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Perspective: Africa - September 2016

Black Lives Should Matter –
In America And Africa
by

Mandy Tomson

The Black Lives Matter movement in the
United States is gaining increasing momentum and interracial support as Americans finally confront the toxic mix of black
poverty, police officers’ racial paranoia, and
the indisputable fact that black men ar e
far more likely to die during an interaction
with the police than whites.

in his errant (white) autistic patient lies in
the street, legs apart and hands in the air,
while his patient sits muttering and playing with a toy truck.
The black man shouts to the police that he
is a therapist and his patient has no gun
and is simply playing with a toy truck. Incredibly, a police officer shoots him in the
leg. The victim says, “why did you shoot
me?!” The white cop says, “I don’t know!”

Previously, many questioned the often hostile, uncooperative behaviour of the young
black men involved. Why didn’t he just
put his hands up when asked? Why didn’t
he stop running? Why didn’t he stop advancing on the police? Why didn’t he just
do as he was told and litigate the details
later? Two recent cases point to the vulnerability of black American men regardless of
what they do.

Unfortunately, both victims overestimated
the rationality of the police officers and
underestimated their instinctive racial
paranoia.
So far, most of the proposed solutions involve more detailed use-of-force guidelines.
However, the existing ones have already
become a reliable shield behind which
police get away with murder.

Philando Castile did everything by the
book. When the police pulled him over
for a broken tail light, he immediately
complied. He behaved politely, showed his
hands and explained to the police officer
that he had a gun along with a license to
carry said gun. Clearly, he wasn’t planning
to shoot it out with the cops otherwise he
wouldn’t have let them know in advance
that he had a gun. The cop asked him for
his driver’s license and he reached for it
and was executed in front of his girlfriend
and child.

While living in Los Angeles in the 1990s
and early 2000s, I recall the case of a tiny,
homeless, demented 80-year-old black
woman who stood outside a supermarket,
waving a screwdriver and ranting incoherently. (There is a disproportionately large
percentage of homeless people in Southern California by virtue of the temperate
weather – it is far easier to survive winter
there than in the icy, snowy climes of
the East Coast. Most of the homeless are
mentally ill and/or substance abusers and/
or Vietnam vets). A bunch of burly cops
arrived and apparently could think of
no way to resolve the situation except by
pumping this tiny, fragile old lady full of
bullets – ultimately and incredibly, ruled

His girlfriend who was simply a passenger
and had done absolutely nothing wrong
was handcuffed and taken to the police
station. On what grounds?
A black behavioural therapist trying to rein
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