Just Another Day
Another day, another death and another excuse.
Alton Sterling of Baton Rouge, La. has become the latest Black martyr in the fight against police brutality.
His oldest son’s desperate tears make the killing of Alton Sterling that much harder to bear.
The SCLC, NAACP and Nation of Islam gathered in Louisiana’s capital city to demand justice.
State politicians have made profound statements against police brutality and in support of Sterling’s family.
Demonstrations have taken place.
Boycotts will put a dent in some people’s pockets.
And life will go on like nothing ever happened until the next Alton Sterling is confronted by a bad police officer.
No matter how wrong some police officers can be and no matter how right some Black people can be, killings of unarmed Black men will happen regularly, and regularly justice will not be served.
Unfortunately, we should not be surprised.
In America, Black lives have never mattered since the first Africans came over in the Middle Passage.
We were not seen as full human beings, only 3/5 of a person, listed in the United States Census alongside animals.
Even when African-Americans were emancipated from slavery, President Abraham Lincoln wanted to send us back to Africa or separate us from the rest of American society by creating our own little colony.
When those plans did not work out, African-Americans were allowed to stay in America as long as they did not seek the right to vote, marry interracially, or seek jobs that only White men deserved.
One hundred years after emancipation when African-Americans started marching for civil rights and voting rights, the FBI colluded with President John F. Kennedy and President Lyndon B. Johnson to slow the process of equality for as long as possible.
This was done by infiltrating the Civil Rights Movement, bugging their homes and offices in order to expose misdeeds and creating divisions within such groups as the Nation of Islam and Black Panther Party.
The same thing is now happening after the death of Alton Sterling. Media outlets are bringing up his imperfections, like his police record, to justify his killing as if all past mistakes deserve capital punishment.
The same thing happened when George Zimmerman unjustly killed Trayvon Martin. Martin’s critics justified his killing by bringing up the fact that he smoked marijuana and got suspended from his Florida high school.
While writing this column, Philando Castile of Falcon Heights, Minn. became the latest victim to get killed by a police officer for questionable reasons.
Based on the Facebook live stream of the aftermath, Castile complied with the officer, had a permit to carry a concealed weapon, let the officer know about the weapon, but still died after reaching for his ID when asked for it by the officer.
Wise people often say if people want to predict future behavior all they have to do is look at past behavior.
America’s past behavior shows that Black rights are not respected as much as White rights by the United States government and local governments.
Every right or victory by the African-American community has happened because of faith, the blessings of God and the ingenuity of Black leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr.
A Christian pastor out of Opelousas, La. stated that the racial problem is bigger than just color.
He said that Satan sees the anointing on African-Americans and he has attempted to destroy that anointing for centuries.
In order for people to eliminate racism, we have to eliminate sin.
White Americans have to start seeing other races as their brothers and sisters and vice versa.
Until that day occurs, the killings of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and others will continue and nothing in man’s power will be able to totally stop it from happening.
