Opinion
The Lynching of Eric Garner
“Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now”
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I
t was one of the most difficult
scenes in Spike Lee’s classic
movie “Do the Right Thing,”
the brutal strangulation of peace-
loving Radio Raheem by New
York City police in a Brooklyn
pizza shop. That scene touched a
raw nerve as it recalled the 1983
death of 25-year-old graffiti artist
Michael Stewart, another choke-
hold victim of the New York City
Police Department. Now, we find
ourselves enraged over the police
killing of Eric Garner in Staten
Island, which was captured on
cell phone video as a police officer
puts him in a choke hold, with the
man pleading that he can’t
breathe. Garner was taken away
unconscious and later pronounced
dead. Another day in America.
Let me be clear – Eric Garner
was lynched. He was brutally
assaulted and choked to death by a
police officer who, supposedly
trained, abused his authority with
deadly precision. It is not enough
to state that the officer used deadly
force because when it comes to
Black males and police, there is a
violent regularity that has persist-
ed for decades. The manner in
which Black men and boys are set
upon by law enforcement is con-
sistent with their marginalization
in society and the degree to which
they are a criminalized class.
There is no benefit of the doubt,
no reasonableness, no dialogue –
just force and upon the slightest
protest on our part, violence and
probable injury or death.
We need to be clear and unam-
NNPA
C OLUMNIST
Walter
Fields
biguous about Eric Garner’s death
in the larger context of the sup-
pression of Black males. What is
experienced by Black males on a
daily basis is seldom the experi-
ence of White males, and cannot
be fathomed by Whites in general.
White mothers do not have to
Station” because I know how dif-
ficult it will be to see the
reenactment of the killing of Oscar
Grant. It cuts too close to home
because I remember the killing of
15-year-old Phillip Pannell by a
White Teaneck N.J. police office
in 1990. The boy was shot in the
back with his arms raised in sur-
render mode. The White police
officer, Gary Spath, was acquitted
by an all-White Bergen County
jury. The acquittal came amidst a
massive police march through the
community in support of the offi-
cer. That’s the other piece of this
ongoing horror show; the closing
of the ranks of the blue fraternity
and the perpetual denial on the
We need to be clear and
unambiguous about Eric Garner’s
death in the larger context of the
suppression of Black males
counsel their sons on their behav-
ior should they encounter police or
worry when their sons step out
their door whether they will be a
victim of police violence. Even in
the most extreme situations when
White males are the perpetrators
of violent crime, police are in
apprehend mode and not in pursuit
with deadly intent.
Eric Garner was lynched.
He is the most recent case in a
gigabyte file of such cases. I have
yet to see the movie “Fruitvale
part of law enforcement that these
episodes are not the end result of
racist intent.
Eric Garner was a victim of
racism.
The New York City Police
Department is not alone in perpet-
uating crimes against Black males
or operating in a way to violate the
civil liberties of Black people. The
NYPD just happens to be the
largest police force in the country
and has perfected the art of police
abuse. Last week, the federal gov-
ernment announced the monitor-
ing of the Newark, N.J. police
force, which for years residents
lodged complaints against. Now, it
has come to light that officers in
New Jersey’s largest city are even
suspected of stealing personal
property from residents they
detain. In Chicago, the former city
police commander, Jon Burge,
presided over a department that
regularly brutalized citizens and
he himself was alleged to have
engaged in violence. He was con-
victed in 2010 for lying about the
torture of police suspects.
NYPD Chief Bill Bratton’s
order that all officers undergo
training on the proper techniques
to apprehend suspects is too little
in light of the brutality of Garner’s
death. For starters, every officer
on the scene should be dismissed.
If officers sworn to uphold the law
can witness a citizen being choked
to death and not intervene, they
are not capable of fulfilling their
legal duty to protect and serve.
The video clip clearly shows a
man who was not confrontational,
who was attempting to defuse the
situation and was trying to com-
municate with the officers. He is
taken down by the officers and
then thrown to the ground as an
officer puts him in a deadly choke
hold. Garner can be heard on the
video pleading “I can’t breathe,”
but his physical condition was of
little concern to the officers who
were intent on demonstrating that
they were the dominant force.
Eric Garner was lynched.
Calculating the High Price of Injustice
By Julianne Malveaux
NNPA Columnist
W
hat if we didn’t incar-
cerate people who
commit
non-violent
crimes? Or, if we sentenced them,
what if their sentences were rea-
sonable, instead of intolerable?
What if a man who steals a $159
jacket while high gets drug treat-
ment and a sentence of, say, two
years, instead of a sentence of life
imprisonment without parole?
How much would we save if legal-
ly mandated minimum sentences
were modified and nonviolent
drug offenses were more reason-
ably imposed?
Marc Mauer of The Sentencing
Project says that eliminating more
than 79,000 bed years, or the
amount of time a prisoner uses a
bed in prison, could save at least
$2.4 billion. That’s enough to send
nearly a million students to col-
lege if the $25,000 covers the cost
of attendance (which it does for
most state schools and Historically
Black Colleges and Universities).
It could put nearly half a million
teachers in underserved K-12
schools. It could restore availabil-
ity to libraries and parks. Instead,
we spend it incarcerating people,
particularly those who are locked
up for relatively minor crimes.
The $2.4 billion that the Sen-
tencing Project has calculated may
be a low estimate. According to
the Justice Department more than
$80 billion is spent on incarcera-
tion annually. How much of this
spending is unnecessary and could
be easily converted to drug treat-
Page 2 The Portland and Seattle Skanner July 30, 2014
B ENNETT
C OLLEGE
Julianne
Malveaux
ment and recovery? Why do we
find it so easy to incarcerate peo-
ple but so difficult to rehabilitate
them, knowing that the recidivism
rates are high?
the Smarter Sentencing Act, which
has yet to be scheduled for a vote
in Congress and the Senate,
despite bipartisan support for this
legislation. Advocates of the bill,
including the ACLU, the Sentenc-
ing Project, the NAACP and many
others support the legislation and
have encouraged people to reach
out to their Congressional repre-
sentatives to push for a vote on
this legislation.
The Smarter Sentencing Act,
when approved, will make modifi-
cations
in
sentencing
The United States represents just 5
percent of the world population, but
incarcerates more than a quarter of
the world’s incarcerated
Within five years of incarcera-
tion, more than three-quarters are
rearrested. Most were arrested for
property crimes, not for drug
offenses, or violent offenses.
Much of the property crime could
be alleviated if it was easier for
ex-offenders to find employment,
but after incarceration, many find
the doors of employment slammed
in their faces. Incarceration com-
bined with education and societal
embrace might reduce recidivism
and the level of property crime.
President Obama and Attorney
General Eric Holder are moving in
the right direction. First, the presi-
dent moved to reform drug
sentencing laws, reducing the dis-
crepancy between crack and
powdered cocaine. This resulted in
requirements. Now, the US Sen-
tencing Commission has ruled that
those with drug sentences and be
applied retroactively. This will
affect as many as 46,000 prison-
ers. It’s not enough, but it’s a
reasonable first step. If release
were combined with education
and access to employment, recidi-
vism rates would certainly
decrease.
The United States represents just
5 percent of the world population,
but incarcerates more than a quar-
ter of the world’s incarcerated.
Nearly half of those incarcerated
in federal prisons are African
American. Is there a bias here?
African Americans are as likely as
Whites to commit nonviolent drug
related crimes, but African Ameri-
cans are far more likely to be
incarcerated. The difference – the
money that provides access to
great legal services; maybe the
attraction of a plea bargain, guilty
or not, because of the prospect of
an unfair sentence; maybe bias on
the part of arresting officers.
Whatever the cause, it seems
unfathomable that African Ameri-
cans and Whites commit the same
crimes, but African Americans are
arrested six times as frequently as
Whites.
If you read a November 2013
report A Living Death: Life with-
out Parole for Nonviolent Offenses
from the ACLU, you won’t know
whether to scream or cry.
More than 3,200 people have
life sentences without parole for
such minor offences such as
shoplifting, trying to cash a stolen
check, and threatening a police
officer while handcuffed. Some
are sentenced because of sentenc-
ing guidelines, which mean judges
have no choice in their sentenc-
ing. What makes sense about
giving a shoplifter more time than
a murderer?
As many as 65 percent of those
who have been sentenced to life
without parole are African Ameri-
can. According to the ACLU,
“many were struggling with men-
tal illness, drug dependency, or
financial desperation.” Only in an
injustice system can this be con-
sidered “just.”
There has been some progress in
making sentencing fairer. Yet
much more must be done until we
can claim the “justice” that our
Constitution promises.