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A Badge Doesn’t Make A Hero
hen it comes to the
epidemic of police officers unjustifiably killing unarmed Black men and not being punished for their crimes, poorly trained, trig- ger-happy cops are only part of the problem. The bigger issue seems to be the collec- tion of people who are brought together inside of courtrooms to review the ev-
idence and render a verdict. When you look at recent cases where cops have been acquitted after using lethal force unnecessarily (the shooting of Philando Castile is a prime example), there tends to be a common denominator. And that is the presence of predominately white juries who may have been heavily influenced by the propaganda of the "hero
cop."
To them the officers on
trial are never the murderous
psychopaths their actions suggest. To the contrary, in the eyes of these delusional jurors, the cops in question are viewed as "good guys" who were placed in bad situ- ations.
How, in good conscience, could they send these crime- fighting, crusaders for justice to prison for simply making, what amounts to them as, a tragic mistake? The answer? They can't.
The inability of the aver- age white juror to visualize a crooked cop as anything less than an extraordinarily brave and upstanding member of society makes it almost im- possible for a murderer hid- ing behind a badge to be held accountable for his deeds. At the same time, the ease in which they accept the alleged predisposed criminality of the Black victim makes the decision to exonerate a no-
brainer.
This is, in essence, what
we're up against. The lioniz- ing of members of a highly favored group makes the ex- termination of members of our own acceptable.
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how much en- ergy we expend trying to force police departments into the realization that Black lives have value. If the guy who sold you a car, the woman who took your plane ticket or the manager of Ap- plebee's (all of whom are fre- quently chosen for jury duty) all fail to believe that the tak- ing of a Black life is worthy of a conviction, there will al- ways be a boy in blue who will feel comfortable empty- ing his clip into the dark skin he confronts.
And, unfortunately, in
President Donald J. Trump's America, I don't see that narrative changing anytime soon.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. You can write to Mr. Barr at: Clarence Barr 43110-018, Oak- dale F. C. I., P. O. BOX 5000, Oakdale, LA 71463.
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C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
A New Conservative Healthcare:
A Hard Pill To Swallow
ry though he might, not even President Trump
could ignore the cold nature of the so-called newly hatched conservative healthcare bill that now awaits Congressional confirmation.
In a moment of candor, he simply called it “mean,” much like a pot calling another kettle black. But what does that one word mean for more than 25 million Americans who soon may call local clinics and emer- gency wards their “doctor’s office?” What might it mean for a quarter of a billion Americans who for the next decade or more may often have to decide whether eating is more important than buying medicine?
Furthermore, what might it mean when pharma- ceutical drugs become part of a black market?
After all, one thing is certain: more than 25 million American daughters and sons are not simply going to lie down and die simply because Far-Right Republicans refuse to believe that our new democracy is naked.
In this Editorial, it would be more than easy for us to quote statistics and name names . . . all of which you have heard before and all of which you have seen and heard refuted by a new generation of spin-doctors who call themselves “Alternative Fact” experts...
But we will no longer insult you nor confuse you with words.
Instead, we will simply say there will come a time when you will no longer be able to afford medicine for your babies, your mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers.
Now swallow hard on your last pill.
ballot measures is the very definition of democracy: rule by the people. Laws that deny eligible men and women the right to the ballot, legislation that strips the power vested in the people to elect their repre- sentatives and decide their collective fate contradicts that central definition and cripples our republic.
Today, legislation and prejudicial partisan tactics that disenfranchise commu- nities of color and groups per- ceived to be progressive voters are on the rise. Restric- tions on voter registration, in- cluding the elimination of same-day registration, strict voter ID laws, and limiting or eliminating early voting are some of the tools in the tool- box that dismantle our democracy.
Fifty-two years ago, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was introduced and enacted to “break the grip of state dis- franchisement” by prohibit- ing discrimination at the polls. The act also included a provision that monitored states with established histo- ries of discriminatory voting practices, such as poll taxes and literacy tests. Those states could not implement any change or law that af- fected voting until the federal government reviewed the law and determined that it neither
had a discriminatory purpose or effect. Shelby County v. Holder changed everything.
In his Supreme Court opinion for the case, Chief Justice Roberts reasoned that “things have changed dramatically” since the adop- tion of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and with that the court struck down the provi- sion that required pre-clear- ance, leaving states free to change their voting laws. The impact of the decision was immediate. Within minutes, then Texas Attorney Gen- eral Greg Abbot tweeted that the state’s voter ID law that had been blocked by the federal government would go into effect.
In the year that followed the ruling, eight states that were previously monitored passed voting restrictions that disproportionately impacted Black and Brown voters. To date, close to 100 bills to re- strict voter registration and access voting have been intro- duced in 31 states.
Before the rising tide of coordinated efforts to wrench the vote away from huge swaths of our country stand patriots, including Repre- sentatives Terri Sewell, John Lewis, Jim Clyburn, Judy Chu and Michele Gr- isham Lujan, who are com- mitted to protecting the right
to vote for all Americans. In its decision, the Supreme Court instructed Congress to come up with a modern-day formula that protects voting rights, and it has: the Voting Rights Act Reauthorization, which creates a new state cov- erage formula that applies to states with repeated voting rights violations in the last 25 years.
To restore the promise of voter equality and restore the integrity of our elections, Congress must take up this bill and pass it into law.
The ability to vote, to have a say in the policies and peo- ple we choose to represent us, is democracy. It is far too sa- cred a right to allow it to be- come weakened over a partisan lust to win at all costs. Strict voter ID laws, race-based gerrymandering, obstacles to voter registration and a current federal investi- gation into debunked voter fraud claims that will only serve as a front to introduce more—and likely more se- vere—voter suppression laws inflict grave harm on our adopted form of governance and its integrity.
It is clear that we have come too far to accept any rollbacks now. We must re- store and protect every Amer- ican’s access to the polls.
Give Us The Ballot: Restore The Voting
Rights Act
BY MARC H. MORIAL President and CEO National Urban League
oting is not a privilege. It is a fundamental,
constitutionally ratified right afforded to all eligible citi- zens. The right to elect your federal, state and local repre- sentatives and weigh in on proposed local policies via
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