Racism American Style
So for the 4th day in a row the major topic of discussion has been the shooting that occurred in Jamaica, New York on Saturday morning. As usual I was very busy on Saturday morning and had not paid attention to the news that morning but only vaguely remember mention of a shoot out in the early hours of that morning. Did I pay attention to it at the time? Of Course Not! Now it is non-stop conversation amongst many and still front page news. It has even made the front page of the New York Times, which doesn't even normally concern itself with such trivial matters as the shootings of minority persons in New York City.
So what happened is still not really clear other than the fact that police officers fired 50 shots at 3 unarmed men in a vehicle outside a strip club in Jamaica, NY. The men were leaving the strip club after celebrating the upcoming nuptials to be held later that day of one of the victims of the shooting. The young ma that was killed in the shooting was 23 years old and was apparently driving the vehicle. The other men in the vehicle are still hospitalized. So what was initially reported as a shootout was evidently just a shooting. To be a shootout someone would have had to have had a gun and shot back. None of the men in the vehicle were armed.
Sunday morning on the way to church it was the topic of discussion. This morning on the way to work it was the topic of discussion. A lot of the discussion seems to be surrounding the use of the word "nigger" in music and such as if that was responsible for the shooting of this young man. Can we all say Bull Shit? Let's call it what it was, another act of racism in a city that tries to pretend racism does not exist. Was the use of the word "nigger" responsible for the 41 bullets caught by Amadou Diallo while he was reaching for his wallet? Hi, no, that would be RACISM.
Believe it or not folks in 2006 in America we still have rampant racism. Now IÂm not the one who subscribes to conspiracy theories or sees racists behind every door, but hello, I'm not a dummy either. I know it is out there. I might not experience it every day or even notice it sometimes, because that's just how I am but I know it's there. Every time incidents like this happen in the city I have lived in all of my life, it becomes more and more evident. When comics get upset, lose their temper and let that racism slip out, it is evident. When cops bust into an elderly woman's home and shoot her to death because they had a no-knock warrant and she happened to have a gun for her own protection, it is evident. When my college age African-American son who is dating a Caucasian young woman in and around a campus in suburban NY tells me his experiences, it is evident. Why lynch us and hang us from trees, shooting us to death for no damn reason is a lot easier, don't you think? Face it folks, do you really think a nation founded on racism could ever be anything but racist. Unfortunately, I don't think so. Pretty evident, don't you think.
So what happened is still not really clear other than the fact that police officers fired 50 shots at 3 unarmed men in a vehicle outside a strip club in Jamaica, NY. The men were leaving the strip club after celebrating the upcoming nuptials to be held later that day of one of the victims of the shooting. The young ma that was killed in the shooting was 23 years old and was apparently driving the vehicle. The other men in the vehicle are still hospitalized. So what was initially reported as a shootout was evidently just a shooting. To be a shootout someone would have had to have had a gun and shot back. None of the men in the vehicle were armed.
Sunday morning on the way to church it was the topic of discussion. This morning on the way to work it was the topic of discussion. A lot of the discussion seems to be surrounding the use of the word "nigger" in music and such as if that was responsible for the shooting of this young man. Can we all say Bull Shit? Let's call it what it was, another act of racism in a city that tries to pretend racism does not exist. Was the use of the word "nigger" responsible for the 41 bullets caught by Amadou Diallo while he was reaching for his wallet? Hi, no, that would be RACISM.
Believe it or not folks in 2006 in America we still have rampant racism. Now IÂm not the one who subscribes to conspiracy theories or sees racists behind every door, but hello, I'm not a dummy either. I know it is out there. I might not experience it every day or even notice it sometimes, because that's just how I am but I know it's there. Every time incidents like this happen in the city I have lived in all of my life, it becomes more and more evident. When comics get upset, lose their temper and let that racism slip out, it is evident. When cops bust into an elderly woman's home and shoot her to death because they had a no-knock warrant and she happened to have a gun for her own protection, it is evident. When my college age African-American son who is dating a Caucasian young woman in and around a campus in suburban NY tells me his experiences, it is evident. Why lynch us and hang us from trees, shooting us to death for no damn reason is a lot easier, don't you think? Face it folks, do you really think a nation founded on racism could ever be anything but racist. Unfortunately, I don't think so. Pretty evident, don't you think.
posted by B-Nice at
12:40 PM
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