Incredibly, the unbelievable has happened again in Texas! A Fort Worth citizen, minding her own business, was shot and killed in her home while babysitting her nephew. Twenty-eight-year-old Atatiana Jefferson was shot through her window by a policeman who had responded to a non-emergency call regarding a well-being check!
A neighbor had noticed that her door was open and called a non-emergency number to have them send someone to check up on her to make sure everything was all right, especially since it was after midnight. A policeman came to the home, looked in the window, and without announcing that he was a policeman told her to put her hands up and then immediately shot and killed her!
Ironically, this murder comes on the heels of a trial that just concluded wherein Botham Jean, a young Black man, was shot and killed in his home by a cop while sitting on his sofa eating ice cream. Amber Guyger, a neighbor, entered his home and shot him dead allegedly by mistake, thinking it was her apartment. Guyger went to court and was sentenced to serve 10 years for murder. In the opinion of just about everyone who knows about the case, the sentence was too light.
Within 10 days of the trial, a key witness, Joshua Brown, was gunned down. At press time, authorities have arrested two suspects with a third at large, in what they are insinuating is a drug deal gone bad. The timing of this is very suspicious, and pundits predicted that Brown’s reputation would be smeared in the process. They were right.
These incidents involving the murder of Black citizens by the police are turning out to be part of a tradition.
In Chicago, IL, an unarmed teenager, Laquan McDonald, was shot 16 times by a policeman. A huge police cover-up ensued, but eventually the murderer, Jason Van Dyke, was brought to trial and was given a very light sentence. This is happening a lot. Policemen who have murdered citizens with little or no provocation are not adequately punished. They are given very light sentences or suspended with or without paid leave.
What message does it send to tax-paying citizens who pay for a police force that is supposed to “serve and protect” while being murdered by that same police force? How is it that a municipality that taxes its citizens can get away without delivering on their obligations to do their job?
Currently, if numerous social media platforms are to be believed, Black citizens are increasingly convinced that the police are not to be called under any circumstance. Black people have been murdered by police for having a faulty tail light, selling loose cigarettes, and any number of other innocuous circumstances. This leaves the Black community in an untenable position.
If community residents are faced with violence perpetrated by criminals in the community, but are also afraid to call the police, they are left like sitting ducks. As a result, Black tax dollars are going down the drain since the community is not getting the services that they are paying for!
Ultimately, when looking at the dire circumstances faced by Black people in America, we are witnessing TAXATION WITHOUT RECIPROCITY! The community is paying for services that it is not getting while, at the same time, being victimized by the police AND by criminals. Who will protect Black citizens in this scenario? Some people have floated the notion of vigilante action, but that would no doubt backfire, since it would only increase the danger to everyone in the Black community!
As this is happening, former NFL player Colin Kaepernick, has been sidelined and vilified for not kneeling during the playing of the national anthem at football games to protest the atrocious treatment of Black people by the police. He has been blackballed because of his stance. Some people, both Black and white, are encouraging him to “Just get over it” and forget the NFL. Others are even saying that “he wasn’t a good player anyway.” And Colin has lost his livelihood. And Black people are still being murdered by the police. Chew on that! A Luta Continua.
