Page 2 The Skanner July 13, 2016
Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
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Executive Editor
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News Editor
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Reporter
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Seattle Office Coordinator
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Photographer
2016
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#SkNews
Opinion
My White Male Privilege Is Complicit In Black Male Killings
I
am the outward embod-
iment of privilege. A
39-year-old heterosexual
white man. A six-foot-tall
lawyer with no physical im-
pairments living on a safe
street with my white lawyer
wife and our two kids in a safe
part of an overwhelmingly
white city and state...and this
letter is about shame.
Shame that so many lives
in my community and this
country have been quietly
lived and loudly taken in such
demonstrably unjust ways.
Shame that our collective in-
action, and our cumulative
public policies have led us to a
place where death from guns,
and death from the police,
have become so brazen and
so common, that even now,
despite the advantage and
widespread use of recording
devices, my own inaction is
complicit.
When I was 16 years old I
was pulled over for the first
time in my life. I was speed-
ing in northern Virginia. The
police officer was standing on
the side of the road with a ra-
dar gun pointed at my car and
he was shouting and motion-
ing at me to pull over to the
side of the road. The officer
approached me quickly and
said I was driving 12 miles an
hour over the limit. He an-
grily told me that I was a new
driver and therefore needed
to drive more slowly. When
he walked back to his motor-
cycle to issue me my ticket, I
Robert S.
Milesnick
Attorney at
Law, Oregon
yelled out my window at him:
“Officer, can’t you just give
me a warning this time?”
It is a shame. It is a shame
that at 16 years of age I was al-
ready well aware of my white
male privilege — or at least
not afraid to throw the police
“
agers would have yelled out
the window of their formerly
speeding vehicle at 16 years
of age to ask… challenge…a
white male officer after they
had been so plainly at fault?
For how many would that re-
quest have been granted?
It was granted for me. The
officer was visibly upset and
shouted that he had just tick-
eted a woman who was driv-
ing slower than I was, but a
lecture was all he gave me
before he waved me forward
and I drove away.
I am a plaintiffs’ civil rights
attorney now. All around me
I am ashamed that white America
has not demanded a systemic re-
alignment about who we hire as
police officers, how we train them,
what we expect from them
such an arrogant question
,which is a byproduct of the
same thing. I was just a naïve
teenager, but I didn’t have
an inkling of concern that I
might increase my chances
of being targeted for later ha-
rassment, or told to “step out
of the car”, or told to “watch
myself ” or told to “calm down”
or ultimately become the vic-
tim in a reflexive escalation
that might lead to my own
death over a speeding ticket.
How many Black or brown
or yellow or red or mentally
ill or LGBT or female teen-
I see different sides of injus-
tice, but I am not forced to
personally live it the same
way my clients do. It is true
that some of the Black men
who have been shot by police
had criminal records. But that
should not diminish the val-
ue of their lives or the tragic
manner of their deaths in any
way, yet I have condoned that
devaluing with my silence.
I have allowed the absurdi-
ty of the indefensible to take
root, and I have turned a blind
eye to alleged “actionable
offenses” given in the name
of police officers who, if not
legally, were physically re-
sponsible for any number of
far too many untimely black
deaths.
Death for “offenses” like
speeding…or selling CDs…
or loitering…or looking too
poor…or looking too rich…or
running away…or standing
one’s ground….or being a 12
year old boy playing with a
toy gun despite growing up in
an American culture that so
vociferously promotes one’s
right — indeed obligation —
to possess all manner of real
guns (as long as the possessor
is white) …or asking “what’s
the charge?”…or saying “I
want a lawyer” or asserting
any number of constitution-
ally guaranteed rights ... or
pleading with closed eyes,
“Officer, can’t you just give
me a warning this time?” ...or
crying, and then whisper-
ing while they died, “I can’t
breathe.”
I am ashamed that White
America has not demanded a
systemic realignment about
who we hire as police offi-
cers, how we train them, what
we expect from them, what
crimes we enforce and for
what actions we hold the pub-
lic as well as police account-
able. Police officers have an
incredibly difficult job, but
we must redefine the rules of
engagement.
Read the rest of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com
Moving Forward After Last Week’s Tragedies
O
ne Hundred Black Men,
Inc., is deeply disturbed
by the homicides of Al-
ton Sterling and Phi-
lando Castile at the hands of
police officers. Our hearts
and prayers are with their
families. This tragedy has un-
fortunately become common-
place in our society, and the
promotion of body cams on
police officers has not become
the panacea many hoped
would provide restraint and
accountability by law en-
forcement.
Some of our nation’s most
notorious White criminals in
history have been delivered
safely by police to courtrooms
to exercise their constitution-
al rights. However, too many
accused Black men never
make this journey. We are
struck down and strangled on
site, even after already being
restrained.
History teaches us that
in the coming weeks and
months, we can unfortunate-
ly expect more Black men to
be shot and killed by police
under questionable circum-
stances. We are not prey. We
are engineers and architects
who build cities, we are busi-
nessmen who serve commu-
nities, we are doctors who
Michael
Gardner
President,
One
Hundred
Black Men
heal the sick, clergy who
save souls, and mentors who
inspire children. We are fa-
thers, husbands and sons. We
are One Hundred Black Men,
and Black Lives Matter.
As an organization born
“
in Dallas who were gunned
down yesterday in the line of
duty during a peaceful march.
These sniper-style shootings
of Dallas police officers were
a “vicious and calculated at-
tack” on law enforcement,
and we condemn violence
against police officers. The
officers, and the injured sur-
vivors, have become the latest
victims in a national epidemic
of gun violence that stains the
soul of our great nation. All of
us have an absolute right to
live safely and be treated with
Some of our nation’s most noto-
rious white criminals in history
have been delivered safely by po-
lice to courtrooms to exercise their
constitutional rights
out of an incident involving
police misconduct more than
50 years ago, we believe in the
collective power of Black men
standing together to address
injustice. Some of these men
are law enforcement officials
themselves, who exemplify
the noblest efforts to protect
and serve.
At the same time, One Hun-
dred Black Men mourn the
loss of five police officers
respect, and our hearts and
prayers are also with their
families.
As we approach the anniver-
sary of the senseless killing of
Eric Garner, we, the Founding
Chapter of 100 Black Men of
America, remain committed
to addressing all forms of gun
violence that plague our com-
munity. However, despite our
historical commitment, we
must acknowledge that over
the past half-century in New
York and half-millennium in
the Americas, justice has not
been realized. How long must
Black Americans — and all
Americans — expect to wait
for equal justice?
The new civil rights slo-
gan of our youngest leaders,
“Black Lives Matter,” has
unique resonance in its de-
fiance of dehumanization.
It not only serves as a call
for transparency, constitu-
tional law enforcement, and
fairness in police reform, but
also demands unapologetical-
ly that we be recognized for
our beauty and humanity.
One Hundred Black Men
supports the U.S. Justice De-
partment’s Civil Rights divi-
sion taking over the inves-
tigation in Baton Rouge to
increase accountability, and
we will continue to support
state and federal legislators
looking to pass criminal jus-
tice reforms that increase ac-
countability for the abuse of
police powers. We will also
work with various law en-
forcement agencies, local offi-
cials, and our communities to
end gun violence, and ensure
that racial justice and civil
rights remain at the forefront
of political discourse.