Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Equation for the day: "How many times x How many bullets until it = a crime?"

Unarmed and doing nothing criminal… but shot to death by police…

Sean Bell
Patrick Dorismond
Amadou Diallo
Ousmane Zongo
Timothy Stansbury
Demetrius DuBose
Tarika Wilson and 14 month old son:
Timothy Thomas
Anthony Baez
Malcolm Ferguson
Alberta Spruill
Those are just the folks at the individual level.

We in public health think about populations and history, so lest we forget (and I suspect Jeremiah Wright has not) the so called "race riots" of 1967-69, were mostly police riots against unarmed black citizens. Official mainstream analysis afterwards confirmed that the police initiated all of, and committed most of, the shooting and deaths. But due to initial reporting and white fear, that is not how they are remembered; see:
1967 Riots Detroit & Newark
Kerner Report
Kerner Report & Media

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