IT MAKES ME SAY SOMETHING - 8

IT MAKES ME SAY SOMETHING – 8 The systemic racism in the law and law-enforcement continues to take black lives – this makes me say something. As police continue to move from Protect and Serve to Control and Dominate, antagonism will continue to increase between black people and police officers. The shift from Serve to Control can best be seen in the military style uniforms and actions of police. The shift in the application of law can be seen in the punitive sentencing handed down by courts – a sentence has no relative balance with an alleged crime. I’m almost 80 years old; I remember a time when Milwaukee neighborhood beat cops would stop to chat with my parents while on patrol. Whites had begun their flight to the suburbs; it was predominantly a black community; we did have a few black police officers. The point I’m getting to is that there was some tension between black citizens and policemen but conduct between the two made room for dignity and respect – policemen didn’t normally bully back citizens with the threat of violence. Older black men and women, as a rule, worked to keep any conflict with a policeman from escalating. Younger black men and women, as I see them, don’t have the same conciliatory – fearful – mindset as older black people. So while laws governing race and law-enforcement have become boldly disrespectful, young blacks have become boldly insistent on being treated with equal justice, dignity and respect: and they’re not backing down. www.adolphusward.net, www.amazon.com/author/adolphusward