I'm sure that you have all heard, by now, about the death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis. Five officers are indicted in his death. Details are still unclear, but it appears that Nichols was stopped for reckless driving. At some point a foot chase developed, and when Nichols was apprehended, he was beaten by the officers. Nichols later died.
Nichols was black, the Chief of the Memphis PD is black, and the five officers indicted are all black. This inconvenient fact has not stopped some from claiming that "white supremacy" played a role in this tragedy. That is patently ridiculous, as most of these claims are. "White Supremacy" has become the great bugaboo of this century, used to explain everything from failing schools to covid deaths.
I admit that racism has, in the past, played a part in the culture of the United States. That is history. But, lately, "white supremacy" has become a convenient argument to explain the inexplicable. Like the monster under the bed, when you shine a light on it, it seems to disappear. It's there in the dark recesses of your mind, but it cannot explain the present.
The truth is deeper than that. And more complex. Five black officers with bodycams beat a suspect. That suspect later died of his injuries. That is what happened. We can debate why it happened, but sometimes it is impossible to explain the inexplicable. We can talk about police culture, and we can talk about the recent history of the defund movement and what that means in the broader sociological sphere, but we may not be able to explain why it happened.
A mighty contender to explain why is the lowering of hiring standards. It seems the city council (elected positions, no specialized knowledge required) declared 'not enough diversity' on the force. Reduction of standards became necessary.
ReplyDeleteToo, apparently as least two of the five perps are alleged to be members of criminal gangs. If so, that should, but won't, drive a stake through the heart of such programs.
While not having seen the vidya, I'll quote Chris Rock; "If the cops gotta chase you, they're bringing an ass kicking with them"
ReplyDeleteI read where Memphis lowered their standards so minorities could make the cut. I believe it, it's a pretty standard practice.
A couple of the cops in question we're apparently former (?) gang members.
All that said, I'm struggling to understand how this is the fault of any wypipo.
I watched most of the videos, but it was unpleasant to do so. What happened in this situation was bad, there was a complete loss of self-control by the officers involved and no one observing stepped in to stop them. The absence of a supervisor for a street crimes unit was telling. The videos will end up being used in law enforcement training for quite some time in the future.
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