With the recent video circulating the cyber world of the po’lice profiling of A Black man in Boulder, Colorado there is always that burning, eternal question of when will this discriminatory behavior towards Black people and others of the universal majority (color) come to a cease- or to be presently realistic, when will those in authority be held wholly accountable for the murders and other illegal actions that are committed against not only people of color, but against poor people also?
It was on March 1st when the cop spotted the man in the front yard with a bucket and a long object in his hand standing behind a “private property” sign which prompted the officer to investigate. After the owner had ID’d himself to the cop, along with the individual videotaping the incident vouching for his neighbor, words were exchanged between the cop and the man and this led to backup being called because it was assumed that the black man was armed. The cop ordered sharply “You have a weapon! Drop the weapon!”
The property owner could be heard saying loudly “I don’t have a weapon! This is a bucket!” Even the man who was filming shouted out “He’s picking up trash and you have your hand on your gun!?!? Go home!” The po’lice officer had his hand on his gun because the black property owner did not put down the alleged weapon that turned out to be a trash grabber.
After backup had arrived and the cop realized that he had invoked a generational “trigger of hatred” which upset the owner to the point beyond calm, he then he made a weak attempt to de-escalate the issue by saying to the man that he was “Angry and escalated” and “Likely profiled, so we’ll pick it up at a different time.” Then the squad left shortly without further criminalization.
Police Chief Greg Testa had voiced that the case is being taken “very seriously” and while the department is doing an investigation the officer first on the scene has been placed on “AL”, meaning administrative leave, or “PAL” which is paid administrative leave- it was unclear at the time.
It was a slap in the face to have a cop admit that the racial profiling had taken place, but to be told that your human right violation should be put on hold until later was the spit that followed the smack. It is safe to say that the deep seeded mistrust of black citizens and the theory of guilty until proven innocent has played a vital part in this case. How many people of european descent have been detained because they were chopping wood- with an ax on their own property?
It was obvious that the black man in his front yard was concerned for his own safety while the officer was trying to get a so-called “suspect” under control and when one is in fear of his/her life we cannot dictate the response of the individual- whether the defensive reaction is loud or otherwise. Saying that the “fight or flight” mode is not normal or it is wrong when a person in a certain state of fear is like saying that you should be passive and pet a shark even though it has you in its mouth.
What about the historical trauma of black people being put in jail only for the ku klux klan, often disguised as sheriffs and/or deputies who came and raided the cells in the middle of the night to remove a prisoner and lynched the unfortunate soul playing a subconscious role? One cannot help but to think about what the outcome may have been had not the property owner had a witness brave enough to put the incident on video? In my opinion it was a strong possibility that the result would have been that another brother would have been gunned down because the cop had seen a threat before he saw a maintenance tool and the officer would have possibly used the fear angle to justify another officer involved killing. The heartbreaking reality is that this behavior between the cops and us black citizens will not see an ending no time soon due to a nation failing to uproot this mentality and heal from it, a destroyed relationship between the police and the universal majority and for the sad fact that “keeping us in our place” has been a tactic well practiced and used to contribute to the very establishment of this stolen country.
Queennandi Xsheba, PNN KEXU