It’s time to hold white people accountable for indiscriminate discrimination

 

Remember the woman who threatened to call the police on the black man who asked her to leash her dog in Central Park? She lost her job, but then she sued the company that fired her. 

After completing an undisclosed amount of “therapy” which included “instruction about racial bias,” the charges against her were dropped.

According to her lawyer “After a thorough and honest inquiry, the New York [district attorney’s] office dismissed all charges today against Amy Cooper. We thank them for their integrity and concur with the outcome.”

I’m not sure what her lawyer’s definition of “integrity” is but it’s not the same as mine. When has a black person been charged with anything and had the charges dropped after “therapy”? I believe that answer would be NEVER.

George Floyd was murdered over $20.

Barnes went on to say, “Others rushed to the wrong conclusion based on inadequate investigation and they may yet face legal consequences.” How is a video of a woman threatening to call the police on a black man for doing nothing more than reminding her to put her dog on a leash something that requires investigation? 

We all saw it. We all heard it. There is nothing to investigate here, we know what happened. And who are these “others” who may “yet face legal consequences”?

What about the old couple in Michigan who called the cops on the black realtor showing the house next door to his black clients? The client had his 15-year-old son with him. All three were handcuffed before the cops realized they were legitimate visitors. 

Did the old couple who called the cops on the black realtor and his clients hear breaking glass or a door being busted down? No? They just saw black folks on the lawn and assumed a crime was being committed.

Did anyone at dispatch bother to ask what evidence for a break-in this old couple had? Oh, that’s right, a car reminded them of another car that was seen before and might have been linked to a crime. So what about running the damned plates? That would have told them it wasn’t the same car. 

I’ve heard nothing to justify what happened here. It’s not good enough to say the couple responsible is old. Age isn’t an excuse for discrimination. Racists don’t get a pass because they are senior citizens. They may have believed the car in front of the house looked like one they’d seen before, but that sounds a little too much like the folks who thought Ahmaud Arbery looked like a person they’d seen break into a house before.

Arbery ended up dead — the realtor and his clients were just handcuffed — so it’s no big deal, right? Wrong.

My heart broke when I read the comments of the 15-year-old who thought “We’re going to die today.” Can you imagine? Probably not, not if you’re white. 

George Floyd was murdered over $20.

I can’t even imagine the trauma a black person would feel if the cops were to approach with guns drawn. They didn’t stop to ask who these people were — they handcuffed them first and asked questions after. If that happened to a white person, well. Let’s not even go there.

It’s time these people were held accountable. The fact that nothing is being done about this, is just more proof of institutional racism. This repeated scenario of white people assuming black people are criminals with zero evidence needs to stop. And cops of all people should know better.

I’m not sure the best way to do it, but I think a good place to start is to shame them. Short of laws against being racist jerks, there’s not much else we can do other than join together as white people to make it clear that this is not acceptable.

As sad as it is, these people aren’t going to listen to black folk, so it’s up to us to call a stop to it.

So, I‘m saying it now. “STOP!” Enough is enough. Y’all need to check yourselves the next time you decide being black is a crime. And if you can’t tell the difference between one black person and another, just shut up.