A Deep Fear Of Black Men In America: Killing Of Unarmed Black Man In Charlotte Denotes An Acceptable Police Culture Of Excessive Force

It’s widely believed within the African American community that many white Americans have a distinct fear of big muscular black men, and it’s debatable if such fear is justified whether you rationalize the prevalence of black on black violence, or the inherited guilt many people believe white people manifest on their conscience for the enslavement of blacks. It really doesn’t matter which perspective one might resolve related to the issue, the bottom line is that fear of black people exist in almost every aspect of our society whether in the workplace or simply while walking pass people of color on the streets of America.

The sad reality is that when some white Americans who have limited interaction with black people encounter them, coupled with any awkward situation that may arise related to a black man it seems to cause some white people to default to panic and fear, and while thinking that their lives may be in danger based solely on the mere presence of a black man. The fear of black men intensifies when the very awkward situations I speak of places some fragile, cowardice, and gun happy white police officers in a position where they encounter black men during the course of their duties. Countless police shootings of unarmed black men across this country could have been avoided if police officers had used sound judgement and common sense prior to pulling the trigger.

Consider the actual act of firing a gun at another human being knowing the potential of fatality with the implementation of such a level of force, and I remind you that as a standard most police agencies train their officers to utilizes a variety of lesser levels of force before discharging a firearm. Even if we consider the plethora of arguments that Fraternal Order of Police and other police support groups have offered as rationalization for the killing of unarmed black men while citing that police often times have to make split second decisions when faced with aggressive and violent criminals, many of these police involved shootings occur while other options exist to put down a threat without having to resort to the use of lethal deadly force.

Over the years police agencies have instituted the use of tasers, while continuing to utilize other traditional methods of self defense such as batons, chemical agents (tear gas, pepper spray, cn, and cs gases, etc.) as proven methods of force that allow police to control any situation when confronted with a hostile combatant in the course of their work. Cops who default to discharging their service weapon as the initial force used to to put down a threat are in fact not following protocol in many instances. In many situations cops who kill unarmed black men are also almost never prosecuted.

Police agencies are creative in soliciting  a variety of premises why some cops use deadly force when it seems that the threat could have been handled less violently. They continue to argue that officer safety is the primary reason that society should accept such unnecessary violence by police in many of these shootings. I beg to differ, and firmly believe that most police involved shootings of unarmed black men are predicated solely on race and cowardice.  I mean some police are so frail and intimidated that it’s mind boggling that they ever even passed their shooting courses during training, and should have never been commissioned to walked the streets of America as a police officer.

Additionally, many police agencies have been safe havens for racist who lurk at the opportunity of killing black people. In fact the level of violence enacted upon black men who are seen as a threat without the benefit of the doubt by some white police officers has become a common practice in many police cultural settings, and widely accepted as business as usual when black men are gunned down unjustly by white police. Furthermore, society is conditioned to perceive blacks, young black men in particular as being a threat , and in many instances without any provocation what so ever.

The tragic shooting of unarmed Jonathan Ferrell in Charlotte, North Carolina this past weekend is indicative of the very police culture I have mentioned. It’s a classic example of how an approaching black man is automatically seen as a threat, and even more disturbingly how some police are eager and readily prepared to use deadly force as the only viable course of action to resolve their own purported fear and perceive threat. It doesn’t even matter if a black man is visibly unarmed, the use of deadly force is often times accepted as an appropriate action by some white police officers, and more importantly, creating a police culture which condones an unlawful, unjust, and prejudicial culture accepted by white America.

Although I am more disturbed that the caller to 911 described Ferrell as “breaking down” her door which created a heightened threat for responding police, professionally trained police officers must maintain sound judgement and the ability to swiftly analyze any given situation to authenticate an incident of actual aggression by an approaching unarmed black man juxtapose to a black man in distress. It’s inconceivable that three officers at the scene of a reported attempted home invasion, after determining that the alleged suspect was unarmed, that officers could not have resolved the incident without the use of deadly force, and considering the obvious determining and very telling factor  that Jonathan Ferrell was in fact coming toward them. I mean let’s be realistic, how many home invaders actually run toward the police?

Some police supporters may even attempt to rationalize that Ferrell could have been insane, on drugs, or had some other mental deficiency the night he approached police, justifying apprehensive fear for cops that night. However, police can never justify shooting anyone 10 times when the subject isn’t armed, and there is no evidence that police where in actual fear for their lives. Police say that attempts to tazer Ferrell failed, and only one of the officers discharged his firearm. When we consider how police typically respond to actual threats of violence, it’s a “no brainer” that a valid threat never existed from Ferrell, because the other two police officers at the scene didn’t fire their service weapons.

The acceptable practice within most police cultures in incidents such as the Ferrell case, is for all police personnel at the scene to compose their duty reports mirroring that of other officers. Protect my brother at all cost. It’s a standard practice which has made the “great blue wall of silence” extremely difficult to penetrate within the entire history of policing in America. Perhaps the lack of physical injury to police, Ferrell having been unarmed, and the eventual discovery of his vehicle later on that day created a situation where the other two officers were left with a career decision. Cops are often times placed in precarious situations deriving from a culture of silence by police corruption. Fortunately some incidents arise which make it extremely difficult for officers to falsify police reports to safe their colleagues neck, and the Ferrell case appears to be one of those very cases.

Ironically, the white police officer who killed Ferrell is now being represented by a black man probably provided by his police union. The attorney has been arguing that the investigation will prove that the officer was justified in the use of force that killed Ferrell, and the counselors statements are simply police supporter rhetoric often used to rationalize police related killing of unarmed citizens. It’s a constant theme of the very “banana bullshit” that the entire institution of American Policing has feed the public for centuries. The cop who shot Jonathan Ferrell is nothing more than another white cop either afraid of or prejudice toward an unarmed black man, and deserves to go to prison for murder.

The People’s Champion

I’m David Adams

David Adams

A Self proclaimed geek, Sympathizer for the homeless, Social Change Advocate, Crime Blogger, Promoter of Awareness for Missing and Exploited Children, and a mobile technology enthusiast. A recognized Journalist and Human Interest Writer championing the plight of the masses whom are without a voice of their own.

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It’s widely believed within the African American community that many white Americans have a distinct fear of big muscular black men, and it’s debatable if such fear is justified whether you rationalize the prevalence of black on black violence, or the inherited guilt many people believe white people manifest on their conscience for the enslavement of blacks. It really doesn’t matter which perspective one might resolve related to the issue, the bottom line is that fear of black people exist in almost every aspect of our society whether in the workplace or simply while walking pass people of color on the streets of America.

The sad reality is that when some white Americans who have limited interaction with black people encounter them, coupled with any awkward situation that may arise related to a black man it seems to cause some white people to default to panic and fear, and while thinking that their lives may be in danger based solely on the mere presence of a black man. The fear of black men intensifies when the very awkward situations I speak of places some fragile, cowardice, and gun happy white police officers in a position where they encounter black men during the course of their duties. Countless police shootings of unarmed black men across this country could have been avoided if police officers had used sound judgement and common sense prior to pulling the trigger.

Consider the actual act of firing a gun at another human being knowing the potential of fatality with the implementation of such a level of force, and I remind you that as a standard most police agencies train their officers to utilizes a variety of lesser levels of force before discharging a firearm. Even if we consider the plethora of arguments that Fraternal Order of Police and other police support groups have offered as rationalization for the killing of unarmed black men while citing that police often times have to make split second decisions when faced with aggressive and violent criminals, many of these police involved shootings occur while other options exist to put down a threat without having to resort to the use of lethal deadly force.

Over the years police agencies have instituted the use of tasers, while continuing to utilize other traditional methods of self defense such as batons, chemical agents (tear gas, pepper spray, cn, and cs gases, etc.) as proven methods of force that allow police to control any situation when confronted with a hostile combatant in the course of their work. Cops who default to discharging their service weapon as the initial force used to to put down a threat are in fact not following protocol in many instances. In many situations cops who kill unarmed black men are also almost never prosecuted.

Police agencies are creative in soliciting  a variety of premises why some cops use deadly force when it seems that the threat could have been handled less violently. They continue to argue that officer safety is the primary reason that society should accept such unnecessary violence by police in many of these shootings. I beg to differ, and firmly believe that most police involved shootings of unarmed black men are predicated solely on race and cowardice.  I mean some police are so frail and intimidated that it’s mind boggling that they ever even passed their shooting courses during training, and should have never been commissioned to walked the streets of America as a police officer.

Additionally, many police agencies have been safe havens for racist who lurk at the opportunity of killing black people. In fact the level of violence enacted upon black men who are seen as a threat without the benefit of the doubt by some white police officers has become a common practice in many police cultural settings, and widely accepted as business as usual when black men are gunned down unjustly by white police. Furthermore, society is conditioned to perceive blacks, young black men in particular as being a threat , and in many instances without any provocation what so ever.

The tragic shooting of unarmed Jonathan Ferrell in Charlotte, North Carolina this past weekend is indicative of the very police culture I have mentioned. It’s a classic example of how an approaching black man is automatically seen as a threat, and even more disturbingly how some police are eager and readily prepared to use deadly force as the only viable course of action to resolve their own purported fear and perceive threat. It doesn’t even matter if a black man is visibly unarmed, the use of deadly force is often times accepted as an appropriate action by some white police officers, and more importantly, creating a police culture which condones an unlawful, unjust, and prejudicial culture accepted by white America.

Although I am more disturbed that the caller to 911 described Ferrell as “breaking down” her door which created a heightened threat for responding police, professionally trained police officers must maintain sound judgement and the ability to swiftly analyze any given situation to authenticate an incident of actual aggression by an approaching unarmed black man juxtapose to a black man in distress. It’s inconceivable that three officers at the scene of a reported attempted home invasion, after determining that the alleged suspect was unarmed, that officers could not have resolved the incident without the use of deadly force, and considering the obvious determining and very telling factor  that Jonathan Ferrell was in fact coming toward them. I mean let’s be realistic, how many home invaders actually run toward the police?

Some police supporters may even attempt to rationalize that Ferrell could have been insane, on drugs, or had some other mental deficiency the night he approached police, justifying apprehensive fear for cops that night. However, police can never justify shooting anyone 10 times when the subject isn’t armed, and there is no evidence that police where in actual fear for their lives. Police say that attempts to tazer Ferrell failed, and only one of the officers discharged his firearm. When we consider how police typically respond to actual threats of violence, it’s a “no brainer” that a valid threat never existed from Ferrell, because the other two police officers at the scene didn’t fire their service weapons.

The acceptable practice within most police cultures in incidents such as the Ferrell case, is for all police personnel at the scene to compose their duty reports mirroring that of other officers. Protect my brother at all cost. It’s a standard practice which has made the “great blue wall of silence” extremely difficult to penetrate within the entire history of policing in America. Perhaps the lack of physical injury to police, Ferrell having been unarmed, and the eventual discovery of his vehicle later on that day created a situation where the other two officers were left with a career decision. Cops are often times placed in precarious situations deriving from a culture of silence by police corruption. Fortunately some incidents arise which make it extremely difficult for officers to falsify police reports to safe their colleagues neck, and the Ferrell case appears to be one of those very cases.

Ironically, the white police officer who killed Ferrell is now being represented by a black man probably provided by his police union. The attorney has been arguing that the investigation will prove that the officer was justified in the use of force that killed Ferrell, and the counselors statements are simply police supporter rhetoric often used to rationalize police related killing of unarmed citizens. It’s a constant theme of the very “banana bullshit” that the entire institution of American Policing has feed the public for centuries. The cop who shot Jonathan Ferrell is nothing more than another white cop either afraid of or prejudice toward an unarmed black man, and deserves to go to prison for murder.

 

 

The People’s Champion

I’m David Adams

 

 

 

 

 

 

David Adams

A Self proclaimed geek, Sympathizer for the homeless, Social Change Advocate, Crime Blogger, Promoter of Awareness for Missing and Exploited Children, and a mobile technology enthusiast. A recognized Journalist and Human Interest Writer championing the plight of the masses whom are without a voice of their own.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:

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