Sandy Bland: The Black Vantage Point

How does the aged adage go? “History will undoubtedly repeat itself, if we aren’t careful…” Well, I am convinced we are living in a South that represents the New Jim Crow.
Let me be more forthcoming…60 years ago Emmett Till, who was from Chicago—came to the south to visit his family—ended up murdered in the most brutal fashion for supposedly “upsetting the white status quo.” On Monday Sandra Bland, who was also from Chicago, came to the south (Waller, Texas)—to take a new job at her alma mater—was also murdered. This murder happened while in the custody of the “authorities.”
It should be stated that Sandra regularly video blogged about police brutality on a segment she called “SandySpeaks”, and she payed a role in organizing the local BlackLivesMatter effort “upsetting the white status quo.”
Sixty years ago, if you brought your “uppity” a** from Chicago and tried to change the “southern” way of life, some white people would kill you. Right now if you bring your “uppity” a** from Chicago and try to change the “southern” way of life, some white people will kill you.
Armed with these truths, I am forced to believe we are repeating history or maybe the old Jim Crow never left. He just spent the last 60 years preparing for times like this. Maybe he spent the last 60 years realizing he could no longer parade around in sheets and call us n****** if he wanted mass support, but he could refine this image of Black people as criminals. While doing so, he could trade in his sheets and infiltrate police and sheriff departments. So when the time was right, (I don’t know… say when there is a Black president) he could start back killing Blacks with qualified immunity (a perversion of the idea).
As we near another weekend and all of my progressive white friends begin to celebrate Sanders, Clinton, and O’Malley’s presidential bids, and the Supreme Court’s recent acknowledgement of everyone’s right to love, I hope they remember to pause and realize that America is continuing in her age old tradition of killing Blacks. And doing so, all while she condemns other nations for violating their citizen’s human rights. All while America labels Iranians and other brown people as terrorists, yet refuse to charge and prosecute officers who kill 12 year old Black children. All the while Blacks are fed sanctified soliloquies about American Exceptionalism. Well, if American Exceptionalism exist, let it be written that she is only exceptional in her exclusion of Blacks from their inalienable rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.
They executed Sandra Bland like they executed Nat Turner. They murdered Michael Brown like they murdered George Tillman Jr. They launched a terrorist attack on the Charleston 9 like they did on 16th Street Baptist Church…
Ain’t we American?