#Equal Justice

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Written by phoenicao   
Tuesday, 02 June 2020 06:21

#EqualJustice

By P. Boaventura

The newscasters and public officials say, “What is wrong with the looters; do they have no respect for life and property?” Or, “We need to keep in mind there is a difference between the peaceful protestors and the looters”.  No there is not.  Both are victims of systemic racism.  You cannot ever blame the victim and demand that they change in the misguided belief that a change in the victim will solve the problem.  They and their actions are not the problem and the problem cannot and will not be solved until the perpetrators of systemic racism change.  We must have our collective actions back up the words, “…one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”.

If a woman is raped, do we blame her for how she dressed?  We used to, until #MeToo.  Why does it take a national movement to realize that a low cut blouse and mini skirt do not mean that she was “asking for it”?  Does she have to change so she is not raped?  Absolutely not!  The victim doesn’t need to change, the perpetrators do.  Is there a difference in the rape if she tries to not fight back and just closes her eyes and hopes to escape with her life, or if she fights back with all the viciousness she has in her body?  Do you understand her anger and rage?  Is it justified?  If the rapist has his eyes gouged out in a fit of rage, do we really blame her or feel sorry for the perpetrator?  Hell no!

Dr. King said, “…a riot is the language of the unheard. And, what is it that America has failed to hear?”  We as a nation need to listen or buy a lot more insurance.  In this time of social media and a camera in everyone’s hand, it will not stop until the victims are heard, until there is equal justice, until there is equal education, until there is equal opportunity, until the nation provides liberty and justice for all.

We have it backward.  We can’t seem to figure out who is the victim and who is the perpetrator.  I hear white privilege say, “It’s horrible that an innocent black man was killed, but destroying property has to stop”.  Try saying, “It’s horrible that property is being destroyed, but killing an innocent black man has to stop”.  Or, “Violence doesn’t solve anything and it only dilutes the message of the legitimate protest”.  Then why does the US spend 54% of its discretionary federal budget on the military?  Can we solve all the injustice in the world with a violent military solution or the misguided belief that we can put a boot or a knee on someone’s actual or metaphorical throat to make them subservient to our wishes? No, we need to change.  Systemic racism requires systemic change by the collective racists, not by the victims of that racism.  Or should all the blacks and people of color believe what Trump and all his supporters believe, protect the 2nd Amendment and have every one of them buy an AK15.  America may want to rethink this approach and view the real systemic problems.

The 13th Amendment states: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”  The justice department, backed by the police institution has used the criminal justice system against blacks and people of color, to make slavery still legal under the 13th Amendment if the party has been duly convicted.  All it takes is a trumped up charge of passing a counterfeit $20 bill (not true) to justify his immediate arrest (involuntary servitude) or even murder with impunity. If George Floyd was with someone else in the store they would have arrested them as aiding and abetting.  Why haven’t the other 3 ex-officers been arrested?  The investigation can continue while

the perpetrators are in jail.  At what point did it become premeditated murder by ex-officer Derek Chauvin?   IT may have started out as 3rd Degree Murder, but he was warned that he could not breathe.  At that point he was informed and knew the victim could die.  At that point it became Premeditated Murder in the 1st Degree.  This should be a capital murder case, or will they argue that the violent killing of ex-officer Chauvin won’t bring back poor George and let’s just move on?  Even if ex-officer Chauvin didn’t murder Mr. Floyd and he had lived, when the police stopped him again, they would have cited priors on his rap sheet for another violent takedown.  It would not have stopped.  The problem is systemic.

The autopsy by the county examiner stated, "underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system," not just pressure on his neck and back vs. an independent autopsy stated Homicide By Asphyxia.  It is not just one “bad apple” police officer.  The Police Union says to not rush to judgment and tries to protect every “bad apple” and make it impossible for them to be fired.  If ex-officer Chauvin was fired after his 1st complaint or maybe even after his 17th, would Mr. Floyd still be alive?  Or would the Police Union make sure that he was simply hired by another police department?  Systemic change must come.

Take off the helmets, take off the bullet proof vests, lay down your batons, leave the AK15 assault weapons in the station and for God sake don’t show up with an armored assault vehicle.  This is not a war zone and these victims, not the enemy.  They are Americans that want to be heard.  That must be heard.  Waging war against Americans in the street, the knee on the neck, not on Mr. Floyd but on every black person or person of color is the violence.  The laws of physics mandates, wherever there is force, there is resistance.  Stop thinking these systemic problems can be solved with force.

Start with providing justice; First Degree Murder and conviction, charge the other 3 perpetrators and convict them with very long prison sentences.  Provide true and meaningful criminal justice reform with the courts and prison system.  Retroactively correct all sentencing disparity.  No stacking of priors or do the 18 complaints against a police officer automatically create Special Circumstances.  Make any chokehold a crime of Attempted Murder.  Call it the Garner/Floyd Bill.  Make any physical harm of a prisoner in restraints Attempted Murder and call it the Freddie Gray Bill.  There is a lot of legislation that needs to be passed, because the problems are systemic.  Get rid of the guns and maybe the police won’t be “fearful for my life” which is the statement used by every officer to justify excessive force or wrongful death.  Should all the protesters be carrying AK15s, like the protesters that want the bars and nail solons open?  Or should we as Americans realize that our fellow Americans of color are not the enemy, they are the victims.  The victims will change when the perpetrators are held accountable to the maximum extent of the law. The victims will change when We as Americans change and demand #EqualJustice.  We must make systemic changes in our police departments, our justice system, our education system and start investing in all the people and neighborhoods in America before they are burned down.  We must start seeing people that are a different color than us as our fellow Americans, our fellow human beings.  We must make systemic changes in our institutions.  We must make changes in how we see our #FellowAmericans. Or you can call your insurance agent to increase your coverage and get a good night’s sleep tonight and dream that America will be great again soon!

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