Read the following paragraphs, and then re-read them.
Unlike in the death of Brown, who was unarmed and whose shooting was not captured on video, Berkeley Mayor Theodore Hoskins said Wednesday that surveillance footage appeared to show Martin pulling a gun on the unidentified 34-year-old officer, who was questioning him and another man about a theft at a convenience store.
“That officer not only has an obligation to protect the community, but he also has a responsibility to protect himself,” said the senator, who is African-American. “Because of the video, it is more than apparent that his life was in jeopardy.”
But Taurean Russell, co-founder of Hands Up United, asked if police had any reason to question Martin in the first place. Mistrust of police remains high among blacks, many of whom are weary of harassment, said Russell, who is black.
USA Today December 25, 2014
Okay, perhaps the officer should have ignored these two and all other suspicious people if they are black. After all, doesn’t everyone walk around looking suspicious? Besides how could the officer know this man had a gun, right? It seems to me that as long as the “we are the oppressed,” mindset prevails accompanied by a blindness toward the problems in the community that feels harassed by police, nothing will be solved and there can be no win for anyone.
How many African-American men are targeted by police for absolutely no reason and by “reason” we must (sadly) include the negative perceptions created by the behavior of what must be the minority of black men and boys in America? We have met the enemy and he is us.
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 