Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Wild

As someone on Twitter wrote last night, "This episode of America is wild."

Levity in the face of the unimaginable horror. Barely got a chance to get over the slaughter of Ahmaud Arbery when Amy Cooper screeched that she was going to call the police and tell them that an African American man was threatening her life and then the incomprehensible happened again -- George Floyd was executed on-the-spot for an alleged $20 forgery.

Years ago, I accidentally ran over a baby bunny while taking the trash cart out to the curb. It made me so sad. I, obviously, didn't mean to do it but I was horrified. On Give STL Day, it never fails that the dog rescue organization tops the leaderboard. This year they received $113,000 dollars in donations.

How is it that Floyd didn't even get the consideration that we give to dogs? And the kicker was that the killer walked free, initially, despite the video evidence. I cannot get over the smug and casual look on the officer's face as he has his hand in his pockets and his full grown-ass-man body weight on Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 45 seconds while Floyd is face down, handcuffed and on his stomach pleading for his life. How fucking cruel can a person be?

In a CBS interview, Christian Cooper said that Amy Cooper pulled the pin on the race grenade

When you realize how many black people, including adolescents, that have been murdered by trigger happy police officers, it's unfathomable. As someone pointed out, black people have been shot while eating ice cream, shot while sleeping, shot while jogging and the list goes on. 

And the utter police brutality seen during the recent protests... At least seven people lost their vision because of rubber bullets. Police officers pushing over women and old people. Just a bunch of thugs. 

I remember weeping while reading Anthony Ray Hinton's book, The Sun Does Shine. One of the cops told him if he wasn't the killer that another black person had done it so he was still guilty. It made no difference to the cop. So, here we are, almost 401 years after the first slaves arrived in Virginia -- and black people are guilty of being forcibly brought to this country? For building America? 
What a mess.


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