If you are a black man in America, you know that law enforcement is not there to ‘serve and protect;’ you fear them and have no reason to trust that they will treat you with respect. Is this a new phenomenon? Some may think so and blame increased poverty for part of the problem. That would not be accurate. Blacks have received more aggressive and violent treatment, not encountered by whites, for decades. There exists only one difference today from 50 or 60 years ago; every phone has a camera.

Another part of this situation which has not changed is the exoneration of law enforcement and the denial of civil rights for the victims.

Tamir Rice was playing in a park in Cleveland. He had in his possession a pellet gun. A passerby called the police and reported someone waving a gun; Tamir was alone. When two officers arrived, they witnessed a minor who was brandishing some type of weapon. Without an accurate assessment of the situation, a poorly trained officer shot and killed the 12-year-old boy within seconds of their arrival. A panel decided that the officers were justified in taking lethal action against the boy.

Sadly this is the result in nearly 100 percent of cases when a black person is maimed or killed by law enforcement. A shoot first mentality exists within the law enforcement community. The lives of blacks in communities across the United States hold little value for those who are sworn to serve and protect.

A representative for the Rice family offered a statement:

“These supposed “experts” — all pro-police — dodge the simple fact that the officers rushed Tamir and shot him immediately without assessing the situation in the least. Reasonable jurors could find that conduct unreasonable. But they will never get the chance because the prosecutor is working diligently to ensure that there is no indictment and no accountability.”

FOX Noise pundits, Rush Limbaugh and others criticize the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement. They deny the simple truth, that if you are a black person in America you are treated differently by the authorities than your white brothers and sisters.

The basic problem is far too simple and completely ignored by the media; there are two Americas today. The affluent white America respects and admires law enforcement. Low income Americans and those living at the poverty level have no faith in those who have authority and power over them, especially minorities. These are facts, not fantasy.

For Tamir Rice and his family there is no justice. His needless death will haunt his family and the community for years to come. He will never graduate high school or have the opportunity to go to college, get married, and have a family of his own. The two Cleveland policemen involved will be allowed to live out their lives and see their children experience the life Tamir will never experience.

America is the most violent nation in the world, and the only nation where gun violence is accepted as the norm. Law enforcement officers are poorly trained and lack the proper understanding of what it means to have at their ready a weapon which can take human life at the movement of a finger.

Many changes are necessary if America is to become a great country once again, and it begins with the way human life is valued and respected.

Op-Ed

By James Turnage

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Photo Courtesy of The All-Nite Images