I’m not saying all cops are racist and not all cops will shoot first when coming upon an armed black person, but I will say, there are some racist cops that will, and this has to be addressed.

Craig Hardegree 4 hrs · Campbellton, GA ·

Near the corner of Astra Avenue and Park Lane in the North Pointe neighborhood of St. Louis last June, a 38-year old police officer with 11 years on the force was enjoying a quiet evening in his home. Suddenly, he heard a huge commotion and gunshots outside his home and grabbed his police-issued revolver and ran out to assess the situation. Seeing a black man with a gun, two white cops on the scene immediately drew upon the black officer and ordered him to lie face down in the dirt. One of the officers then recognized the black officer as a colleague and told him to get up and walk towards them. A third white officer arriving on the scene, saw a black man getting up off the ground and walking towards two white officers — so he shot him. evening party garment by custom made

The commotion started earlier when two 17-year-old black males — and a third black male who escaped — stole a vehicle and were pursued by the white cops. Gunfire was exchanged, causing the young black males to wreck the vehicle near the 38-year-old officer’s home. As the young black males fled on foot, one was struck by a bullet in the ankle.

A 38-year-old black man does not look like a 17-year-old black man.

Just as 12-year-old Tamir Rice didn’t look like a grown man.

Not unless you’re a racist and all black people look alike to you.

Officer Omar Edwards approached his vehicle in Harlem just as a person was attempting to break into it. Off duty and in plain clothes, Officer Edwards drew his police-issued revolver and gave chase on foot. Three white officers, also in plain clothes and in an unmarked vehicle, saw two black men running down the street with the one in the rear brandishing a weapon. The three white officers got out of their vehicle and killed their fellow officer.

A somber service was held on June 4, 2009 at Our Lady of Victory before Officer Edwards was laid to rest at St. Charles Cemetery in East Farmington. The department tried to make amends by giving Officer Edwards an Inspector’s Funeral and posthumously promoting him to detective to increase the survivor benefits for his wife and two small boys.

On September 28, 2012, Officer Andrew Dunton — who ended the life of Officer Edwards — was promoted to sergeant.

Corey Jones was the drummer for a reggae band he had formed. On a Saturday night in October of 2015 he was coming home from a gig when his vehicle broke down on an exit ramp on I-95 in Florida. A Florida Highway Patrol road-ranger unsuccessfully attempted to re-start Corey’s vehicle. Corey was offered a ride home but declined so he could stay and protect his equipment as he was due to play at a church a few hours later. Sitting in his vehicle, Corey held his phone with his left hand as he waited on hold with AT&T Roadside Assistance and held a revolver in his right hand. His concealed-carry permit was in his wallet.

When “Maddie” finally came on the line to talk live to Corey, he gave his location and told her he needed a tow truck. Suddenly, Corey noticed a white unmarked van speeding down the exit ramp the wrong way. The driver pulled up in a t-bone position to Corey’s driver’s door, leaving his unmarked van sitting across and blocking both exit-lanes. Corey got out of his vehicle, still holding his phone in one hand and gun in the other. The driver of the van, dressed in a ball cap and jeans, asked Corey if he was okay. Corey replied in the affirmative.

“Really?” the van-driver demanded. The van-driver then screamed for Corey to put down his weapon. Corey breathlessly said, “Hold on” twice as he began running away from the stranger in the ball cap. As Corey ran, the stranger fired upon him three times, with one bullet hitting Corey’s right arm causing him to drop the gun. The stranger continued pursuit and fatally shot Corey three more times, piercing his heart and both lungs.

Thirty seconds later, the van-driver pulled out his cell phone, dialed 911, screamed into the phone “Drop the fucking gun, NOW!!” and then told dispatch he was a cop who had happened up on a car on the exit ramp, got out and identified himself as an officer, had been fired upon, and was forced to return fire, shooting the person on the side of the road.

But Maddie had been on the phone the whole time. And had recorded the call. The officer had never identified himself. He delivered the fatal shots after the gun was shot from Corey’s hand. He yelled into the phone “at Corey” to establish a false timeline after he knew Corey lay dead in front of him.

We can NOT arm teachers in this country until law enforcement FIRST understands that a black man with a gun is not an inherent threat.

Because by the time officers respond to an active-shooter-call at a school, the white mass-killer will have abandoned his gun in the bushes and the cops will pull up to see a black coach with a drawn gun and they will immediately kill him.

I know this, you know this, and anyone with their head not buried in the sand knows this.

This will be yet another opportunity for white cops to shoot innocent black men.

There will be the usual “tragic accident” platitudes. The officer will utter the obligatory “feared for my life” words. Whitefolk will inwardly nod in agreement that of course a black man with a gun is cause to be in fear for your life. The DA will refuse to press charges. The grand jury will refuse to indict.

Black people will take to the streets to protest where they will be met with military tanks and police in riot gear instead of white congress members applauding their “bravery” and “leadership.” George and Amal won’t be cutting any checks for organizing expenses. There will be no fawning over how “articulate” the young black protesters are; they’ll be told to keep blaccent to a minimum so as not to hurt their cause among liberal whitefolk. No one will swoon over their “passion;” they’ll be told to dial it back lest they come across as being too angry and risk losing the support of the white people who are willing to help them.

Four months ago, 58 people were killed in Vegas. Three months ago, 26 people were killed at a church in Sutherland Springs. Those were two of the five-deadliest shootings in modern US history.

Nothing was done.

Just as nothing has ever been done about white police officers killing black males in situations where a white male would not have been killed.

Maybe this time is different. Maybe this time it won’t blow-over with the next outrageous tweet or sex scandal or memo released by congress.

But if it is different, it’s because of the nourishing environment of privilege surrounding the protesters. Military tanks haven't been deployed to keep the marchers in check. No one is being arrested as Rosa Parks was for remaining seated on a bus. No one has had her skull fractured by a state trooper baton as John Lewis did in a peaceful march on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. People haven’t lost their jobs or had their homes attacked for hurting businesses as civil rights marchers did when they called for a boycott of the bus line. No one is being blackballed in their career for quietly taking a knee.

In fact, universities have issued statements assuring the protesters that their admissions applications won't be viewed negatively if they participate in civil unrest.

With privilege comes an obligation to act outside of ourselves.

I hear well-meaning people say they care about autism because their child is autistic. Cedric the Entertainer cares about diabetic foot pain because his father suffered from diabetic foot pain.

There’s nothing wrong with being passionate about an issue when it finally affects you personally.

But hope for the future of humanity lies in us caring about things that don’t affect us.

Fighting for the lives of others to matter in the same way our own lives have always mattered.

Speaking up for others as we would want them to speak up for us if we were suffering in their shoes.

Speaking out against the injustices to our neighbors, as if the injustices were being done to us.

Making an effort to recognize how things affect others, without waiting for the things to touch our own lives.

I could write a lot about transgender issues. But I intentionally don't; I have no desire to be known as a trans-activist — I soar on winds of self-acceptance; others can adjust their sails accordingly.

But I'll be honored if it can be said of me that I stepped outside of myself, outside of my own self-interests; that I fought without reward for that which affected me not; that I disrupted white society; that I made whitefolk uncomfortable in their privilege; that I made a difference on the greatest most pervasive issue of our lifetimes.