The Reality Of Black Crime And Why There’s No Justice For Eric Garner
[su_right_ad]As one of my Twitter friends noted yesterday regarding the decision not to indict NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the chokehold death of Eric Garner: James Holmes, who shot and killed 12 people while wounding 70 others in an Aurora movie theater, was apprehended alive. But Garner, an unarmed African-American 43-year-old and father of six had to be illegally choked to death in order to be subdued by Pantaleo. Despite the fact that the coroner ruled Garner’s death to be a homicide, the grand jury committed yet another injustice against the African-American community by refusing to indict Pantaleo.
There only needs to be a majority for a grand jury to indict or not. 15 panelists on the 23-member grand jury in the Pantaleo case were white. That’s not necessarily an outright indication of racism, but at the very least it’s fair to suggest that the 15 white panelists will never truly understand what life was like for men like Eric Garner — to be stopped-and-frisked or to be relentlessly watched or unjustifiably profiled by law enforcement. It’s no wonder that Pantaleo wasn’t indicted. When reviewing the video of Garner objecting to being targeted by two officers, the white panelists were racially incapable of relating to why Garner was angry and simply reached the conclusion that his actions justified being suddenly swarmed by half-a-dozen officers who appeared out of nowhere, wrestling him to the ground, choking him and forced his skull into the pavement until his heart stopped.
[su_thin_right_skyscraper_ad]But instead of attempting to understand the full scope of what men like Eric Garner have had to endure, we too often hear closed-minded white people suggest that the number of black men profiled and killed by police during arrest scenarios is merely commensurate with the black male crime rate. And this is supposed to make profiling and excessive force okay.
It’s a cheap and superficial argument, insinuating that black men are somehow asking for it. Throughout the day yesterday, I heard from various people, especially Joe Scarborough supporters, who told me that Michael Brown and Eric Garner decided their own fates, both individually and societally, even though, in a fair and just world, neither of them deserved summary executions in the street.
Even though many in the Scarborough camp refuse to accept statistical reality (a sign of possible racial bias itself), let’s take a look at some of the massive disparities between the white and black experiences within the judicial system.
–Right off the bat… CONTINUE READING
allison1050 December 4th, 2014 at 8:07 am
Don’t believe your lying eyes!
motorfingaz December 4th, 2014 at 10:22 am
well most black people are outraged but not surprised
R J December 4th, 2014 at 12:46 pm
Aint that America
Khary A December 4th, 2014 at 4:07 pm
seems fair. /s/
Spirit of America December 4th, 2014 at 7:12 pm
FBI:
Year: 2012(last completed tabulated year)
Police kill in line of duty:
Blacks: 123
Whites: 326
greenfloyd December 4th, 2014 at 7:55 pm
Blacks represent about 45% of all police killings, yet they only represent about 13% of the population as a whole.
Spirit of America December 4th, 2014 at 9:16 pm
According to the fbi supplementary report for 2012:
White: 52%
Black: 31%
Hispanic: 12%
Other: 5%
greenfloyd December 4th, 2014 at 9:48 pm
Thank you for the correction… still, damning numbers.
Spirit of America December 4th, 2014 at 10:26 pm
Not damning on their own, those are ‘raw stat’ numbers, dry statistics. More numbers are needed, such as how many crimes per group, how many resisting arrests happened per group that led to killing the suspect, etc etc.
My big point when discussing things like this is stats should be used to be indicative of where to look more closely, dig deep, and if a problem is there, work on it. Stats should never be used to discuss a single case.
This Garner case is perfect example. The ‘entire’ story is that several black business owners went to a black police chief of that area and complained about Garner selling the cigs and keeping people from entering their business. Thus the encounter ensued. However, the entire time, a black female sgt was on scene as well, in charge, of the encounter.
That is why I don’t think this is a case to be used for racism/cops, this is a case for excessive police force all on its own. Case by case is very important to me, not stats to a case.
Not sure I’m typing this well, hopefully I’m making sense.
bahlers December 5th, 2014 at 1:04 am
take a look at FBI crime table 43. Here are some highlights:
Percent Distribution of Race Charged by Offense:
Murder
Whites: 48%
Blacks: 49.7
Robbery
Whites: 43%
Blacks: 55.6
bahlers December 5th, 2014 at 1:46 am
Are you going to show the faces of people killed by black police officers that are white, who also had not killed anyone?
Spirit of America December 4th, 2014 at 11:07 pm
Backdrop, yep, no doubt.
I agree w/his guest 33%… I believe it is a blue problem, but also a white problem, a black problem. Meaning, all entities have some right and some wrong when considering the matter.
I like the ‘clean up your own backyard’ philosophy… we truly need leaders in each of the groups that point out what is wrong from within and show the way to correct those faults.
I’ll tell you one of the things I think would go a long way in helping in the general sense though… bring back the walking-the-beat cop in a large-scale way.
bahlers December 5th, 2014 at 1:06 am
Great opinions on this tough problem facing our country. we need more people like you making the calls
Spirit of America December 5th, 2014 at 1:15 am
Well, that was a nice read, many thanks for the compliment!
bahlers December 5th, 2014 at 1:46 am
No problem, you are well deserving!
greenfloyd December 5th, 2014 at 10:13 pm
In whatever way race figures into the “problem,” (police excessive use of force), it’s clear there is a growing consensus among Americans, of every race, we can do much better.
In some communities, like Ferguson MO, that backyard has overgrown into a jungle and operates according to that law, instead of civil authority. Gangsta-culture thrives and has been fundamental to justify – among other things – excessive use of force by police.
To implement normal policing in areas with longstanding high levels of crime and violence, gang and drug activity will require a careful balance. Even though it may first require dramatic action, like disbanding some towns’ police departments. Then implementing political, social and economic reforms to help dismantle gangsta-culture.
Spirit of America December 5th, 2014 at 11:11 pm
I like the 2-prong attack style, very much. Nice read.
greenfloyd December 6th, 2014 at 7:07 pm
Thank you, this thread has produced some fine comments by several people and I’m just happy to be a small part of it.
I think it’s somewhat like “climate change,” intuitively we understand we are at or near something like a tipping point. How we deal with policing now, will have lasting and profound implications for the future of civil society in America.
Spirit of America December 6th, 2014 at 7:44 pm
“this thread has produced some fine comments by several people”
indeed it has and you have officially become part of ‘several people’, you added some good reads yourself.
Don’t panic though, it is still not part of ‘them’ that I hear about… 🙂
fancypants December 5th, 2014 at 6:27 am
Arthur Aidala who claimed that Garner, who was choked to death, was not choked. According to Aidala the police used a “seat belt maneuver” to take Garner to the ground.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/12/03/3599250/fox-reacts-to-garner-decision-hope-nothing-happens-in-nyc-weve-got-the-tree-lighting-ceremony/
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its a good thing I don’t wear the same seat belt as author does
whatthe46 December 5th, 2014 at 10:54 pm
“…Panteleo had been the defendant in a trio of lawsuits for having violated the civil rights of other black men he and his colleagues had detained.” ” After an incident on Staten Island in March 2012 in which Panteleo and several other officers forcibly undressed Darren Collins and Tommy Rice from the waist down and manhandled their testicles in public view while searching the pair for illicit drugs, the two suspects were let off the hook but Panteleo and his colleagues on the scene were slapped with a federal lawsuit the following year. Though all the officers implicated denied the charges, the plaintiffs were awarded $30,000 in a settlement.”
Earlier, in February 2012, Rylan Walker filed a federal lawsuit against Panteleo for false arrest on charges of marijuana possession. Another black man, Kenneth Collins of Staten Island sued Pantaleo for violating his rights during a February 2012 marijuana bust.
*******
just for starters…