Recently, activist and actor Jesse Williams said, "If you have a critique for the resistance, for our resistance, then you better have an established record of critique of our oppression."
Then, last Tuesday, Alton Sterling was pinned down and shot at point blank range by police in Baton Rouge, La., while selling CDs in front of a convenience store.
The next day Philando Castile was stopped by police, supposedly for a broken taillight. Despite informing the officer that he had a concealed carry permit, Castile was shot and killed by the officer -- in front of his girlfriend and her four-year-old daughter -- as he reached for his ID.
Here we are once again.
Now the playbook begins: Their histories and intentions will be judged. They will be vilified and deified. Police practices will be questioned. Histories of police brutality and institutional racism in Baton Rouge and Minneapolis will emerge. And then justice will be obscured, depending on who you are. Once again.
This year, 561 people have been killed by police, many of whom were unarmed, mentally ill, and people of color. The data also shows that African Americans are a quarter of those killed even though they are only 13% of the national population, the definition of disproportion. Check The Guardian Police Killings Database for more information.
This is a long, painful history that many white folks understand; yet, many others do not. And if you do not, then you cannot appropriately critique the African American response.
Mr. Williams’ point is simple. If you don’t understand a community’s oppression, you will never understand their resistance, and learning about that is all our civic responsibility.
So, rather than trying to argue isolated incidents, consider the larger more complex story.
I am Joseph Flynn, and that is my perspective.
