#policeracism

[franklong12]

Disturbing New Footage Shows Minneapolis Cops Saying They're 'Hunting Activists' Damning new body-camera footage from an ... Read the rest on our site with the url below https://worldwidetweets.com/disturbing-new-footage-shows-minneapolis-cops-saying-theyre-hunting-activists/?feed_id=89754&_unique_id=61608ca8d932b #bodycamerafootage #KillingofGeorgeFloyd #Minneapolis #policeracism

[progressiveparty]

‘I Can’t Wait’ to ‘Go Out and Start Slaughtering’ Black People: Three North Carolina Cops Fired After Racist Rant

On Wednesday, the Port City Daily reported that three police officers in Wilmington, North Carolina, have been fired after dash-cam footage recorded a profane and racist rant in which they fantasized about “slaughtering” Black people and used the N-word. “Michael ‘Kevin’ Piner, James ‘Brian’ Gilmore, and Jessie E. Moore II were all terminated from the force. The announcement came from the new Chief of Police Donny Williams — not even 24-hours into his first day as chief,” reported Michael Praats. “, along with two other officers have been fired from the department after dash-cam footage recorded two phone conversations — accidentally — and a supervisor conducting a routine audit of the videos found the disturbing content.” “We are just gonna go out and start slaughtering them f**king n****rs,” said Piner in the footage. “I can’t wait. God, I can’t wait.” Williams, who is African-American, gave a press conference discussing the incident. “This is the most exceptional and difficult case I have encountered in my career,” said Williams. “We must establish new reforms for policing here at home and throughout this country.” This Piece Originally Appeared in www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com Read the full article

[thinkstorythots]

"To Kill A Mockingbird”: time to stop teaching it?

I’m re-reading To Kill a Mockingbird in French. (I like to read English novels I know very well in French to strengthen my French skills.) Although I’ve read it many times, this is the first time I’m reading it since becoming more woke to intersectional civil rights issues, in particular after following the Black Lives Matter movement and recognizing how important it is. 

Now, I’m seeing Heck Tate as if for the first time. I’ve read TKAM probably fifteen or twenty times in my life. I know many scenes by heart (as is evidenced by my being able to decipher them readily in French). And I never noticed an inherent racial contradiction about Heck Tate.

You’ll remember he’s the police officer that was first on the scene of white Mayella Ewell’s “rape” by the black man Tom Robinson. He’s also the first on the scene at the murder of Bob Ewell by Boo Radley. For the first time on this read-through (in French), I noticed what the Black Lives Matter movement has been telling us: same cop, different treatment according to race.

There was no evidence that Tom Robinson had actually raped Mayella Ewell. In fact, all evidence (especially his crippled arm) pointed to her being beaten (not raped at all) by her father and that Tom could not have done it. But this evidence was disregarded, nay, not even considered (as shown by Tate’s testimony on the witness stand), nay, not even sought. Tate didn’t even try to piece together what actually happened. It was two white people accusing a black man, and his investigation stopped there.

When it came to white Boo Radley, though, from a privileged family on the “good” side of town, with his “shy ways,” Tate not only examined the evidence correctly but then falsified it. He convinced stalwart Atticus Finch to do the same. The crime was swept under the rug entirely. Bob Ewell “fell on his knife.” The main character, Scout Finch, then escorts the white murderer home as though he’s a gentleman.

Obviously I love TKAM. I’ve loved it all my life. But if it’s being taught in schools at face value, without pointing out this racial bias, it’s doing our nation a disservice. The way the cop handles the two investigations is not put under any kind of critical analysis in the book itself; while she decries the justice of the first case, I believe Harper Lee was blind to the injustice of the second herself, as a product of her geography and time. The book absolutely presents the murder case at the end as being handled correctly and justly. It also doesn’t hold Heck Tate responsible at all for revealing the truth about Mayella’s “rape” -- it leaves that to the hero, Atticus Finch, to do so in court. This makes for good courtroom drama, but it doesn’t help us much with black/police relations. And if we’re teaching this book to kids without explaining how Heck Tate was wrong on both counts, we’re messing things up royally.

Here’s a study guide question from Cliff’s Notes:

5. Would Heck Tate have filed charges against Tom Robinson so quickly if Tom were white? Why or why not? Would Sheriff Tate have been so unwilling to file charges against Boo Radley if Boo was black? Why or why not?

That’s a start, anyway. But to me the point is that Heck Tate didn’t do his job correctly in either case. He’s a sworn officer of the law, and he just plain didn’t do his job. He should be held accountable for that. He’s presented, though, as a good guy. The fact that things haven’t changed that much is all the more upsetting.

So I think we should stop teaching this book in school, unless it’s with an eye to showing students how to parse out the fallacies inherent in the book’s conclusions. Justice was subverted in both cases in Maycomb, but the book doesn’t know that. We need to.