Race and Justice

I marvel at the difference race makes.

Four white officers beat down an unarmed black guy and my feed blows up with various conservative and pro-LEO memes, comments and posts like:

"We should not rush to judgment!"

"That criminal probably had a history of this, that and the other!"

"Let's wait till they investigate themselves!"

"The important thing is that the black clad, armored, militarized warriorcops got home safely."

"Because we're so delicate."

And if pressed into the corner, when the guilt is proved five thousand times beyond all reasonable doubt...

"Well, this is just a few bad apples, and I still don't see how you think race had anything to do with it."

But lately four African Americans have beat down a white person. And those African Americans were not wearing badges, so have no immunity from brutality.

And my feed blows up from the same people who so love to leap to the defense of any cop who kills any kid.

"This is clearly a hate crime!" (Probably, but this is said in the first minutes of the observing of the crime.)

"It doesn't matter what that poor guy did, nothing excuses this!" (True, nothing ever does excuse brutality - not even a badge.)

"They should be executed now!" (Before any investigation, let alone trial, let alone guilty verdict.)

Any stuff about those four getting home safely or how they are just some few bad apples, well, you know I heard nothing about that. The implication being, "See? This is how 'they' are, thank heavens for the police that protect us from these savages!"

What a service then those four have done for law enforcement. Law enforcement as it is in America, not law enforcement as many wish to make out that it is.

The truth?

Yeah, those four are as clearly guilty (by that video) as any cop beating up an unarmed black teen (by those videos). And they deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law, as opposed to the paid vacation most cops get for similar crimes. And no, I do not think the investigation should be left to them, any more than I find it appropriate for cops to investigate themselves.

(In an aside, none of us are asking or wondering if the DA will choose to take this to a Grand Jury, are we? Of course not. Grand Jury indictments are automatic for citizens without badges.)

And I could care less about how badly either these people or cops desire to get home.

And since none of the conservative sites care to mention it, yes, these four African Americans actually are a "few bad apples" and should not be used so gleefully, or have their crime trumpeted so joyously, in a pathetically transparent attempt to tarnish an entire race.

Oh, not that any who have posted all these memes and links of outrage would ever claim that this is how African Americans are! That they give the clear implication that such "types" need to be responded to with overwhelming police force is sufficient for them.

What a service then these four have done for the police. And what a disservice to their own race, and the poor who are similarly treated as rightless animals by cops.

And liberals? You aren't getting a free pass on this. As angry as you are at any cop who beats a minority, be as mad now over these four beating a white.

Or stand revealed as foolishly, bigoted and partisan as any conservative cop lover.