In Search Of Emmett Till
On the heels of last week decision by the grand jury in Ferguson not to indict officer Darren Wilson for the shooting of black 18 year old Michael Brown, the country is once again in a state of unrest. A New York grand jury also failed to indict a police officer in the death of a black man. Last August, Eric Garner 43, died due to a police choke hold while they attempted to arrest him for allegedly selling black market cigarettes. The coroner determined the cause of death as a homicide. The officer who administered the choke hold, which is against NYPD policy, officer Daniel Pantaleo was immediately relieved of his gun and badge-essentially ending his career.
Protesters immediately gathered in New York and other cities with the typical chants no justice, no peace. Although it is my personal view that the death of Mr. Garner was indeed a tragedy that should not have occurred and it also should have gone to trial. These incidents, are compounded by similar other media driven events. Last week, 12 year old Tamir Rice was shot and killed by police in a Cleveland park wielding an Airsoft BB gun. These tragic shootings, the protest, the over the top rhetoric by pundits, politicians and civil rights leaders and the media onslaught have me feeling as if the clock has turned back to 1968.
The black left in particular has succeeded in making blacks feel as though Bull Connor and George Wallace are alive and well. Although no sane person would deny racism or police misconduct, only an insane person would equate 2014 America with the civil rights era of the 1950's and 60's. These incidents are always met with far reaching comparisons to the Jim Crow era, by naming each dead black man as "the new Emmett Till". Sorry to break the news, but Mike Brown and Eric Garner are no Emmett Till.
Mr. Garner had an extensive criminal record with over 30 arrest for marijuana possession, grand larceny, assault, resisting arrest, driving without a license and of course selling untaxed cigarettes. Mr. Brown minutes before being shot, was seen on security camera committing a strong arm robbery of cigars and assaulting a store clerk in the process. Frequently the black community erupts with anger and outrage over these deaths at the hands of police and then attempts to form a "movement" around martyrs like Brown and Garner, men of questionable character. The solutions to this problems of black male deaths by police won't be solved with riots, marches, politicians or empty slogans. Police should be held accountable when they kill or injure citizens unjustifiably. However, within the back community we can begin to alleviate the problem by limiting police presence, and we do that by controlling our behavior. Many of us express concern about police "occupation" of black neighborhoods. If so, then black people should give them fewer reasons to be there.
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