Police! Stop Killing Powerless People!
It's so simple. For a very long time, our law enforcement people have had a free hand to use deadly force against people who are powerless, disenfranchised, disabled, mentally ill, poor, of color, and members of other groups that have little or no power in society. As long as the person who is killed has no broad support from majority society, he or she can be killed by the police with impunity.
The usual excuses are all that are required. "I believed I was in danger." "He appeared to reach for a weapon." "She resisted arrest." Our justice system just says, "Well...you did what you had to do. As you were. You may return to duty." Even in the face of clear video evidence, those excuses prevail, as long as the person who is dead is without the power of numbers or money.
People in the majority, privileged group aren't typically killed by the police. Somehow, the law enforcement community finds non-lethal means of dealing with them, almost regardless of what they are doing. In fact, LEOs often bend over backwards to avoid killing people who are in the majority. Why? Because those people may well be able to find community support and powerful legal recourse to seek justice for being killed. So, deference is given and less violent measures are taken.
We who are privileged in that way need to stand up for those who are not and insist that this unequal treatment be ended at once. When someone not in our majority group is murdered by law enforcement, we need to adopt those people as our own and stand firm and say, "This will not stand!" We are privileged to do that, as well. Until we do, these travesties of "justice" will continue.
Until we all insist that changes are made, the powerless will continue to die at the hands of our "peacekeepers." How long will we fail to speak up? How long will we allow those without power to be treated differently? When will we wake up and say, "Enough!" "Stop!"
Enough! Stop!
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