I just want to write a small, quick post expressing my grief at the passing of Stephon Clark, an unarmed black man who was gunned down by police recently. I also want to express my condolences to his family. I don't have a lot to say about this, outside of expressing my grief.
These shootings are still a problem in America, and (in my opinion) show racism is still alive and well in America. I understand the police have a job that is beyond stressful. They do put their lives on the line every time they go out and do their job. But obviously there are a few people (of any race, not just white) working as police who can't handle the "stress" of having to approach a black person the same way they approach a white person. There are a few (a minority) of cops who feel they have to open fire if the suspect is black. I won't go through the process of hunting down articles and videos showing white people with guns being pursued by police and not getting shot. Anyone with google and Youtube can find all the examples they need in a matter of minutes. All I want to say is: There is obviously (still) a real, extant problem in America wherein black people (especially men) are being viewed as potential killers even when they're doing nothing more than going about their lives just like anyone else.
I really don't know what else to say that I haven't said elsewhere here or on other platforms at one point or another. I don't know what the solution is. Obviously body cameras aren't a deterrent. Obviously, to some cops, a black guy with a cell phone is more of a threat than a group of white nationalists/separatists marching through a town with tons of weapons with live ammunition loaded. Sometimes with extended clips. I mean, Portland police executed Quanice Hayes, but they didn't even shoot a leg or an arm on that guy who killed two people on that train when he approached the police during that standoff. You know, the guy who killed two people in front of others, and still hasn't faced trial, and is still referred to as a "suspect"even though everyone saw him kill two people in broad daylight.
I don't know what a solution looks like right now. Especially since people would rather talk about Donald Trump Jr's divorce, or Russians posting memes, or whatever...but they don't want to talk about this. Not even the most liberal of white people want to talk about this issue. Not with any depth or for any amount of time longer than the issue stays in the news cycle. Not when there's DC gossip to make jokes about.
As far as solutions go, all I can think is:
Do you hire professional snitches into police departments as operating officers who can try to find out if other officers have potentially violent racial biases, and weed the biased officers out?
Do you create some sort of national standard for acceptable use of force (e.g.; if no gun is found on the victim, the offending officer(s) are automatically fired and must face criminal charges)?
Do you require the process of reviewing these shootings by groups outside of the police department, to help reduce the possibility of departmental bias?
Do you force some mix of all the above?
Do we all just close out eyes and (continue to) pretend like something that's been happening for centuries in America just isn't happening? Do we continue to live that lie?
I don't know. All I know is a 22 year old armed only with a cell phone shouldn't be dead.
Update (12am 4/7/2018): I just saw the news about Saheed Vassell being shot dead by cops in Brooklyn. I saw the stills of him aiming the..... whatever it was (was it a pipe or a tool of some sort or a shower head?). I can see how someone might think that's a gun, judging from the pictures I saw. Especially in the heat of the moment, I could definitely see how someone would think he had a gun. But I still feel like the lack of an attempt at deescalation of the situation (and in other similar situations) is disturbing. Especially when you weigh it against situations like the Charlottesville rally, where no one got shot out of "fear", even though we all saw pictures of groups of white nationalists pushing police, or carrying semi-automatic weapons with extended clips while wearing battle gear (e.g.; bulletproof vests, helmets).
I just don't get how a black kid with a cellphone or a black guy with a sort-of-gun-looking metal thing provokes a kill-response from some police officers, but a white guy (or a group of white guys) carrying actual weapons with live ammo doesn't. Or how a guy who just shot up a movie theater can get taken away in cuffs with nary a scratch, much less a fatal gunshot wound. It just doesn't make sense. I know what the difference is....I just don't understand...
Update 11/13/18: RIP Botham Jean (killed for....living in his apartment?...) and RIP Jemel Roberson (killed for being an armed security guard who stopped a bar shooting from turning into another 1000 Oaks incident, just a few days after the 1000 Oaks incident. So this guy was rewarded for his heroism by...being shot to death by police.). And RIP to every other blackman and blackwoman who' sbeen shot &/or killed by police since 4/7/2018. I knwo there's more, I just haven't seen names because the media isn't as interested in the wholesale, casual taking of black peoples lives.
As an aside, I'm glad Dallas PD fired the officer who killed Botham Jean, but she has to go to jail for this. There was no excuse. If she only loses her job and doesn't serve at least manslaughter-time, justice was not/is not, served.