The Baltimore Riots: Echoes of the past, Glimpses of the Future
Topic: Police Brutality
Yesterday Baltimore was the latest city to explode in flames as many in that city's Black Community vented their anger over the death of Freddie Gray. Gray died while in police custody, becoming the most recent African-American victim of police violence. The "law" and African-Americans have a long history together, marked by police violence, intimidation and murder. From the time that Africans stepped on American shores, the police have acted as the paramilitary arm of a racist system to keep Blacks "in their place." In the North police helped to keep Blacks segregated; while in the South, the law -- i.e. slave catchers -- worked to keep Blacks enslaved. This racially motivated predatory behavior on the part of law enforcement continued into the 1960's, when it came to light during the Civil Rights Movement that many policemen were members of White supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. Paraphrasing Huey P. Newton, Co-Founder of the Black Panther Party, the police act as an occupying force in the Black Community, akin to troops on foreign soil.
For years African-Americans have claimed abuse at the hands of police. For years those claims were ignored. The difference between the present and the past is the cellphone. People now have the ability to record police violence, and to share it via the internet worldwide. The result has been an increase in video of police brutality, effectively catching policemen in the act more than ever before. The murder of Black people can no longer be swept under the rug!
Baltimore's Freddie Gray becomes the latest in a long list of victims of the "law." His name was added to those of Bobby Hutton, Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, among many other Black Panther Party members murdered by the police; Eleanor Bumpurs; Michael Brown; Anthony Hill; Walter Scott and countless others. Let's not forget Trayvon Martin, who was murdered by a "wanna-be" cop.
Unrest resulting from African-American anger over police treatment has happened before. With the frequency of video evidence showing police murder of African-Americans, unrest is sure to happen again. Many in the African-American Community don't feel safe when dealing with the police. The natural response of a human being living in fear is to work to bring about a feeling of safety. For many Blacks this will mean arming. Taking up the gun! The police think they have problems now with sporadic violence by bottle throwing teens. What happens when the police kill an African-American in the future, and are met with a response by an armed populace. And what if this armed populace became politically educated and motivated, i.e. the Black Panther Party? Heed the warning... Cities across America need to find effective ways of dealing with racist pigs and their puppets, before the community deals with them instead.
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