It would be wrong to conclude that racism, supremacist agenda has fizzled away in the United States of America (USA). It would be out of place to dismiss killings of blacks by cops as mere coincidence. It is indeed utterly foolish for a person walking, driving, eating, speaking ‘while Black’ is free from the bullets of racist whites who could be cops or ordinary civilians.
It is very curious the turnover rate of blacks killed by white police officers in the US continues to grow alarmingly high. More curious is the fact that most of the killings are needless, senseless and absolutely bestial. Video clips reveals that most of the victims are either harmless or completely in compliance mode. Philando Catile, Alton Sterling and many other identified or nameless blacks draw the tally of black extra judicial killings by White police officers to 135 deaths in 2016 alone – and the year is five months to go. The protest and the subsequent shootouts in Dallas is indeed the beginning of a new relationship between law enforcement agents and ordinary Black citizens in US.
The fatal shooting of police officers during the Dallas protest last week must not be waved away as resultant vituperation of a people oppressed alone. It is indeed time we all realize that a conclusive intention of a people set to inflict maximum hurt on their age long adversary has reared its head. The fight between the blacks and security operatives will certainly be more than a vendetta. It will soon become a religious belief to kill according to color variance in US.
The Blacks in America have endured years of race-based killings by White corps. They have waited for decisive condemnation beyond the usual lip service. The situation however continued to grow from bad to worse. Looking back at few decades ago, segregation, racism wasted the value of humanity, turning Whites to beasts and the Blacks their prey.
Before the Dallas outrage, there has been silent trepidation based on race in US. The dream of physical emancipate as predicted by Martin Luther King Jnr may have happened but mental emancipation is far from the minds of so many Blacks who are experiencing deep seated marginalization in all spheres of American life.
The Blacks are so oppressed most turn destitute. Many cant go to school, a lot cannot fit into the society. At the end, the street fights back and most law enforcement agents take advantage of the zombies they have helped to create. While the real criminals are on the loose, the stereotype view against the Blacks makes the innocent easy prey to their twisted jungle justice.
Americans are on a nightmare riding hard towards a cliff edge where the lackadaisical system is with gapping orifice to do everybody in. the trivial approach of government to frequent murders of Blacks will surely explode into the face of all. Soon cops in US will no longer be able to wear their uniforms in the streets. The guns will continue to blaze. Blacks, who are perceived as soulless, clueless, unscrupulous people, are certainly not brainless.
The cops are angry, the blacks have gone beyond anger, they are sniffing for blood, the atmosphere is hot and the environment is volatile. The game is in the number of body count. Death is now for sale in America. Guess what? It is for free to bring death upon a Black person.
The hooded KKK gang members on the loose attacking blacks in the US are part of the society. Behind the hooded faces are engineers, doctors, police officers, soldiers. The hate with them when they are masked does not live them when they get back to the society.
No African-American chose to be away from his or her African ancestral home. The Whites invaded African territories and abducted those they could lay their hands on. They have failed in the aspect of retribution. They have failed also to recognize Blacks as equal. They have also failed to accept that Blacks in Africa were on their path towards development just as America was when Christopher Columbus found them many centuries ago.
Once in 2013 I was in Washington for a media program on Public Relations. We arrived Dulles international airport late. I took a metro bus from the airport en-route to Connecticut Avenue. I mistakenly alighted from the bus several blocks away from where I was supposed. It was midnight and I was very scared. I wasn’t scared of the criminals, as I was scared of their police. I can’t forget how I docked and dived to avoid the prying eyes of their White cops.
A Black American congratulated me after narrating my ordeal. He explained the White police are of the opinion that blacks are criminal, scourges that must be exterminated. He said, carrying a bag at that time of the night makes me guilty and liable to summary execution.
I got off lucky and can tell the tale of what could easily be attributed to a near miss. What about the unaccounted numbers of Nigerians or Africans who were not lucky? Our quest for greener pastures has made so many Nigerians throng to the US, United Kingdom (UK) on a trip they will never return.
Some people fail to return because they were summarily executed or jailed by the American racial system. Those who are victims are dead and gone, not even their family members are unaware of what has become of them. Some Nigerian families are quick to conclude that the person is either struggling to reach the greener prospect or has chosen to forget about home. They however continue to hope that someday the person will come back home.
Written by Israel A. Ebije.
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