Police Stop Killing Black and Brown People

This is an Opinion Article by Gloria Tatum…………. 

Rayshard Brooks is the latest victim of police using excessive force that escalated into murder.  Brooks was asleep in his car in the drive-through at Wendy’s on University Avenue in south Atlanta.   People were driving around him, so someone called the police.  

White people stop calling the police on Black people because they may kill them.

Why didn’t the police wake him up and tell him to move his car? I guess that would have been too simple of a solution.   No, the police decided that he was under the influence of drugs and decided to arrest him.  They scuffled and Brooks got their taser and ran away.  The police shot Brooks in the back and he died in the street.   We have seen this scene too many times.

When will it end?  When will the police stop killing Black and Brown people for simple violations or for no good reason at all?  Of course, many Black people run from the police because they FEAR the police for good reason.  Even when they cooperate many are still killed.  

Why do the police shoot to kill when their lives are not in danger?  Why is a gun too often a police officer’s first option?   Why do good cops support and protect bad cops?  This has got to stop, people can’t take it anymore, nor should they.

Everyone is sick and tired of seeing unending videos of police killing unarmed people, especially Black men.  It is day after day, year after year, and people are angry.  They have a right to be angry because there is no justice, police are rarely held accountable for killing folks.  There are too many laws like “Qualified Immunity” that protect the police and put them above the law, but few to none to protect citizens from the police.

The police dress and act like a military force at war with African Americans.  Stop giving the police military equipment, stop training them in apartheid Israel because we are all treated like Palestinians now.  The police are no longer here to protect and serve Black people, they are here to occupy and control. 

If you are afraid of Black people don’t become a cop.   If you are a racist don’t become a cop.  If you are violent don’t become a cop.   Police need to receive a mental health test to see if they are mentally fit to become a cop.  Many things must change laws, policies, and training.

Another problem is President Donald Trump who is a racist.   He fans the flames of racism at every opportunity.   He wants to make American “white” again but it was never white.  His supporters fear the changing demographics and see the country turning brown.  They fear losing white power and privilege.  Trump will only make this situation worse.  He must be voted out in November for this country to heal. 

Another problem is politicians spend too much time writing laws to criminalize poverty, minorities, homelessness, mental illness, and addiction.  You can’t solve social problems by putting people in jail, it only makes the problem worse.  Resources need to go to communities for mental health and addiction clinics, job training, affordable housing, and healthcare to lift people up not keep them in cages to be abused and dehumanized.

It’s not just police and politicians, it’s the whole damn system that needs change.  Systemic racism has infected everything like cancer and is killing the country.

Part of the solution is former President Obama’s 21st Century Policing Initiative. Why has it not been implemented?  

People got to vote in large numbers to overcome voter suppression by the rich and powerful who are buying politicians and elections.  Get big money out of elections and overturn Citizens United.  

Vote out white supremacists in the State House, Congress, and the White House.   

People are demanding change and justice and there will be no peace until the people get change and justice!  A new world is possible where there is justice for everyone, not just the rich, powerful, and well connected.