shot while black
I read about the fatal shooting of unarmed groom-to-be Sean Bell in Sunday's Times. I wonder how many times the "shoot-to-kill" method will be used against black men before some effective changes are made or at least until the recurrent cries of outrage are heard. These murders (yes murders) keep happening, Al Sharpton and his posse march and shout afterwards, but the underlying issues that motivate police officers to shoot first and ask questions later (when it comes to black men) remain unresolved.
Here's what other bloggers are writing about the incident. As usual some writers who think racism is a figment of our imagination resent the fact that Sharpton is making the shooting a "racial issue." But when is the last time you've read about an unarmed white man being gunned down by the police like a rabid animal???
posted by colored me @ 10:08 AM
6 Comments:
At least one account reports three of the five officers were black, and that a black officer fired most of the shots. Do you know if this is true? If it is,and you know it to be so, shouldn't such information be included in your post?
Same poster....I should have added that the number of shots was, in my opinion, truly excessive. But incidents such as this are best served by being placed in the fullest context possible.
Like virtually every other comment by black persons, your comments make no sense. It's not about racist cops since the majority were black or latino. It was not murder in any sense of the word but mostly because all the facts are not in.
Why is that not a single black leader comes out and talks about PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY? Sharpton and his crew only come out of the woodwork after the fact. How about rising above and talking with the same fury about the 70% of blacks kids who are born to single mothers? Or that the glorification of street life (re: rap music) has, and continues to, ruin the the lives of millions of kids by romanticizing violence, being rich, that it's not cool to be smart and so and on and so on.
Yes, 50 shots was probably excessive, but anyone, black OR white, who frequents a strip club w/ links to drugs and violence, then tries to run down and maybe kill (NOW, THAT'S MURDER) someone (a cop, no less) has to be prepared for things that might happen. Should he have been killed? Most likely not. But they were in a bad place doing bad things and for that they should held accountable.
I certainly appreciate comments (even inflamatory ones). And as far as I know, the detailed information about the case are still being determined but if you'd like to further enlighten readers about the case, please offer a link to further sources.
If the cops were indeed people of color they are STILL WRONG and can still be motivated by the way black men are socially constructed in the US. And it isn't like this is an isolated case!!!! It happens over and over again.
Two of the officers were Black. Two were White. One was Latino. The officer who fired 31 times was White.
Just because the officers involved in a shooting are not White does not mean that race and racism have nothing to do with the shooting.
Anon, you're a genius. People should definitely take personal responsibility and avoid being murdered by cops. Easiest way to do that, be born white or not be born at all. Stay inside, because you have to expect that cops like to kill people.
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