Paul Inyang, MD. USA
Years ago on a cold winter afternoon, in the great city of Washington DC, I was stopped by a police officer who happened to be white. He ordered me out of my “hoopty” (a ragged old car). I stepped out of the car but it was so cold and I felt like warming my hands—so I attempted to put them in my coat pockets. It was almost a fatal mistake—by the grace of God my life was spared because I responded quickly to the click of the gun. I certainly would have been a statistic. In one… instant life would have changed for me. What upset me most was that my offence was simply backing into the road, which in itself is dangerous but nowhere near being shot. I and many people of color have encountered these scenarios many times. There are colloquial phrases for this, such as “driving while black” (if I am right). Watch out if you are in a decent car—black folks are not supposed to drive those things.
Of course, one cannot compare this to recent incidents especially the one we have just witnessed that ended with the loss of the life of a young man, who was simply driving. His major offence and possibly the only one that ended his life–was being black. The pundits will over-analyze the situation, with a multiplicity of explanations. The defense will be the same—that the officer felt his life was threatened, despite evidence to the contrary—thank God for the courageous act of video-taping by his lady. Not much has changed—has it? People of color and young black males are being killed in the greatest nation this world has ever known—unjustly. There will be great hoopla and the beat will go on.
One of the greatest signs of youthfulness, is healthy defiance. It happens in every community but is handled differently in the black communities. The outcomes are surely different, as demonstrated in many available videos. Although, we must teach our youth how to respond and act appropriately in these instances but why the selective prosecution of our children? If a crime was committed, is there no wait time for the courts to reach some conclusion with due process? Their lives are simply snuffed out like animals. Why are incidents like these, which as we have all seen did not involve any defiant act, treated so differently in our communities? Why have they become so rampant? What has changed? As a people of conscience, how can we accept this outcome as the norm? Notice the nonchalance of the officers who are simply standing around watching this ugly incident transpire. Where were the paramedics? There was no urgency in responding to the wounding and eventual death of this young man.
We cannot allow this to go on anymore. The lives of our children are at stake. This is totally unacceptable—we must all join the quest for justice not only for this family but for our own very children. Please help—get involved!
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Eloquently written but a call for action is often confusing. Getting involved can be just as dangerous as driving while black. Especially if getting involved is also done while being black. There are laws being passed and some already exist where filming police action is illegal. People are scared, and the Dallas sniper just made things even scarier for all involved