The Surge in Racism
• Do we respond by curling up in a fetal position?
• Do we respond by just praying?
• Or, do we man-up and woman-up to deal with it? ©2017
Part 1
irrespective of what goes on with Trump, or in Washington, to effectively deal with racism, African Americans, in particular, cannot just protest. Protest plays a role, but we must unite socially, politically, and economically like never before.
Raw racism has been most obvious in the actions of rogue cops. Each time a video surfaced of rogue cops mistreating or shooting a black person, protests erupted. That’s certainly understandable. But are protests the best way to deal with rogue cop behavior for the long term?
Protests are often spontaneous and reactive. But a more organized and proactive approach could bring about more lasting and fundamental changes.
Kwame Toure(Stokely Carmichael) explained quite well a similar situation that happened in the ‘60s. He said, “We must look at the errors we made in the sixties and not repeat them in the eighties (and beyond). One of our biggest errors was we were mobilized and not organized. You become mobilized when you run after issue, issue, issue.”
To deal with ongoing rogue cop shootings, the most effective weapon at our disposal, in conjunction with protests, is the vote. With the vote, we can elect mayors who appoint police chiefs. Mayors also set up civilian police review boards. Those boards have community control over police actions.
By voting, we will also be able to elect:
Prosecutors- Prosecutors bring charges against rogue cops, bigots and street thugs. We can elect the prosecutors.
Judges-Once charges are brought against rogue cops, and others, judges can sentence them. We need to elect judges who oppose the actions of rogue cops and others who commit crimes against the community.
We can follow this pattern in city after city with large black and progressive populations. Voting may not have the “swag” of a protests where there are chants of “No Justice, No Peace,” or “Black Lives Matter,” but it will have a more lasting effect than any protest.
Voting also would put us in a position to serve on juries. Jurors are selected from voting registers. If you don’t vote, you have little chance of serving on a jury and a greater chance of getting juries that don’t reflect the community.
The Police:
Civil suits—Family members whose loved ones have been brutalized or murdered must sue police departments that have violated their civil and human rights. Expensive lawsuit, where large settlements are awarded, will force cities and police departments clean up the department.
In addition, our community must demand better police training and better psychological screening. We can accomplish this by pushing for civilian police review boards. Officers with abuse histories must not be hired. Too often, rogue cops in one police department apply and are hired in another department despite a troublesome record.
We, and progressive people, must take voting more serious. Trump would have been a non-factor had we been organized and voted.
With the vote, we can elect mayors, councils, prosecutors and judges who share our concerns and who will hold rogue cops, as well as criminals, accountable.
We keep saying, “Your vote is more powerful than you think, and it has consequences whether you vote or not.” Also, voting is proactive. Being proactive means getting ahead of an issue instead of always reacting to an issue.
For example, it would have been proactive to vote against Trump and defeat him from the “git-go” rather than reacting to him while he’s in office. If voting wasn’t so much effort wouldn’t go into trying to keep us from voting.
• Do we respond by curling up in a fetal position?
• Do we respond by just praying?
• Or, do we man-up and woman-up to deal with it? ©2017
Part 1
irrespective of what goes on with Trump, or in Washington, to effectively deal with racism, African Americans, in particular, cannot just protest. Protest plays a role, but we must unite socially, politically, and economically like never before.
Raw racism has been most obvious in the actions of rogue cops. Each time a video surfaced of rogue cops mistreating or shooting a black person, protests erupted. That’s certainly understandable. But are protests the best way to deal with rogue cop behavior for the long term?
Protests are often spontaneous and reactive. But a more organized and proactive approach could bring about more lasting and fundamental changes.
Kwame Toure(Stokely Carmichael) explained quite well a similar situation that happened in the ‘60s. He said, “We must look at the errors we made in the sixties and not repeat them in the eighties (and beyond). One of our biggest errors was we were mobilized and not organized. You become mobilized when you run after issue, issue, issue.”
To deal with ongoing rogue cop shootings, the most effective weapon at our disposal, in conjunction with protests, is the vote. With the vote, we can elect mayors who appoint police chiefs. Mayors also set up civilian police review boards. Those boards have community control over police actions.
By voting, we will also be able to elect:
Prosecutors- Prosecutors bring charges against rogue cops, bigots and street thugs. We can elect the prosecutors.
Judges-Once charges are brought against rogue cops, and others, judges can sentence them. We need to elect judges who oppose the actions of rogue cops and others who commit crimes against the community.
We can follow this pattern in city after city with large black and progressive populations. Voting may not have the “swag” of a protests where there are chants of “No Justice, No Peace,” or “Black Lives Matter,” but it will have a more lasting effect than any protest.
Voting also would put us in a position to serve on juries. Jurors are selected from voting registers. If you don’t vote, you have little chance of serving on a jury and a greater chance of getting juries that don’t reflect the community.
The Police:
Civil suits—Family members whose loved ones have been brutalized or murdered must sue police departments that have violated their civil and human rights. Expensive lawsuit, where large settlements are awarded, will force cities and police departments clean up the department.
In addition, our community must demand better police training and better psychological screening. We can accomplish this by pushing for civilian police review boards. Officers with abuse histories must not be hired. Too often, rogue cops in one police department apply and are hired in another department despite a troublesome record.
We, and progressive people, must take voting more serious. Trump would have been a non-factor had we been organized and voted.
With the vote, we can elect mayors, councils, prosecutors and judges who share our concerns and who will hold rogue cops, as well as criminals, accountable.
We keep saying, “Your vote is more powerful than you think, and it has consequences whether you vote or not.” Also, voting is proactive. Being proactive means getting ahead of an issue instead of always reacting to an issue.
For example, it would have been proactive to vote against Trump and defeat him from the “git-go” rather than reacting to him while he’s in office. If voting wasn’t so much effort wouldn’t go into trying to keep us from voting.