Police brutality
There is no easy way to open a column that deals with loss of life. It is even more difficult when that loss of life is a result of gross injustice. All life should be respected and viewed as precious, no matter what the human being looks like.
Unfortunately, in 2014 that is far from the case. We find ourselves in a time when people of color continue to be characterized as “criminals,” “thugs” and even “demons” by influential sectors of U.S. society. Even the mainstream media has a penchant for over-representing black people as criminals and under-representing them as victims of crimes. This systematic racist representation of black people plays a substantial role in the socialization of our society and how public policy is crafted toward a myriad of communities of color.
If we are honest with ourselves, we must accept the tough truth that our society is not “post-racist” but is immersed in a quagmire of institutional racism. Institutional racism creates a social climate that not only produces law enforcement officers who kill unarmed black people, but also constructs a legal system in which those same officers never see a day in court for their actions. Michael Brown and Eric Garner are the now well-known names of black men who were killed by police.
It is understandable that masses of people, including many on this campus, are upset and infuriated by the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Brown and Garner and the lack of justice applied in each instance. Young people, activists and organizers are protesting in an attempt to create a vastly more humane and socially just society. This reprehensible trend of people of color, often unarmed, being killed by law enforcement must cease!
As many of us know, the two aforementioned cases are far from novel. The extensive Malcolm X Grassroots Movement report, “Operation Ghetto Storm,” details that in 2012 there were at least 313 black people who were killed by some form of “law enforcement.” This translates to one “extrajudicial killing” every 28 hours.
The reason many might not have heard of this report is the same reason many of the deaths occurred in the first place: Black lives did not matter. They didn’t matter to far too many law enforcement personnel and ostensibly did not matter enough to the mainstream media, whose job it should have been to cover this critical report.
Nonetheless, black lives, and human life in general, matter to members of this university’s Black Faculty and Staff Association’s executive board.
As president of BFSA, I can unequivocally say we are an organization that champions the imperative struggle for social justice and human rights. We will continue to do what we can to help eradicate police brutality and racial profiling. We also stand in solidarity with student activists and organizers who continue to work tirelessly to achieve the same goals. This issue is one that disproportionately impacts communities of color, but it also has brought together people from all walks of life.
In the face of adversity, people are coming together to do the consistent work it takes to build a much better society — for all. BFSA stands ready to work with others committed to eradicating the unacceptable status quo. If we collectively succeed, we help ensure the next generation inherits a society unwilling to accept any form of injustice. Let us all accept this noble challenge together. We have much to gain.
Solomon Comissiong is the president of the Black Faculty and Staff Association and the assistant director of student involvement and public relations of the Nyumburu Cultural Center. He can be reached at solomon@umd.edu.
