
Police officers’ ‘restraint’ on Capitol Hill is no victory for a racist America
When I saw the CNN headline about the heroism of police during the Capitol insurrection, I did a double-take because I wasn’t sure I’d read it correctly.
“New radio and video footage from Capitol riot shows a coordinated attack and officers’ restraint,” it said.
In that moment, the anger I felt was visceral. While I will always have empathy for the Capitol officers who fought valiantly despite being betrayed by everyone from their police chief to America’s commander-in-chief, one question overshadows everything else. Would the police have shown such tremendous restraint if the Capitol Hill rioters were Black?
In my view, the answer is a resounding no. In a society where white life is seen as more valuable, everyone, even Black police officers under attack by a racist Capitol Hill mob, thinks twice before shooting at white people. Black people don’t get the same consideration.
That’s why, when Harvard researchers concluded a four-year study of police shootings, they found that Blacks, on average, were more than three times as likely as whites to be killed during a police encounter. That’s no accident. The value of white life is taught to every American from the time we are born.
Read Full Article Here on The Philadelphia Inquirer
Photo: Capitol Breach. By. Brett Davis
