Breonna Taylor - Say Her Name

If you can say, with a straight face, there is no institutionalized racism in America, you need to play more poker.

The verdict is in and there is no justice. The ironies are almost too numerous to list, but here are some of them.

• The original incident report filed by police at the time of Breonna Taylor’s death listed injuries as “none.”
• The no-knock warrant that was used by police to force their way into her apartment was for a man who was already in custody
• Charges for reckless endangerment were brought for the shooting into other apartments during the incident but not for the shooting that resulted in Breonna Taylor’s death
• Prior to demonstrations, there was no investigation into her death
• A civil suit resulting in a $12 million payment to the estate of Breonna Taylor confirmed the injustice of her death, yet no criminal charges were brought for it

As I write, protests are again underway in Louisville.  But instead of focusing on the lack of justice for Breonna Taylor and the institutionalized racism this entire scenario represents, the media is once again focused on the protests themselves.

Just as we saw in Portland and Kenosha, protestors are being visited by a variety of self-proclaimed militia all professing to be there to protect people. But from what? So far none of the BLM protests have resulted in violence to others, except for those invaded by armed white supremacists.

What we have in Louisville, Kentucky right now, the home state of Mitch McConnell, is a set-up. Trump, Barr, McConnell and the Kentucky District Attorney (who coincidentally recently spoke at the Republican National Convention and is now being names as a potential candidate for the Supreme Court) are planning to use this to create a diversion and pump up their base with what they hope will be a riot they can televise to prove we are not safe in the face of black protesters. Rather than acknowledge an obvious injustice they choose to create chaos.

On CNN today, a reporter said protesters in Louisville want the media to go home. They’re tired of having their calls for justice usurped by untrue accusations of violence. They are sick of self-important armed white guys showing up as if they are saving someone or something. The protesters just want to be heard. But instead of spreading their message, the media are playing directly into the hands of the Republican spin machine.

MSNBC reported today that the prosecutors drafting the indictment in Breonna Taylor’s case focused solely on the bullets that entered neighboring apartments and ignored those that killed Breonna Taylor. Some say they did so to ensure the lowest possible sentence should the accused be found guilty. But others point out that as soon as they entered the apartment, Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend started shooting and the police merely returned the fire in self-defense. So why didn’t the prosecutor charge the shooters with her death and let them make that defense? Why did the police hide the fact that they killed her in the first place? How can a dead woman be consistent with “no harm” on an incident report?

You’d think a dead body would raise some questions, but no. Not a dead black body. Those still don’t matter.

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How many people in official positions sworn to protect the people of Kentucky agreed to stay silent in order to keep Breonna’s tragic death quiet in the first place? How many supported the men who murdered her, as if the police who bungled this in every way are somehow the real victims? Who decided not to charge her murderers for killing her, but instead for “reckless endangerment” of her neighbors—who were not shot and are not dead?

A trial for murder was in order. I won’t argue that being shot at by Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend could be considered self-defense--but that’s their defense--not a reason to forgo charging them in the first place.

Does anybody believe if Breonna Taylor were white, they’d have done any of this? On the contrary, they’d have brought flowers to her mother and told her how terribly sorry they were for the horrible mistake they made in entering her daughter’s home by force in search of a man who was already in custody. If she were Irish, they’d probably all have taken up a collection and brought food over to the mother for the next year.

This wasn’t just unjust, it’s inhumane. They treated her like a dog. They dumped her body at the morgue and pretended it never happened.

This is what we mean by institutionalized racism. From the cops who killed her to the drafting of the indictment, dozens of people were complicit in this process. That’s what institutionalized racism is. It’s what you have when the institutions we rely on to protect and defend the people condone it.

Like I said, if you can say, with a straight face, we don’t have institutionalized racism in American, you need to play more poker.