All Lives Do Not Matter; But We Already Knew That
All lives do not matter because to many, Black lives do not matter.
Breonna Taylor’s death painfully proves that.
Blue lives do not always matter either.
It seems to only matter if those blue lives have blue eyes.
On Jan. 28, 2019, Rhogena Nicholas and her husband Dennis Tuttle sat in their home on Harding Street in Houston like they would do any other day.
Like many Texas homeowners, the Tuttles had a gun to protect themselves from possible violence.
Therefore, when some intruders busted into their home with no warning, the homeowners opened fire in self-defense.
Unfortunately, the intruders busting in their home were not criminals in the traditional sense.
The intruders worked for the Houston Police Department and had obtained a no-knock warrant to enter their home because someone told officers that the Tuttles sold drugs in the neighborhood.
To let the police department tell it, the Tuttles were the drug kingpins in the area.
Cops even found a trace of illegal drugs in the home, enough for personal consumption.
But as the real story revealed itself, the Tuttles did not sell drugs.
Rogue police officers in the department had a history of fabricating evidence and creating informants to justify some unlawful arrests.
Obviously, they had gotten away with it for years.
But this time, two people died.
Here is the kicker.
The deceased couple was White.
And one of the officers who led the raid, Gerald Goines, is Black.
As a result, arrests happened without much need for national protests.
ABC13 in Houston reported, “Criminal felony charges have been filed against former Houston narcotics officers by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office in the ongoing investigation of the botched raid. Allegations include using false information to get judges to sign search warrants, falsifying time sheets, putting false information in offense reports, and falsifying government documents to steal, prosecutors have determined.”
But that is just Houston.
Let’s take a trip to the Minneapolis area.
George Floyd lost his life tragically in Minneapolis, after a police officer put his knee on his neck for over eight minutes.
In Minnesota, Philando Castile lost his life after a traffic stop in which he told the officer he had a legally registered firearm in his car.
His girlfriend said the officer shot Castile as he reached for his driver’s license.
But the officer probably feared for his life because that is all that is often needed to exonerate a police officer or any White citizen from killing a Black person.
Also in Minneapolis, former police officer Mohamed Noor received a 12 and a half-year prison sentence for killing an unarmed White woman from Australia named Justine Diamond.
The innocent lady’s family also received a $20 million settlement for Diamond’s death.
Noor even said that he feared for his life when approaching Diamond.
But for some strange reason, the court system did not believe him.
Noor is Black.
Noor is also a Muslim.
By looking at the aforementioned cases, all from different jurisdictions with different laws, it seems that it is believable for non-Black officers to fear for their lives when approaching a Black person, even if they are unarmed.
Unfortunately, when the shoe is on the other foot and a Black cop fears a White person and is scared for his or her life, that fear becomes laughable and unbelievable.
No one is excusing the Black officers.
But what we demand is the same treatment for White officers in a similar situation.
That brings me to the tragedy that continues to be our sister, Breonna Taylor.
What is the difference between Taylor’s killing and the killings of Nicholas and Tuttle?
The only difference I see, without being an expert on all of the evidence, is that Taylor was Black and the Tuttles were White.
Furthermore, a Black officer led the botched Harding Street raid, while White cops led the no-knock intrusion of Taylor’s apartment.
Regardless of what the law says in Kentucky versus Texas, that is why Black folks say no justice, no peace.
Because we have been peaceful since the day before forever, and we still cannot get equal treatment in AmeriKKKa.
When we say Black Lives Matter, racists respond with All Lives Matter or Blue Lives Matter.
Well, if all lives truly mattered then all of those racists would be on the frontlines demanding justice for our sister, Breonna Taylor and not blindly supporting a racist judicial and policing system.
If Blue Lives Matter, then where was that movement when Goines needed support for his idiotic and criminal behavior?
The Blue Lives Matter and All Lives Matter folk were quiet because Goines did not have blue eyes or the complexion for the protection as comedian Paul Mooney would say.
To make worse in the Breonna Taylor case is that no officer got indicted for her actual death.
But an officer did get indicted for shooting recklessly into someone else’s apartment.
Let that marinate.
It’s O.K. to shoot into Breonna Taylor’s apartment because you got false information.
But it’s not O.K. to shoot into her neighbor’s apartment.
Some will say that officers acted in self-defense because Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend shot at the cops.
But self-defense does not allow you to hurt or kill innocent people because you feel threatened by someone else.
Breonna Taylor’s neighbors’ lives matter.
Unfortunately, her life obviously did not matter to the dominant culture.
But Breonna Taylor’s life mattered to me.
Breonna, I am sorry that we could not get you justice.
I am sorry that I did not spend enough time on your death in this article.
But I am heartbroken with the double standard.
I am heartbroken that America does not seem to care.
I am sorry that losers demand law and order instead of being leaders and demanding justice and equality.
To all of our departed brothers and sisters, your lives mattered to us.
And we will not stop raising hell until your lives matter to our adversaries too.
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