The guilty police
Some of the recent furor over some of the incidents in which black people have died at the hands of police is understandable. The death of Eric Garner was a situation in which it is not a stretch to say … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Race and racism
The thin blue line: another white Missouri policeman kills a young black man in self-defense
That’s my headline, and I’m sticking to it until there’s any credible evidence to the contrary. So far, the facts seem to go like this: In Berkeley, Missouri (not too far from Ferguson), a call comes in at 11:15 PM … Continue reading →
What Holder should do
Paul Cassell lists seven steps Eric Holder should take in the wake of Ferguson, the Garner incident, and the murder of officers Ramos and Liu. I say: dream on, Mr. Cassell. I predict that Holder will not comply with a … Continue reading →
The narrative must be that Brinsley was mentally ill
The line between politically motivated killings and mental illness can be a thin one. Absent an obvious problem like untreated schizophrenia featuring delusions, what does a vague history of emotional troubles mean? Not much, really. How many completely well-adjusted people … Continue reading →
Cop-killer’s suicide was a little more complicated than that
Most of the coverage of the death of Ismaaiyl Brinsley, the murderer of the two NYC policemen, indicates he killed himself on a subway platform. While this is true, his suicide wasn’t spontaneous. Details that have emerged include the following … Continue reading →
Two NYC police ambushed and killed by gunman: looking forward, looking back
When I read the news of the murder of NYPD Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu by shooter Ismaaiyl Brinsley as they sat in their police car, it had a sickening familiarity. If you’re as old as I am, and … Continue reading →
On the function of a police force
Did you know? The police have a new function [emphasis mine]: Scarborough argued that police activity in minority communities is based on crime data. “If you’re a black cop and you see me walking down the street, and you see … Continue reading →
The president of Smith College slips up…
…and mistakenly declares that “all lives matter.” Then she apologizes for her grievous error: “I regret that I was unaware the phrase/hashtag ‘all lives matter’ has been used by some to draw attention away from the focus on institutional violence … Continue reading →
Eric Garner’s widow speaks out
I think that under the circumstances she’s being quite reasonable, too. Esaw Garner knows her husband was a petty criminal and doesn’t argue otherwise. What’s more, I give her points for saying this: I feel like ”” I don’t even … Continue reading →
Chris Rock on how to not get your ass kicked by the police
Commenter “Beverly” alerted me to this Chris Rock routine:
Continue reading →Another controversial shooting by police
Here’s another shooting of a black man who turned out to be unarmed, but was actively resisting arrest by fighting with the officer: According to Sgt. Trent Crump, the officer responded Tuesday to reports of someone selling drugs out of … Continue reading →
Charles Barkley, changer, defends the thin blue line
I used to be a basketball fan, but haven’t watched the sport in decades. I do remember Barkley quite vividly as a player, for his hulking (he was stocky rather than super-tall) aggressiveness that sometimes segued into combativeness. Odd that … Continue reading →