In America Innocent Black People Are Often Killed Twice…
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By Jason “J.G.” Gamble
Nearly every time there is a controversy and an “unarmed” black man or woman has been killed the media merely refers to them as “unarmed” and their killer is often called “alleged shooter”. I have argued for years that this needs to change. Instead of calling these victims unarmed they need to be called “innocent.” After all if I asked you what crime was committed by Tamir Rice a boy who played on a playground or Trayvon Martin a boy that was walking home or more recently Botham Jean a man that simply answered his front door then what could you honestly respond?
Each of their families had to suffer not one but two murders. They suffered the loss of the physical body of their loved one and then they assassination of their characters. In America, they have been killing innocent black people for a very long time and it is not just one death but two. Botham Jean is the most recent example. This was a very good man and the irony is even if he wasn’t the only action that lead to his death was answering his own front door. On September 6th 2018 a white Dallas female officer named Amber Guyber claimed that she had mistaken Botham Jean’s apartment for her own. She shot Botham Jean in his own apartment and was only charged with Manslaughter.
Guyber has been a cop for 4 years and she claims she was tired after a 14 hour shift and she went to the wrong apartment due to exhaustion. Ironically she was too exhausted to read the number on the door, to realize the furniture in the apartment was not her own or to recognize that robbers do not answer doors in their underwear but yet she was aware enough to pull out her weapon and kill someone. This seems like a scenario that someone would make up in a bad movie unfortunately this is reality. This is America in 2018.
Perhaps the most insane part to the story is the Houston police did not search the apartment of the Amber Guyber the person that pulled the trigger. Instead they were able to obtain two search warrants for the home of Botham Jean. Officer Guyber was off duty and had no reason to be at this man’s home and yet the police searched his home and found a small amount of marijuana. This fact was then leaked to the press to effectively create a smear campaign to make a good man look like a thug. So, it was not enough that so many people suffered the loss of their beloved family member, friend or colleague but now they suffer the death of his character in the media.
This is a story as old as America. An innocent black person is lynched or murdered and they smear their character in order to justify the unjustifiable. Tamir Rice was killed in less than 3 seconds on camera and they blamed his mother and even called the five foot seven, twelve year old child a grown man. This is the insanity that exists in this country and we need to recognize it. Trayvon Martin was killed by an adult that was found unfit to join a police force so he joined a neighborhood watch and killed a young man that he was told not to follow.
Trayvon Martin was then vilified by the media. A past suspension in High School over marijuana was mentioned and yet no one mentioned the numerous domestic violence disputes of George Zimmerman. It is a horrible feeling to experience witnessing innocent people dying but it is far worse to see the lack of empathy afterwards. Killers are praised and given sympathy but innocent people are treated like they are criminals.
This is why we must change the narrative. These people are innocent and the lies and propaganda only rob them of their humanity. The treatment of Botham Jean is a crystal clear example of racism and injustice in this country. This is not new and many people of color have been pointing out the inconsistencies. I ask anyone that has read this article these few questions. When someone innocent of a crime is killed what matters more, the history of the killer or the person killed? Should we know if Amber Guyber is a white supremacist? Was she on drugs? She went to his apartment so why is he the one that is investigated? Food for thought.
Remember we are all in this together. Our Rise is the collective demise of injustice.
1struggle, 1 community, 1LUV
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