Shout "Fire" in a Burning Country
The issues raised by the tasering in Florida are merely an expansion of an issue that many minorities in this country face daily ... a militarized police force dealing out violent and brutish thuggery on American citizens. There is an echo from the sixties in that incident, that the police are attacking “free" speech while drunk on the power they have because of the “wars” on drugs and “terror”, as the authorities then attacked the hippies and yippies and peaceniks as resistance spread, protests inspired by the bravery of the civil rights movement and black power movements.
One thing that struck me about the videos of the incident was the tone of disbelief in Andrew Meyer’s voice as the cops silenced him, picked him up, threw him to the ground and then attacked him with the stun gun. Believe me, there are plenty of Americans who AREN’T surprised when authorities abuse their authority. Take the details from the website where I grabbed the photo above:
In any event, Alonzo Washington describes the significance of the case clearly:
“This is why Black people don’t trust the police!"
And I think that’s probably the message that the second photo gets across more effectively given that the guy being slammed down on a car hood, choked and humiliated wasn’t arrested and wasn’t holding drugs.
Nope, he was driving while black, an offence related to walking while black, pulling your wallet out of your pocket while black or even working while brown.
This just makes me dread what might happen during the march in Jena tomorrow.
Posted by on 09/19 at 08:40 PMI don’t ... it needs to happen. The elites in this country have made civilized interaction all-but impossible, and it’s past time for Americans to realize that the civil rights movement didn’t “fix” everything, but was only a start.
Posted by on 09/19 at 08:58 PMMitM - excellent piece. Elegant in its clarity.
Don’t think we’re seeing an increase in “police” violence towards “out” groups; only that whites haven’t been uppity for a long time and therefore, haven’t been worthy targets. Maybe there was a decline in the aftermath of Rodney King and A. Diallo and we are only returning to the prior baseline. I just don’t know if the current signs suggests a large shift—only one of may unacceptable things in the US that we have failed to correct.
Posted by on 09/21 at 07:31 PMJust found this blog through my usual daily meanderings. Any blog with a name like this AND the decency to publish the Alien and Sedition acts makes me warm and fuzzy all over. Madman you are spot on. I’m afraid (?) that if I had been there that day I would have thrown myself at the cops, done some damage, been charged with several felonies, lost my business, my wife and maybe even sent to prison for a few years. Since I wasn’t, I wrote this:
http://rabble.ca/in_his_own_words.shtml?sh_itm=787f819cb49de493111d3650950307b7&rXn=1&
I’m reduced to writing for the Canadians after 20 years in US print and broadcast journalism and having been fired twice for being a shit disturber. They get it up there.
Posted by kegbot1 on 09/22 at 03:22 PMThanks kegbot and Marie.
As for whether there is more police violence ... I think it’s pretty much a constant against minorities and the poor, but we’re seeing it used more and more against people the cops used to shy away from being overtly brutal towards. Just this morning there was vid on CNN of a middle-aged woman being basically tortured w/ a taser while she was handcuffed.
Maybe it isn’t new or more, only it’s on the radar of the media machine, there being no missing white girls to talk about.
I liked your piece kegbot ... spot on. Thanks so much for the link.
Posted by on 09/22 at 06:20 PM
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