Racist Cops

Editorial by Scooter Van Neuter

Like many of you, I read with shock and dismay the news that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has determined the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department to be racist (not that this should surprise anyone, as pretend-reverend Al Sharpton had already told us they were). Then, the President himself announced today that many of the nation's police departments are also racist. Well, that's just great.

Look, avoiding the Ferguson police is no problem for me as from everything I've seen on TV that place is a fetid shithole that I wouldn't visit on a bet, but avoiding all police everywhere is almost impossible, even for a non-criminal, colorless person like myself.

While the recent deaths of Unarmed Gentle Giant^tm Mike Brown, unarmed pursued pedestrian Trayvon Martin, and unarmed, not breathing Eric Garner were no doubt tragic, at least they served to expose the ugly racism that's apparently infected our law enforcement agencies - and that's a good thing.

So how did we get to this place? What happened to the America I grew up in where people of color (creamy mocha and darker) could attempt to kill somebody without being afraid of getting shot like a common criminal? If I were a person of color, I wouldn't even think of trying to kill a cop these days because of the possibility he may be racist - he'll shoot your ass just for the fun of it, for God's sake.

I pray departing DOJ head Eric Holder puts a program in place to train these cops to use their persuasive powers of speech when threatened by people of color (pale sienna and darker). Only if that tactic proves to be ineffective and the officer Is shot or killed, would he be permitted to use lethal force against his assailant who, by all later accounts, will have been a good and decent person.

I suggest it's time for law enforcement in this country to honor the immortal words of Dr. Martin Luther King when he said, "A man should not be judged by his actions or the color of his skin, but by the content of his character."