If they get investigated by the fed hopefully justice will finaly be served. But there is a great lesson to learn and the cops are not the only ones to blame in this and other tragedies like it. I found this article by a black man that looks at it from a reality perspective and it makes a lot of sense. See what you think.


Friday, December 08, 2006

The real tragedy of the Sean Bell story



(Caution: This is a very long winded post, and it might as well be since it will take a while for me to post again.)

Last weekend, I was in New York on business with one of our offices, and I was confronted head on with this tragedy. I haven't been able to do much blogging but like a Siren calling to lost sailors, the story was beckoning to me. It was only until I came across a comment made by Last Son of Krypton, that I've been moved to write on this. Come to think of it, I must write about it. There are three sides to this story. The side of the victims. The side of the plainclothes officers. And then there is the side of the Truth. Time will tell.

As a black man, I must say that the shooting of Sean Bell is beyond the term of "bad judgement". Here it is a young black man, that is defying the stereotype, and trying to do the right thing by marrying his fiancee and be a father to his children is suddenly cut down ... hours before his wedding. And all there is out there is a lot of assumptions and allegations. Not good enough. Especially since it cost the life of someone's son, someone's fiance and the father of two children. Seriously, there has to be serious repercussions. Wrist slaps no longer apply. To attempt to justify this by bringing up any criminal records (if there are any) of the three victims is just as bad as blaming a rape victim for wearing tight fitting or revealling clothes. Stop it.

As a fledgling member of the law enforcement/national security community, I have to say to most that if you are not in it then don't be quick to judge it. In a high tension situation there is very little room for second guessing. For the most second guessing could simply mean death. It seems as if the lessons from the Amadou Diallo case has not been learned. Thirty-one shots pumped into a man reaching for wallet. And now fifty bullets fired at three unarmed citizens from what was deemed as a possible threat. Nine or twelve bullets is one thing. Fifty is overkill. Even enemy combatants in war are afforded a better death despite the tons of bullets flying through air. I'll go even further to say that if it took five soldiers to lob fifty rounds at three enemy combatants, then that is what, my firearms instructor, would call ineffective marksmanship. Which also translates to ineffective soldiers. Get what I am saying here?

So who's to blame? The cops. Or the victims. Time will have to tell on this one. But the blame does not stop with cops or the victims. Surprise. There is a lot more of it to go around. It gets really "controversial" and politically incorrect beyond this point.

Firstly, the criminal elements of the black community. I know, not exactly the most shocking. The Bloods, Crips and all the other shitty groups out there that have nothing to offer but chaos and destruction have, over the years, helped fostered an atmosphere of suspicion and paranoia when it comes to dealing with black males. I almost laughed, last weekend, when I heard that the Bloods and Crips were coming together to form a protest in support of Sean Bell. Wait a minute, didn't these clowns form a "truce" in the 90s with the Rodney King incident? Gee, I wondered what happened. And this is the irony that smacks me in my face and yet begs me to love it. It is all a big pantomime, for if the Crips and Bloods really wanted to show their support there would be no Bloods and Crips in the first place. These are the very folks that run around spreading the notion that the cops that patrol black neighborhoods are like an occupying force. Hate to break the news, but when I was growing up in South Jamaica I was more fearful of these so-called "freedom fighters" than the very cops that patrolled the neighborhood. Oh did I mention that some of these "freedom fighters" were actually selling destruction to the very neighborhood that they commanded respect from. Hmm, seemed more like insurgents to me. The Bloods and Crips announcing an alliance in the time of injustice on a black person is an empty gesture. The only time it really matters is if it leads to a disbandment of the gangs or gang members strapping lead weights to themselves and jumping off a cliff into the Marianas Trench. Either it would mean a good start in the right direction for the black community. Any short of those two extremes are not more than a sick appeal for the spot light.

__________________
When you came into this world you cried.
Live your life so that when you die.
The world cries. the shadow