Before we begin, we should tell you that this is an update on a post we did nearly a year ago, with new information added and/or substituted.
The United States is about to celebrate its 241st birthday with fireworks, Pentagon-sponsored salutes to the troops at Major League Baseball games, tweets and speeches from President Donald Trump boasting about Making America Great Again, and heightened security at public venues prompted by terror attacks in Paris, London and Manchester, England.
Land of the free, home of the secure. Unless, of course, you happen to be African-American. It's all part of what's been going on since the murder of Trayvon Martin and the disturbances in Ferguson, Missouri: Misguided police officers who target African-Americans for even the most minor offenses, No matter how much of a model citizen you are, if you take one step out of line, you're dead. Or get sent to prison if you're lucky.
Friday, after a long trial and almost a week of deliberations, a jury in St. Paul, Minnesota acquits a police officer from nearby Falcon Heights named Jeronimo Yanez, who shot and killed an African-American man named Philando Castile during a traffic stop for a broken tail light on his car. Yanez believed Castile was about to reach for his gun, when he was really fishing for his ID.
There was video of the incident taken by Castile's girlfriend (who was driving the car), which was shown live on Facebook. The jury apparently thought there was more to this story than the camera did not cover, and chose to believe Yanez' side of the story. Which is unfortunately not surprising, because juries more often than not would rather side with the men and women in blue in spite of damning evidence to the contrary.
After the verdict, Castile's supporters and others reacted in a form of protest that's become unique to Minnesota. They didn't just take it to the streets, they also chose to make their stands by blocking traffic on the freeway. On past occasions, such venues as shopping malls and the entrance to the Minnesota State Fair (which just happens to be in Falcon Heights) were also used for staging protests. The majority of them have been peaceful, but there have been some arrests. These situations, while understandable, do tend to leave ordinary (white) folks angered and confused over whether the unorthodox protesting is really accomplishing anything.
Not all police officers are trigger-happy racists, but there are enough of them to make everyone uncomfortable no matter who you are. And using military-style weapons on Main Street, especially tanks and 'robot bombs', is not a good look. This isn't Kandahar or Baghdad.
Just as law enforcement expects us to follow the rules put down by society, we expect them to treat everyone with the respect and dignity we deserve. Having said that, how can they respect us if they know they're not going to be prosecuted for some of the reprehensible things that they do?
In 2017, we don't need al-Qaeda or the Islamic State to come over and kill Americans. We can handle that job ourselves, thank you very much. Every mass shooting, every racially-motivated murder-by-cop, and every dollar sent to the National Rifle Association to make sure that Congress keeps the Second Amendment intact just adds to the perception that we never really left the Wild West.
As long as guns--its misuse by criminals, authority figures and reputed racists remain facts of life, the potential for catastrophe remains high. We need a real solution, and no more wasting time on prayers, flags at half staff, moments of silence and expressing condolences. What's it going to take?
Happy birthday, America. How many more?
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