Violence in Black and White

by Errington C. Thompson, MD –

Micah Xavier Johnson was a 25-year-old Army reservist who had been deployed to Afghanistan. According to his parents, the military had changed him.

Being deployed had changed him. After seeing two black men (one in Louisiana and another one in Minnesota) being shot and killed at the hands of police, Micah decided to take matters into his own hands. On July 7, 2016, he ambushed, shot, and killed five Dallas police officers and wounded seven others.

Several weeks before the Dallas shooting, Omar Mateen, born in new Hyde Park, New York, went to the Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, just before 2 a.m. By 5:15 a.m., 49 innocent people were murdered, 53 were wounded, and the gunmen was dead.

In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Alton B. Sterling was shot and killed by police on July 5, 2016. Several weeks later, Gavin Long, a resident of Kansas City, Missouri, drove to Baton Rouge, where he ambushed several police officers, killing three and wounding three others before he was shot and killed by police.

The real “right to life”

American lives matter. Take this statement any way you want to. In my opinion, if you are an American should be treated with a certain amount of dignity and respect as outlined in our Constitution. You should not get arrested for walking down the street. You should not be fatally shot just because you had an encounter with the police. You should not be killed for driving, or playing music, or shopping while black. I think just about every American can agree with this sentiment.

Now, just because you believe that all Americans should be treated with dignity and respect, that does not mean that you hate the police. It does not mean that you believe that all police officers are racists who are bent on the destruction of black males. I believe it is possible to respect the police and also to understand that there is a problem in our country in which black men get arrested at a higher rate than they should, and black men, once they encounter the police, die at a higher rate than they should.

Racism, or machismo?

Several months ago, I commissioned a book on the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, MO in August 2014. The result of this effort is called The Thirteenth Juror.

[Editor’s note: Author Nelda Holder will discuss the book in a free public program from 2-3:30 p.m. on Aug. 21, 2016, at Friends Meeting House, 227 Edgewood Rd., Asheville.]

What is clear from reading this book (and what I learned) is that the interaction between Officer Darren Wilson and the victim, Michael Brown, Jr., was really not about race or racism. Instead, it is about respect and the complexity of the male-male interaction.

If we look at a human interaction between two people, someone usually takes lead and someone is usually subordinate. In the Darren Wilson/Michael Brown shooting, neither alpha male wanted to back down. Because of this, their interaction escalated to the point of no return. Former Seattle, WA, Police Chief Norm Stamper, who wrote How to Fix America’s Police, recently stated that police officers are taught to control every situation that they encounter.

Let us think about this for just a second. You and I both know there are some guys that will never back down. Like Paul Newman’s character in the classic movie Cool Hand Luke, some men simply will never yield, no matter what. Eric Garner was said to be fed up, tired of being pushed around by the police in New York City. Whatever his reasons for being fed up, and whatever their simple command might be, he was not going to do it. As a result, both he and the police officer continued to escalate the situation until he was in a chokehold, gasping for breath, and, at last, dying.

The police must understand that in some situations a discussion, a negotiation, even a conversation will yield better results than shouting commands and pulling your weapon. They need to learn that fact, and incorporate it into their training. And police department do know this. Think about how hostage negotiations work, where the negotiator’s job is to “talk the hostage-taker down.” The officer doesn’t do this by “talking down” to the bad guy—he does it by talking down the situation while expressing respect for the man, engaging his humanity, listening to his demands, and his complaints. The respect may be feigned, but it works.

Human lives matter

And we must all understand that all American lives matter. The folks from Black Lives Matter need to continue to protest because we do need reform. The police must understand that the vast majority of Americans want them to serve and protect. We understand that their job is hard, complex, nearly impossible at times. We love them for what they do. We just want them to do their job better.

Oh, and another thing…

I think that some of you have noticed that I haven’t been talking about Donald Trump. Well, basically, I have little to say. Donald Trump is exactly who we (I) thought he was. We have tons of video footage, magazine interviews, and newspaper articles on Donald Trump. So, who is he?

Have you ever seen Trump do something major for someone else? He is a billionaire, at least that what he tells us; if he cared for his fellow man, he could have given money to the Red Cross or Habitat for Humanity or any number of hundreds of charities … or started his own. But has he?

Well, he did set up the “Trump Foundation,” but the NY Times reports that the last time he put money into it was more than a decade ago. And what did he give to? We know he made a “contribution” to the political campaign of the Florida Attorney General (which is illegal to do), and two days later she dropped her investigation of Trump’s so-called “university.”

And Trump, if he was giving his own money to a real charity … we know what a big deal he would make of it. It would be YUUUUUGE. So who’s he actually giving to? Nobody, as far as we can tell.

Now, all of a sudden, we are supposed to believe that Trump cares for the average American? I’m not buying it. Trump cares about Trump. He has proven this time and time again.

He also proves how good he is at manipulating the media, which is why I try not to talk about whatever his latest media ploy is (though sometimes, like now, I can’t help it.)

He is not going to endorse Paul Ryan. The media prints this over and over again … until, several days later, he endorses Ryan.

He asked several times during a foreign policy briefing, “Why can’t we use nuclear weapons?” Everyone has known why for 50 years: MAD = Mutual Assured Destruction. Trump doesn’t know, or pretends not to, so the media prints this again and again.

He invites Moscow to hack U.S. government files. He’ll build a wall. He’ll ban Muslims. He loves babies … and then throws a crying baby out of a rally.

It never ends. Whether it is saying that McCain is not really a war hero or that all Mexicans are drug dealers and rapists, it’s always all about Trump, and it is all about generating publicity. He’s like the streakers of the early to mid-’70s, getting on camera, running down a football field or across a concert stage. Look at me! Look at me! It took a while, but finally the networks learned that if they didn’t look, if they just ignored the streaker, the fad would stop … and it did. I think the more we pay attention to substance and ignore the garbage, the more the public will find that there is nothing to Trump and his candidacy.

Crazy isn’t rational

Craziness is not isolated to conservatives. Some liberals decided that it was Bernie or bust. What? That simply isn’t the way politics works—if your candidate does not win you pick up your jacks and go home! I guess you can do that, but then expect to hear the words “President Trump” a lot.

No candidate is perfect. (Psst: Bernie supporters, Bernie was great but not perfect. He was really tone-deaf with Black Lives Matter.) Obama is not perfect. He has been great, but he’s not perfect. He tries to negotiate with Republicans when they really have no interest in helping. He made too many compromises early in his term. Sometimes he trusted the wrong people. But he has been a GREAT president.

We must all remember what the goal is: to elect the candidate who will push for progressive values. So let’s think about Hillary Clinton—who is also not perfect. But has there been anyone who has been investigated more in the history of our country than Hillary Clinton? Conservatives truly hate her, which in my mind means that she is a great liberal. She’s smart, experienced, and knowledgeable about how government works. This is a woman who in the ’70s thought that she could be president. She has worked and learned and grown and succeeded, and she’s reached a position in which she has a legitimate shot at becoming president. She is a visionary, and one who does not give up on attaining her vision—our liberal vision.

Aren’t these the kind of traits that we want in a president? I don’t know about you, but they’re sure what I’m looking for.