Botham Jean, Jemel Roberson and Emantic Bradford Jr. were all minding their own business, not mouthing off, and they were shot dead by police. Sandra Bland questioned an officer and wound up dead in a jail cell.
So when a video of an unidentified white man spewing expletives at an officer, throwing his license at the officer, and threatening to kill the officer, without any physical consequences, started circulating on Twitter, it went viral with more than 1 million views this week.
All Black people have to do is stop mouthing off to police, do as they’re told and they won’t get shot”….
White people: pic.twitter.com/C7pf122BHm
Tariq Nasheed (@tariqnasheed) December 2, 2018
People of color on Twitter commented that had it been them in the video, they would’ve had bullets in the chest by the time the truck passed:
I think that this should be allowed to be shown in the court room when white officers claim they fear for their lives because he clearly said that he would kill that officer now that would be a reason to fear for your life and yet that white man is not shot or is he dead hmmmmmmm
Kellie Byrdsong (@ByrdsongKellie)
December 3, 2018
I’ve literally seen Black men get manhandled and slapped around over a lot less
aDORKable_me525 (@JayLaLa_RN)
December 3, 2018
The second a black or Latin dude raises his hand and points is the second the cop pulls the trigger… this guy sure represents the power of being white …
Alberto Toribio (@ArealMac)
December 2, 2018
Boy he would have emptied a clip in my chest for this
Ahmadd (@amadafrink)
December 2, 2018
There are
studies that well document how Blacks have been treated differently by police. In the case traffic stops, whites were 57 percent more likely to be spoken to with respectful language, whereas Black drivers were 61 percent more likely to experience an exchange that was the least respectful. Officers language with the least respect included calling people, “dude, bro, boss, man, brotha, sista or chief”.
FBI data found that U.S. police kill Black people at disproportionate rates: Black people accounted for 31 percent of police killing victims in 2012, even though they made up just 13 percent of the U.S. population. And 62.7 percent of unarmed people killed by police are Black.
Yet racists, and some conservatives believe the treatment is deserved because Blacks did something wrong.
Angry White Man Invokes Law Enforcement Injustice to Black People When He Thinks He’s on the Receiving End: Video
Trump voter expresses frustration at perceived unfair treatment on racial terms.
For example, in Orlando’s International Airport in August, a white male Trump supporter tackled to the ground by police for being a disruptive passenger
knew his privilege, when he said, “You’re being rough with me. You’re f***ing treating me like a Black person.”
Reader Question: How does the video of the white man berating the white officer make you feel