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| The Latest Rallying Cry: Rayshard Brooks |
Can you feel it, too?
Christians know full well that one man can change the world, but seldom has that reality been more powerfully demonstrated as in the weeks following the Memorial Day murder of one man, George Floyd, by members of the Minneapolis police.
Mass protests continue to be staged in cities great and small across the nation. The group Black Lives Matter has gained stature and leverage. Towering statues and other symbols of the Confederacy are being ripped down and destroyed. (Although I'm not completely certain how Christopher Columbus fits into this mix. And excuse me, but regardless of their inherent meaning, aren't such actions a crime? Destruction of public property?)
NASCAR has banned the display of Confederate flags during race weekends. The mayor of Boston, of all cities, has declared racism a public health issue. Yesterday, Juneteenth, the day commemorating the final emancipation of slaves in the U.S., is being discussed as a national holiday. Band-Aid has launched a new line of actual flesh-colored bandages. Great googly-moogly, even Aunt Jemima is being shelved for all time, as Quaker Oats came to realize her image might be racially offensive...after 130 years.
Uncle Ben is next. Mrs. Butterworth is on high alert.
I am almost –– almost, mind you –– beginning to feel sorry for rednecks, racists, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other assorted psychopaths. Their narrow little ideology, their bigoted status quo, appears to be crumbling before their eyes. If their Orange Führer gets his well-deserved pink slip in November, they could just lose it.
Already there are indications the racist horde is not taking this revolution lying down. This week the statue of the late Black tennis legend Arthur Ashe was defaced in Ashe's hometown of Richmond, Va. Far worse, two Black men, Robert Fuller and Malcolm Harsch, were found hanging from separate trees in small California towns about 45 miles apart, both outside municipal buildings.
Local law enforcement agencies declared no signs of foul play in either case; the death of Fuller, 24, initially was ruled a suicide. I don't know about you, but I find it inconceivable that any Black man or woman, regardless of age, would not be intrinsically aware of the despicable history behind such an image and choose that means to end their life. More likely, some very depraved and meticulous lowlifes assisted both men in their demise by bringing back the "L Word."
Not that one. The one that rhymes with "pinching." The FBI has taken over both investigations.
My old bones tell me that what we're witnessing now is merely the opening act of an intense drama that may take months, if not years, to play out. As Quentin Bryce once said, "No one gives up power and privilege willingly, do they?"
This is only the beginning, folks. Only the beginning.
Obviously it's going to take some time for the full impact of George Floyd's legacy to take root everywhere. As evidence, witness this month's outrage: the police shooting of 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks in a Wendy's parking lot in Atlanta June 12.
Should Garrett Rolfe, the Atlanta PD officer who shot Brooks as he ran from custody with a stolen Taser, be charged with felony murder, among 10 other charges? Oh, hell, yes. But I realize that much of what I'm about to say may sound like I think Rayshard Brooks deserved what happened to him. THAT IS ABSOLUTELY NOT THE CASE. No one deserves to be shot in the back, no matter the circumstances. If you can believe Hollywood, that was the one unpardonable sin even in the lawless days of the Wild West.
However, here's what I don't hear anyone talking about: if you know you're on probation, as Brooks was, why would you get so drunk that you pass out in the drive-thru while trying to get a Baconator? It was a Black employee who called police because Brooks was literally shutting down the business. Was Rayshard thinking about his wife and four kids and Father's Day then? Doesn't there have to be some degree of personal accountability?
This confrontation was markedly different from the cop-on-Black encounter in Minneapolis last month that saw Derek Chauvin turn his left knee into a lethal weapon. From all accounts, the interaction between Brooks, Rolfe and his patrol partner Devin Brosnan was courteous, respectful, almost friendly for nearly 40 minutes. When Brooks failed his Breathalyzer test, standard procedure would be to apprehend him for driving under the influence –– for his own good, as well as the safety of others.
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| Moments From This Moment, Things Went Horribly Wrong |
Think about it. It is not an officer's responsibility to give a drunk person a lift home, or call an Uber for them. Say they let him drive home and he gets in an accident. Say they let him walk home and he stumbles into the street and gets struck by a vehicle, or is mugged in his diminished condition. Who would get the blame?
Everything seemed to be going without a hitch until handcuffs appeared. Brooks came alive. Presumably he knew being taken into custody could be a potential probation violation. His solution was to wrestle the two officers, steal one of their Tasers, break free and try to outrun them, while firing the Taser in their direction. And then, in one senseless, adrenalin-filled, unforgivable moment, it was over. Three shots. Did Rolfe need to take three shots? Or any shots at all? Erika Shields, the Atlanta Police Chief, resigned her position the next day.
I could easily put myself in Brooks' shoes. Or driver's seat. I won't say I was a terrible driver in my younger days, but then again I didn't have to: my attorney in Detroit, Lawrence Korn, once showed me an entire file cabinet drawer in his office detailing my moving violations and the many courts he had appeared in to represent me. He also gave me the single best piece of advice I've ever received.
As you might imagine, there are some Detroit suburbs that might not take too kindly to a young brother daring to speed through their community. "Say 'Yes, sir,' 'No, sir,' and always be respectful," Korn told me. "If they take you into custody, let them. I can't defend you if you act like an ass in the street."
Rayshard Brooks followed that playbook to the letter all the way down the field. Then he fumbled at the goal line. And it cost him his life.
There is a natural tendency among some Black men to "flex" their manhood, demand respect, refuse to be viewed as a "punk" in their own neighborhood. I get it. But flexing against anybody with a gun and the legal authority to use it is just a bad idea. What do you think Brooks' wife, Tomika Miller, would rather have heard the next morning: "Your husband was found intoxicated in a Wendy's parking lot, so we took him to jail to let him sleep it off," or "We're very sorry, Ma'am"?
For what it's worth, Rolfe's life and family have been forever destroyed, too. All over two disastrously bad split-second decisions. Damn.
And in a related subject that really pisses me off, whose stroke of genius was it to torch the Wendy's where the tragedy occurred? What the hell did the restaurant do to be punished? Wonder if the franchisee was a person of color? And the employees, the majority of whom likely were African American, are suddenly out of work. For the sake of a symbol. Don't Black Jobs Matter, too?
It seems like that infamous knee is leading to a lot of knee-jerk responses. I get the distinct feeling that too many people are reacting out of guilt, anger or impulse right now without taking time to think anything through. That can lead to progress, at least in the short term, but it also can be very dangerous.
Can you feel it, too?
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