April 3, 2015
By Kanya Bennett
Ms. Bennett is writing as a representative for the ACLU.
Here’s a statistic for you: (click here) It’s been 31 days since the release of the White House Task Force on 21st Century Policing report, but the number of fatal police encounters is already over 100 and counting. That’s an average of more than three people killed each day in March by police in America.
Too many of this month’s victims fit a profile we know all too well – unarmed men of color, some of whom have psychiatric disabilities. Victims like Charly Keunang in Los Angeles, California; Tony Robinson in Madison, Wisconsin; Anthony Hill in DeKalb County, Georgia; and Brandon Jones in Cleveland, Ohio; confirm that the problems with policing are national in scope.
This isn’t a problem concentrated in a few rogue police departments. Even those police departments with the best of intentions need reform. Take, for example, last week’s Department of Justice report that Philadelphia police shot 400 people – over 80 percent African-American – in seven years. This is in a city where the police commissioner is an author of the very same White House task force report calling for police reform....
I realize there are all kinds of finger pointing in Baltimore because of an uptick of gun violence. The escalated deaths in the city since are since the arrests of the police that allowed the death of Freddie Gray after they tortured him in a 'rough ride' in the police van.
Yes. Allowed the death of Freddie Gray. Allowed it to happen. That is a problem. Police are suppose to serve and protect even when arresting a black man.
I do not believe there has to be any fault assigned regarding the new statistics in Baltimore. The fault belongs to the people that disregard human life and no one else. They broke the law, they killed and that is where the blame stops.
I think neighborhoods can be strengthened if the Baltimore Mayor and/or the State Prosecutor hold Town Hall Meetings. The people of the neighborhood have to identify the problem and it is then up to the elected officials of Baltimore to find a solution. The uptick in violence was there the entire time, it was on low simmer.
Oppressing the problem of violence results in the violent deaths of people that should still be alive today. The deaths of these men cannot be dismissed. The facts are obvious, there was no government overthrown, there were police arrested after the heinous death of a citizen of Baltimore.
And, yes, the death of Freddie Gray is completely heinous. He was in police custody. Police custody is suppose to be where everyone is safe, including the suspect.
The American system of justice doesn't say, it is okay for some people to be dead in order for others to live. The police of Baltimore indicted disregarded due process.
There was an explosion of violence after the death of Freddie Gray and the iconic symbol was a CVS. Why was it a surprise there was an explosion of violence after the arrest of six officers responsible for the death of Freddie Gray?
Somewhere the idea the police are allowed to kill through negligence of the value of life is the price to pay for a balance of justice. The lives of these men never deserved to be victims. Whether it is a soon to be groom or a ride back home on the subway or the concealment of a small knife in a rough neighborhood or being homeless or returning to Dad's house with growing pains or anticipating the first day of college, none of these people should be dead. But, they are. They are suppose to be alive and carrying on a life with hope that tomorrow will be a better day than today.
What is so very outrageous about these deaths is the fact the USA invested in these people. They are minorities or mentally ill and the USA has spent monies to find a path for their lives to happen and improve over time. The people of Ferguson were doing exactly what the investment in them were suppose to be doing. They were Middle Class or less, but, many owned their own homes. They were achieving the way everyone else achieves in the the light skinned community.
Michael Brown, Jr. at the age of 18 was a victim to the oppressive local government. He had developed an attitude that was propagated by the oppressive government and judge existing in that community. The social pressures he related to were not suppose to be there. Those that oppressed and tormented the community weren't suppose to be there. The elements that lead to an attitude of any young black man in Ferguson wasn't suppose to be there.
The American people invested in a community of people and they were thriving as they could, but, they kept their eye on the prize and didn't give up. They did this under oppression and victimization. That doesn't make the oppression and victimization okay. Because the people of the community were moving forward that doesn't mean they were doing as well as they should have been.
Michael Brown Jr. became a victim of his police shooting the day he was born. It was not the plan of his parents, but, he was predetermined through oppression of an American young man to die at the hand of police after 18 years of being tired of the oppression and victimization. What occurred to Michael Brown Jr. the day of his death was simply another day in the life of those in Ferguson.
He laid in the street for four hours. That is unconscionable.
The City of Baltimore does well in most of it's neighborhoods, but, there is at least one where the people are not doing well. They try, but, they are mistreated and have crime in their face day after day. Their reality is an American nightmare.
The governments at all levels have failed these people. The crimes are based in the fact life happens inside and outside of jail or prison. Their lives are completely demoralized by the law and justice system. Their identities are tied up in the crimes they commit. The actions of the police and the outcomes of their treatment, ie: Freddie Gray, only validates their understanding and enforces the reason for crime.
There is a problem in Baltimore. But, there is a problem in Ferguson, New York and Los Angeles as well. The people of the USA have not tolerated the fact some areas of the country are simply blighted with crime and/or poverty (interesting how the two go together 100 percent of the time) and that is the way it is. We have generation after generation pledged to the values that every American life matters. We carry that value in our appreciation of our military and the treatment of our soldiers. We carry that value into the schools of disadvantaged children and treat their hunger for food as well as their hunger for education and the American promise that brings.
We are today at a reality no one seems to be able to stop. That is not acceptable. It has to stop. It means we continue to carry the message, the demands and provide for the opportunity.
The USA is in transition in realizing how wayward the prison system is and how it impacts the repetition of crime. We have to do better. We have to readdress education, crime and opportunity all over again. We still haven't been doing it well enough. The communities have to be relieved of the wrongs done to them. Until morality and ethics returns to governments at all levels we will continue to try. It is the only way.
If we weren't seeing progress as in Ferguson which now is empowered by minority members in their government today we would not give up anyway. That opportunity to serve in government in Ferguson by minority citizens didn't exist before former AG Holder investigated the death of an 18 year old on his way to college. It didn't exist because of some local bigotry. That would be too easy to find and change. It didn't exist because the people were demoralized by their victimization.
There is nothing easy about changing a country the size of the USA in a First World status. The change has to come and the measures we take have to persist in the face of failure. The demoralized citizens can't help but fail until they are uplifted enough to finally succeed.
Tomorrow will be another day in the USA. The sun will rise and set like clock work, but, human frailties exist and that is simply the way it is. The difference tomorrow is that Americans will seek information about corruption and wrongful policy in government and will lift the heavy truth to a level of justice. That will be the tomorrows for many tomorrows and we will all succeed. If newspapers were ever important and their virtue in telling the truth valued it is today and the tomorrows of all tomorrows. Americans are hungry for the information, they simply haven't realized it yet.
By Kanya Bennett
Ms. Bennett is writing as a representative for the ACLU.
Too many of this month’s victims fit a profile we know all too well – unarmed men of color, some of whom have psychiatric disabilities. Victims like Charly Keunang in Los Angeles, California; Tony Robinson in Madison, Wisconsin; Anthony Hill in DeKalb County, Georgia; and Brandon Jones in Cleveland, Ohio; confirm that the problems with policing are national in scope.
This isn’t a problem concentrated in a few rogue police departments. Even those police departments with the best of intentions need reform. Take, for example, last week’s Department of Justice report that Philadelphia police shot 400 people – over 80 percent African-American – in seven years. This is in a city where the police commissioner is an author of the very same White House task force report calling for police reform....
I realize there are all kinds of finger pointing in Baltimore because of an uptick of gun violence. The escalated deaths in the city since are since the arrests of the police that allowed the death of Freddie Gray after they tortured him in a 'rough ride' in the police van.
Yes. Allowed the death of Freddie Gray. Allowed it to happen. That is a problem. Police are suppose to serve and protect even when arresting a black man.
I do not believe there has to be any fault assigned regarding the new statistics in Baltimore. The fault belongs to the people that disregard human life and no one else. They broke the law, they killed and that is where the blame stops.
I think neighborhoods can be strengthened if the Baltimore Mayor and/or the State Prosecutor hold Town Hall Meetings. The people of the neighborhood have to identify the problem and it is then up to the elected officials of Baltimore to find a solution. The uptick in violence was there the entire time, it was on low simmer.
Oppressing the problem of violence results in the violent deaths of people that should still be alive today. The deaths of these men cannot be dismissed. The facts are obvious, there was no government overthrown, there were police arrested after the heinous death of a citizen of Baltimore.
And, yes, the death of Freddie Gray is completely heinous. He was in police custody. Police custody is suppose to be where everyone is safe, including the suspect.
The American system of justice doesn't say, it is okay for some people to be dead in order for others to live. The police of Baltimore indicted disregarded due process.
There was an explosion of violence after the death of Freddie Gray and the iconic symbol was a CVS. Why was it a surprise there was an explosion of violence after the arrest of six officers responsible for the death of Freddie Gray?
Somewhere the idea the police are allowed to kill through negligence of the value of life is the price to pay for a balance of justice. The lives of these men never deserved to be victims. Whether it is a soon to be groom or a ride back home on the subway or the concealment of a small knife in a rough neighborhood or being homeless or returning to Dad's house with growing pains or anticipating the first day of college, none of these people should be dead. But, they are. They are suppose to be alive and carrying on a life with hope that tomorrow will be a better day than today.
What is so very outrageous about these deaths is the fact the USA invested in these people. They are minorities or mentally ill and the USA has spent monies to find a path for their lives to happen and improve over time. The people of Ferguson were doing exactly what the investment in them were suppose to be doing. They were Middle Class or less, but, many owned their own homes. They were achieving the way everyone else achieves in the the light skinned community.
Michael Brown, Jr. at the age of 18 was a victim to the oppressive local government. He had developed an attitude that was propagated by the oppressive government and judge existing in that community. The social pressures he related to were not suppose to be there. Those that oppressed and tormented the community weren't suppose to be there. The elements that lead to an attitude of any young black man in Ferguson wasn't suppose to be there.
The American people invested in a community of people and they were thriving as they could, but, they kept their eye on the prize and didn't give up. They did this under oppression and victimization. That doesn't make the oppression and victimization okay. Because the people of the community were moving forward that doesn't mean they were doing as well as they should have been.
He laid in the street for four hours. That is unconscionable.
The City of Baltimore does well in most of it's neighborhoods, but, there is at least one where the people are not doing well. They try, but, they are mistreated and have crime in their face day after day. Their reality is an American nightmare.
The governments at all levels have failed these people. The crimes are based in the fact life happens inside and outside of jail or prison. Their lives are completely demoralized by the law and justice system. Their identities are tied up in the crimes they commit. The actions of the police and the outcomes of their treatment, ie: Freddie Gray, only validates their understanding and enforces the reason for crime.
There is a problem in Baltimore. But, there is a problem in Ferguson, New York and Los Angeles as well. The people of the USA have not tolerated the fact some areas of the country are simply blighted with crime and/or poverty (interesting how the two go together 100 percent of the time) and that is the way it is. We have generation after generation pledged to the values that every American life matters. We carry that value in our appreciation of our military and the treatment of our soldiers. We carry that value into the schools of disadvantaged children and treat their hunger for food as well as their hunger for education and the American promise that brings.
We are today at a reality no one seems to be able to stop. That is not acceptable. It has to stop. It means we continue to carry the message, the demands and provide for the opportunity.
The USA is in transition in realizing how wayward the prison system is and how it impacts the repetition of crime. We have to do better. We have to readdress education, crime and opportunity all over again. We still haven't been doing it well enough. The communities have to be relieved of the wrongs done to them. Until morality and ethics returns to governments at all levels we will continue to try. It is the only way.
If we weren't seeing progress as in Ferguson which now is empowered by minority members in their government today we would not give up anyway. That opportunity to serve in government in Ferguson by minority citizens didn't exist before former AG Holder investigated the death of an 18 year old on his way to college. It didn't exist because of some local bigotry. That would be too easy to find and change. It didn't exist because the people were demoralized by their victimization.
There is nothing easy about changing a country the size of the USA in a First World status. The change has to come and the measures we take have to persist in the face of failure. The demoralized citizens can't help but fail until they are uplifted enough to finally succeed.
Tomorrow will be another day in the USA. The sun will rise and set like clock work, but, human frailties exist and that is simply the way it is. The difference tomorrow is that Americans will seek information about corruption and wrongful policy in government and will lift the heavy truth to a level of justice. That will be the tomorrows for many tomorrows and we will all succeed. If newspapers were ever important and their virtue in telling the truth valued it is today and the tomorrows of all tomorrows. Americans are hungry for the information, they simply haven't realized it yet.
