Well, folks, I really don’t even know what to say about this, except to reiterate what I have said in previous posts: white folks are getting more scared by the day, and fear is a powerful motivator . Yes, oppressors are concerned about the consistent changes, and yes, the power structure is becoming impacted in tangible ways. That said, not much has really changed. A simple query demonstrates that while things are definitely changing for the better, why is it that white folks are still getting away with murder (especially when the victims are people of color)? And why is it that these accidents seem to happen with very real regularity? How, exactly, is it that I can’t get a pair of small scissors on an airplane (they were confiscated and classified as a weapon), and yet an 88 year old white supremacist can get a gun (and a big one at that!) into a museum? And please allow me to add that this is not some run of the mill, artsy, NYC spot. We’re talking about the The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington!!!! HELLO??? The two buzz words here are: U.S. and Washington. That alone screams intense security measures. Add to that the statement by Joseph Rosboschil, director of security at the museum, whereby he claims that he “believes the museum has a much higher level of security than other Washington museums”. WHAT?! Again, I ask-how did this man get in without setting off all kinds of alarms?
Now I am not one to subscribe to conspiracy theories, but it seems to me there is more going on here than just a simple murder. I’m just saying…how else do you explain the murder of Officer Omar Edwards (who just happens to be black), by Officer Dunton (who just happens to be white)? The details don’t do much to convince me it wasn’t premeditated. Edwards was shot six times by Dunton from fifteen feet away. FIFTEEN FEET! It was my understanding that the primary objective, in circumstances where officers must use their guns, is to wound the suspect-not kill them. How the hell do you wound someone by shooting them six times from fifteen feet away? In my estimation, the action undertaken by Dunton was indeed premeditated. Then, adding insult to injury, police officials are claiming that Edwards was mistaken for a suspect that Dunton struggled with just before the shooting. So am I to understand that this dunce was unable to distinguish between the man he struggled with and the victim? Really? I can honestly say that once I engage in fisticuffs with someone, I am able to recognize them-ESPECIALLY FROM FIFTEEN FEET AWAY. A case of mistaken identity? I think not.
And can I just mention the picture of Dunton that is being circulated? His high school senior picture? Really? Talk about visual rhetoric; the picture depicts innocence, naivete, and the youth often associated with harsh, impulsive, irresponsible decision making. Are you trying to tell me that there is no other picture of him? How about the one that all officers have taken while in (or just having graduated from) the academy? THAT’S the picture I want to see-the one where he looks like a grown ass man, making grown man decisions. Now don’t get me wrong. The picture of Edwards is also rhetorically complimentary with regard to demonstrating his humanity-but it does nothing in representing him as an officer of the law, or as a man of authority. I would have preferred for both pictures of them to have been in uniform, but then again that would have a presented a much stronger case for the wrong that has been done here.
Folks, these murders occurred within 14 days of each other. That’s an average of one black man a week. AND, promoting Officer Edwards to first grade detective on the day of his funeral is not going to make us forget that he was murdered; it just makes us more suspicious. Maybe it’s time I revist my original stance regarding conspiracy theories.
