“A lot of white people are truly shocked by what these videos depict; I know very few African-Americans who are surprised,” said Paul D. Butler, a law professor at Georgetown University and a former prosecutor.
Videos of Policing Incidents
by lindaoppenheim | Jul 30, 2015 | Article, Video | 2 comments
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The videos show what we know: body cameras on white police are no deterrent to their acts of armed assault against unarmed black people, mostly young men. The cameras can help with prosecutions, but not with saving lives.
The culture of gun use by police continues nationwide. They are “provoked” on the slightest of pretexts (a missing tail-light, a questionable turn into another lane—and the level of provocation they “need” in order to shoot should remind all of us of the minimal pretests white men used to “require” in order to assault blacks (mostly but not exclusively men)—whether to lynch them (for allegedly looking at a white woman) or, in the peonage system established by whites after Reconstruction, the simple refusal or failure to appear at X location according to a white man’s request (see Douglas A. Blackmon, SLAVERY BY ANOTHER NAME, 2008).
We must note that horrific events in NYC, Cleveland, and Cincinnati mean that the intent to intimidate, indeed to criminalize African American life, has spread north since Reconstruction. See also Scott Walker’s efforts to deprive African Americans of voting rights.
Most white people are amazed that people don’t obey a Police Officer’s command.