A Requiem for Sean Bell

Perspective is defined as the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance.

After the Sean Bell shooting I was able to gain some perspective. Let me share it with you.

Sean Bell was intoxicated when he hit the minivan that the undercover cops were in. This by no means justifies Mr. Bell and his friends getting shot at fifty plus times. This fact gives me perspective.

Mr. Bell was arrested (but never convicted) of dealing drugs and gun possession. This fact also gives me perspective.

At the time of the shooting neither Mr. Bell nor anyone in his party had a weapon. This fact also gives me perspective.

I mentioned those two facts because they were taken into consideration when the judge handed down the acquittal last week. Whether he cares to admit it or not Bell’s past was taken into consideration.

What I’ve learned from this case is that people who support the cops feel that Bell’s past is relevant to his creditability. Basically in some people’s minds all the cops did was kill another drug dealer. On the other hand people who see past the surface see that the cops used excessive force in that situation.

My POV is as follows. I feel that the cops did use excessive force. I feel that the cops should serve some kind of time for man-slaughter. Now I’m not saying the cops should be locked up for life but they should serve some kind of time.

But here’s what I see in the BIG PICTURE. If you are a man (or woman) of color and a police officer kills you, the chance of that officer being punished for that crime are SLIM to NIL. That basically means that ex-cons or anyone with an arrest record has fewer rights in a court of law than a person who doesn't have a criminal record, based on creditability alone. Now please by no means do I think this is fair. I am just stating what I’ve observed.

So what is the lesson here? The lesson is that young black men (and women) need to keep their records clean because if they don’t their lives can be snuffed out without a single thought by the same people we pay to protect us.


My Final Thought.

The day of the verdict I had one of the best conversations when an 11 year old kid in a book store. We were in the comic book section and I was explaining how Captain America didn't know at first that Winter Solider was really Bucky and various comic book geek stuff. After I left the store I was filled with a bittersweet feeling. At first I was kind of taken back that I was able to talk to a kid and I wondered if that was how conversations would go if I was to have a son. Then I thought about all the things I would have to explain to him and then I started to think of Mr. Bell.

How does a parent explain to their child the cops can kill an unarmed man and not be punished? Is this the kind of world I want to bring a child into?