HOUSTON, United States
The killing of Black people by police officers in America is not a new narrative, as there is a constant reminder of those who were killed when the anniversaries of their deaths make news headlines every year.
On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner, a 43-year-old Black man, was put in a chokehold by a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer during an arrest for selling cigarettes illegally.
Garner uttered the words "I can't breathe" 11 times while NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo choked him unconscious. He later died at the hospital.
Despite the medical examiner's office ruling Garner's death a homicide, a grand jury decided not to indict Pantaleo, causing public outcry about the killing of a Black man by a white officer resulting in no consequences.
"That goes back to the lack of accountability, the way the laws are written to protect police officers from being convicted," said Ron Jackson, a political activist and radio talk show host in Houston, Texas. "It's like they have a license to kill."
In an interview with Anadolu, Jackson mentioned a list of high-profile cases of Black people being killed by US police officers since Garner's death.
There were also two other high-profile killings of Black people by police in 2014: the shooting death of Michael Brown on Aug. 9 by an officer in Ferguson, Missouri and the shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice by an officer in Cleveland, Ohio who shot the boy because he was carrying a toy gun.
"It comes back to the same old story and gets lost in the narrative of those on the opposite side," said Jackson. "This is why the phrase and origination of Black Lives Matter came about, because of the senseless deaths of Black people by police."
Jackson went on to mention a litany of police killings of Black people since 2014: the shooting death of Alton Sterling by Baton Rouge, Louisiana police officers on July 5, 2016 responding to a call that Sterling was selling CDs outside a convenience store; the killing of Botham Jean on Sept. 6, 2018 by an off-duty Dallas, Texas police officer who walked into Jean's apartment believing it was her own, then shot him to death thinking he was a burglar; the killing of Breonna Taylor by Louisiville, Kentucky police officers during a botched no-knock drug raid on March 13, 2020; and the killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 by Minneapolis, Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin, who kneeled on Floyd's neck for nearly 10 minutes until he died.
"It's basically been a decade of Black folks being killed at the hands of police officers across the United States," Jackson emphasized. "The list just continually goes on."
"From 2014 to now there have been nearly 2,000 deaths of black people at the hands of police officers," Jackson continued citing recent statistics. "And the alarming fact about these incidents is that these Black people were mostly unarmed."
"It's heartbreaking," he said.
Chauvin was convicted of Floyd's death and is serving a 22 1/2-year sentence and the three other officers involved are also serving prison time, but Jackson said that is the exception rather than the rule.
"Geroge Floyd. I think that one was so blatant and obvious and cruel with the filming of his death by people watching, seeing the knee on his neck," said Jackson. "Capturing it on video gave America the opportunity to see the cruel treatment of George Floyd up front and right in the face and the court had clear evidence to convict the officers involved."
Justification of life
"A Black person is likely to be killed three times more than a white person in America, but there are hardly any consequences faced by police officers who kill Black people," Jackson continued. "Between 2013 and 2019, only 3% of cases led to charges, but only 1% of cases led to conviction."
Jackson said many officers are not convicted or even tried because they use the justification of "I was in fear for my life."
"It goes back to some kind of deep psychosis," he continued. "If you see a Black male, then that Black male is basically feared in law enforcement's eyes and police officers are let go without any charges."
Jackson pointed out that many of the police officers involved in the killing of Black people end up being found liable in civil cases where cities and police departments pay out millions of dollars in settlements, but he believes those consequences are not enough.
"To add insult to injury, even if those officers are fired, they still have the opportunity to apply to another police department and are back on the streets again," he said.
Jackson added that not all Black people are killed by white police officers, mentioning Tyre Nichols who was killed by five Black Memphis, Tennessee police officers on Jan. 7, 2023 during a routine traffic stop.
"A small percentage is an institutional behavior where the officers themselves are in a particular system where some might call it the 'go along to get along' system," said Jackson. "But overall, it's the large percentage of white officers with racism and prejudice who are killing African Americans."
Despite the continued killing of Black Americans by police officers, Jackson believes there is a bigger picture to hopefully preventing any more of these senseless deaths from happening and that is keeping the conversation in the public eye.
"Stories have to be told. This has to be told so that white America can see it like Black America does" said Jackson. "The picture has to be painted for Americans on a whole to see the true story and hear the cry from America that Black Lives Matter. Yes, white lives matter too, but whites are not being killed at the same rate as Black Americans."
"It's a plea to say that Black lives are being taken by police officers and our lives matter."
'Change the mentality'
For the system to improve, Jackson said police departments need to change the mentality on how to deal with Black people and conduct policing in a less violent way.
"A Black person is perceived differently than a white person and is therefore treated differently. That shouldn't be the case," he said. "Don't grab, choke, beat and shoot as the first response. Give the same opportunity, the same respect as you would give a white person."
Jackson said the naming of more African Americans and people of color as police chiefs has been a good start and believes that diversifying police forces across the US will improve the way Black people and other minority groups are treated.
"We are seeing departments getting rid of the 'good old boy' system and we are seeing more diversity at the top of law enforcement," said Jackson.
"I think there is hope and a way to make the system better and more racially sensitive."
