The Las Vegas mass shooting and killing by Stephen Paddock resulting in 58 deaths and hundreds of injured individuals is a horrific event in our history. The media’s focus on the motive of the killer and the whitewashing of Paddock committing the crime loses the point. There are no good motives for killing anyone—let alone over 50 persons. Any killer who kills innocent persons while perched from a high-rise luxury hotel shooting them down as if he were playing a video game, is not a good person. Much of the media has gone out of the way to paint Paddock as a regular white guy. I can’t but help to think how the media would have addressed the killer if he or she were Black, Muslim or both. Every possible good trait known about Paddock has been mentioned. From being prescribed Valium to being a high stakes gambler and an apparently wealthy individual with a girlfriend, the media has struggled to make sense out of his killing rage. Contrasting the depictions of a good white male … [Read more...] about What if the Las Vegas Killer was Black, Muslim or God Forbid Both
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What to Watch for in the Jonathan Ferrell Case
The trial of Randall Kerrick, the Charlotte police officer who shot and killed Jonathan Ferrell, in September, 2013, starts today beginning with jury selections. Randall Kerrick’s arrest and charges marks the first time in thirty years that a Charlotte police officer is charged for an on duty shooting. Jonathan Ferrell age 24, an African American former college football player, knocked on the door of a woman at 2:30 am following a car accident. Suspecting a burglary, she called the police. Three police officers arrived—two black and Kerrick, a white officer. As Ferrell approached the officers, Kerrick fatally shot him 10 times. In what the Charlotte police chief cited as excessive force, a grand jury indicted Kerrick with the intentional killing of Ferrell. The two black officers never fired. Kerrick alleges he feared for his life when Ferrell allegedly didn’t stop approaching him when told to do so. The case garnered little national … [Read more...] about What to Watch for in the Jonathan Ferrell Case
Ferguson, MO is Everywhere In America for African Americans
The shooting death of Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Missouri police officer has set off another moment of racial injustice in America for African Americans. By the involved yet still unknown police officer’s account, Michael Brown was shot 35 feet away from the police officer’s car where he is alleged to have reached for the officer’s gun after some type of altercation at the officer’s vehicle. Being shot 35 feet away from the vehicle, while unarmed and running from the officer, hardly suggests that the officer was in fear of his life. In fact, it suggests that the shooting was unjustified. It hardly suggests a reason for the officer’s name to be kept secret. But this is what occurs when you are black in America. Ferguson, Missouri is like any other city or town in America where African Americans reside. Every African American has those pivotal moments when they realize justice for African Americans often differs from what justice looks like for white Americans. There are … [Read more...] about Ferguson, MO is Everywhere In America for African Americans