No, in too many parts of the U.S. and the world, Black lives don’t matter much, yet. Clearly, they should, but bad habits most often die slowly without the pressure of penalty or substantial consequences.
Once again, another Black man is shot down by police, who claim again that the Black man grabbed for the policeman’s gun, putting the officer at fear for his life. However, this time, not only was there a videotape snapped by a passerby, the visuals clearly showed the officer repeatedly firing at the back of an unarmed Black man on the run. Further scrutiny of the tape seemed to also show that after the policeman fired at least 8 shots at the Black man, then handcuffed the not-moving body of the man, the policeman retrieved and dropped a stun gun near the Black man’s body as if to imply the man had been armed.
This happened this week in North Charleston, South Carolina, not another Florida city this time. The city’s administrators quickly filed a murder charge against the policeman and arrested him. That was a significantly different response than in other locales. The policeman was also denied bail at his first hearing, and at press time remained in jail. We’ll have to follow this case to see what eventually transpires. Black lives should matter.
In another South Carolina incident last year, a young policeman car-chased a 68-year old Black man until the latter reached his own driveway. The policeman jumped out of the patrol car and fired several shots into the driver’s side of the Black man’s car, killing him. That too was recently prosecuted. The policeman has been charged with unlawfully discharging a gun into an occupied vehicle, which, if he is convicted, could result in a 10-year prison sentence. At least he was charged. Maybe South Carolina is the start of something.
As we well remember, those who choke-holded Eric Garner in New York got off scot-free. Those who shot Ezell Ford in Los Angeles received no punishment, even though the coroner’s report concluded that man had been shot in the back by the police. And. the policeman who quickly shot a 12-year old Black youth, Tamir Rice, and was videotaped doing so, is still an active-duty policeman in Cleveland. There are many other cases, and still not enough penalties imposed. Black lives should matter.
And in Ferguson, Mo., where the shooting death of an unarmed Black teenager, Michael Brown, at the hands of a policeman, sparked a nationwide protest, there are some significant signs of meaningful change, although still just at the beginning stages. This week, Ferguson citizens, 2/3 of whom are Black, elected two new Black city councilmen. That body is now 50-50, with three White members and three Black members. Before Brown’s death there was but one Black city councilman. The mayor, whose vote breaks any tie votes by the council, remains White.
Being White or Black alone does not determine one’s political interests, we know, but an all-White city council in Ferguson previously, did not well serve Ferguson’s Black population. We’ll watch whether this new change matters much.
The road forward is long and rocky, but, as Dr. King said, we will get to the mountaintop.
Professor David L. Horne is founder and executive director of PAPPEI, the Pan African Public Policy and Ethical Institute, which is a new 501(c)(3) pending community-based organization or non-governmental organization (NGO). It is the stepparent organization for the California Black Think Tank which still operates and which meets every fourth Friday.
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