If one “happened” to be a Black male in West Philadelphia in the early morning hours on April 5th, there is a good chance that “they” were pulled over and questioned.
Police Sgt. Robert Ralston claimed to have been shot by “a Black man with corn rows.”
He later admitted that the gun shot wound was self-inflicted and that the story was a lie.
This brought to mind two separate cases, both from the early 1990’s with eerily similar circumstances…
In Boston, Charles Stuart murdered his seven-months-pregnant wife, but told authorities and the media that the culprit was “a raspy voiced Black man.”
What followed was a “Black manhunt,” producing an alleged suspect, Willie Bennett. Mr. Bennett was singled out by Stuart from a police lineup.
In an effort to give his story credibility, Stuart, too, had a self-inflicted gun shot wound.
Stuart ultimately killed himself, jumping off of a bridge.
The other case involved Susan Smith, the former University of South Carolina Union student who murdered her two sons.
She claimed that a Black man stole her car and kidnapped her kids.
Susan Smith later claimed that mental health issues impaired her judgement.
Smith is currently serving time and will be eligible for parole in the Fall of 2024.
Clearly, all three cases fuel negative and damaging assumptions about race.
The initiation of searches and hunts for the Black Boogie Men do nothing more than raise the bar on racial discord, mistrust and suspicion.
For the full Ralston article click – here
I was once with a male friend and was pulled over by the police who stated that there had been a robbery in the area and they were looking for a black male driving a white Cadillac… I pointed out that we were, um, two people and while of color we were in a white Buick Regal… I was told not to be uppity or he’d haul me into the station for questioning.
The other crime we are frequently subject to is RWB (running while black) and various other iterations DWB (driving while black) SWB (shopping while black)… I hear the covert pages in stores to send someone (i.e. security) to check on something isle 3 and more times than not, I am the only person in isle 3. Seriously? And I can only speak for myself, but if shots ring out in public place, I may hit the ground or I may run. Whichever is going to preserve my health the best.
Interesting timing for your post….in Seattle about a month ago, a group of “Hispanic-like males” were suspected in a robbery in downtown. The Seattle Police gang unit arrived on the scene and proceed to round up every Hispanic male they could find within a certain radius of the crime (sounds somewhat Jewish, yes? :)) As luck would have it, a freelance videographer was in the area and taped one of the round ups….where a police officer uttered incredibly offensive racial slurs at one of the “suspects” (read Hispanics) laying on the ground….then proceeded to stomp on his head with his foot….which apparently gave another officer permission to do the same. After 10 minutes of investigation….turns out they had the wrong guy.
I wonder if it isn’t even more difficult to not become a part of the “Driving While Black”, “Shopping While Black” or whatever activity/race you can name in a city with relatively low ethnic population numbers. The propensity to accuse someone of color of any crime seems almost easier to do in such an environment…because the broader population is so naive…and it’s easier to blame the Boogie Man….of any color than to say, “we don’t know who did this”.
The outrage over the incident described above has been loud and swift…and for the vast number of people in this city, it’s genuine. Under no circumstances is any individual treated this way….ever. However, I can’t help but feel that there are people who are outraged not because of the hideous incident itself, but because society says they are supposed to be outraged…and that’s not a Seattle thing…that’s a human race thing. Sad.
…so what else is new???? Maybe if “we” were not committing crimes…..just maybe we would not be blamed!!!! Not an excuse….it’s just that so much “Black on Black” crime makes it easy (easier) to blame “them Black folks!” Maybe Black folk should
commit “white collar” crime……bigger “takes” and less time! “Time” that is spent at “resorts” not jails!!!