. Not for murder, not for manslaughter, not even for excessive use of force... no charges. Its unconscionable. Eric Garner is seen pleading to these officers several times that he cant breath, all while in an illegal choke hold, just before he goes unconscious and dies. All this over the alleged sale of lose cigarettes, a father of six loses his life. This type of incident is happening to communities everywhere on a daily basis. This isnt just anecdotal, this isnt people playing the race card, or the media hyping a sensational case. I understand these sort of encounters may be so foreign to your own personal experience and its easier to write them off as the other, the exception, not the rule. But many of us are guilty of only experiencing the world through our own eyes of relative privilege. If we WERE to walk a mile in another mans shoes we might discover that below the fabric of our society lies an insidious and systemic form of institutionalized racism that aggressively targets, pursues and brutalizes an entire classes of people with total disregard for their humanity. Its painfully obvious if you pay any amount of attention to the bigger picture that black and brown life in this country is considered cheap, threatening, expendable. Could it be, that after all, this is the economic foundation our country was built on? We have yet to honestly atone for our violent past because the echo can still be heard. Dont take my word for it, ask someone of color about their experiences. If you dont know someone different looking than yourself then please go out of your way to meet that someone. Its my opinion that the solution to MANY of our problems as a society could easily be solved with a small dose of EMPATHY towards our fellow human beings. Because what is the alternative? Who lacks empathy? Narcisists, sociopaths, psychopaths... machines. I dont know about you but I want to live in a JUST society. As the rally cry goes: No justice, no peace. https://youtube/watch?v=j1ka4oKu1jo
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 00:18:44 +0000
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