US needs to address excessive force by police

Hardly has the anger sparked by the recent death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who pleaded for air as a white police officer pressed his knee against his neck for several minutes died down, the shooting by the police of an apparently unarmed Black man seven times in the back has triggered fresh outrage.

The Floyd case was reminiscent of the 2014 killing of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man in New York City who died after being put in a banned police chokehold as he, too, was heard to mutter, “I can’t breathe.”

Garner’s dying words became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement that formed amid a wave of killings of African-Americans by police.

The southeastern Wisconsin city became the nation’s latest flashpoint in a summer of racial unrest after cellphone footage of police shooting 29-year-old Jacob Blake — apparently in the back, as he leaned into his SUV while his three children sat in the vehicle — circulated widely on social media on Sunday.

Spontaneous protests following the incident indicate that the sensitive issue of police excesses has not drawn the apt response expected from the political leadership.

The continuing violence adds to American gloom amid economic ruin caused by the coronavirus, which has already killed thousands of Americans and sent unemployment soaring to high levels.

The COVID-19 outbreak has hit minorities especially hard, not just in infections and deaths but in job losses and economic stress.

The man who said he made the cellphone video, 22-year-old Raysean White, has stated that he saw Blake scuffling with three officers and heard them yell, “Drop the knife! Drop the knife!” before the gunfire erupted, but he has made it clear that he didn’t see a knife in Blake’s hands.

As stated by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, “what we know for certain is that he is not the first Black man or person to have been shot or injured or mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in law enforcement in our state or our country.”

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has also insisted that the officers must be held accountable.

In his words: “This morning, the nation wakes up yet again with grief and outrage that yet another Black American is a victim of excessive force. Those shots pierce the soul of our nation.”

The condemnable incident has happened just over two months before Election Day in a country already roiled by the recent deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.

Reuters news agency documented 1,081 cases through the end of 2018 in which people died after being shocked by police with a Taser, the vast majority of them after 2000. At least 32% of those who died were black, and at least 29% were white. African-Americans make up 14% of the US population, and non-Hispanic whites 60%.

Interestingly, the recent demonstrations have brought out a diversity of people. Those other than black people joining the demonstrations reveal the true colour of Americans, a large majority of whom reject hatred.

Washington should not shut its eyes to reality and instead should send a loud and clear message rejecting racism in any form, anywhere.

There is a need to ensure that America’s black community is heard throughout the country.