Chauncey wrote an EXCELLENT diary titled The 'Niggerization' of Michael Brown by the Ferguson Police Department and the Right-Wing Media. If you haven't read it, please go check it out. It's stunning.
Chauncy writes, "Michael Brown is dead because the police are empowered by a good percentage of the white American public to kill black and brown people preemptively and with extreme prejudice."
I admit that after reading all this truth, I had to wait a bit and let my blood pressure go down before I could really digest it. I've always known this, but seeing it in writing really hits home. So I began to ask myself what do pictures of Michael Brown flipping the bird, the store video of him shoplifting, and him doing or saying other unflattering things have to do with this murder case? It's a question every American needs to ask themselves.
And my answer is:
EVERYTHING. They have everything to do with this case. They are not irrelevant, and should be used by the prosecution during the trial.
Here's why.
A good prosecutor will see this as a seminal moment, will see this case as just not about Michael Brown, but about the hundreds of other dead black men and boys who have been slain by killer cops and racist white citizens. What led Darren Wilson to unload so many "reckless" rounds of ammunition on an unarmed 18 year old who was surrendering?
Every picture, every slur, every replay of that store video by the media, demonstrates the mindset of much of what the racist portion of white America (cops and citizenry) envision when they look at black men and boys. Whether a black man is walking in a suit on Wall Street, or in jeans and a t-shirt in the hood. They see a thug. And when you're looking for thuggery, you'll find it. You'll cling to anything that backs your biased opinion.
And this is why Michael Brown is dead.
Never mind that these images and unflattering tidbits can be found on any teen, white or black, with a bit of digging. But doing that doesn't fit their narrative. Neither does the fact that black-on-black crime isn't an outlier of the human experience. Neither does that fact that whites are just as likely to kill other whites and Hispanics are just as likely to kill other Hispanics. You see, there's a hidden "these people are defective" meme within the "black on black" crime talking point, something that plays into the imaginary black boogie man that exists in the mind of racist killer cops and their citizen counterparts.
And this is why Michael Brown is dead.
They've been trying to force this same black boogie man narrative on our president from the very beginning. Clint Eastwood's embarrassing monologue at the GOP convention is a sad example this--of racist white Americans trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Since President Obama didn't give them what they wanted in the four years of his first term, (images of an angry, hostile, black man), Eastwood invented an invisible one that he set in a chair. This invisible, angry, black Obama cursed at him and gave him the middle finger.
This is how they see all black men and boys regardless. This is what they look for whenever a black male has been victimized.
And this is exactly why Michael Brown is dead.
The fact that they're doing it again proves there's a racial problem in this country. Proves that the images they are showing of this kid are what they see whenever they look at ANY black boy or man. This is why that boy is dead because these images already exist in the collective consciouses of killer cop's minds (and every killer cop apologist) whenever a black boy or man is victimized.
This is what the niggarization has to do with Michael Brown's murder. A good journalist would take all this "niggerization" bull and spin it on its head. A good journalist would show the images and sound bytes that Fox and the rest of the conscience-challenged right wing are putting out there and use them against them. The best inoculation for a disease IS the disease. Take the poison they're dishing and squeeze out some antibodies to inoculate the public. Let people see how the poison they're spewing is directly responsible for the death of that young man and many, many, many others.
There's a power to words and images. And when it comes to racial politics, they have surface meanings as well as dog whistles imbedded within them. Look at the damage the niggarization of American Blacks has done to the collective consciousness of this country.
---When someone in the media says, "Let's talk about race," what they really mean is, "Let's talk about black people." Because black people are the 'other' race. The problem race. The polar opposite of the white "default" race.
---When someone in the media headlines a piece as: "The topic of race in America," they mean, "The topic of Blacks in America. The 'other' race. The polar opposite of the white 'default' race.
---Whenever the word "Race" is mentioned, it's usually (not always, but usually) just about black people.
---When a journalist says, "Inner City Youths," they're really referring to "Young Black people." And somehow, through media images, whenever blacks are thought about now, the image of the ghetto pops in the collective mind. Because of course, all black people live in the ghetto.
---[This is a recent phenomena] When a white racist uses the word "Thug" it's usually attributed to a black male. Thug has somehow become the new n*gger.
---When a journalist uses the word "Urban," it means Black.
---When a Black (man, woman, child) is shot by police, the media and right wing noise machines have conditioned this country to immediately think, "Well, they were probably guilty of…something." Which totally ignores the fact that WE ALL are guilty of something. Black, white, brown, red… whatever.
---When a White person goes postal it's considered an individual act, not a collective problem of the race. When a Black person goes postal it's subconsciously attributed to black people as a whole.
---When White people gather together brandishing guns, they are called patriots. When black people gather together brandishing guns, they are called a gang, a mob, or… thugs.
Then there's the word association games with stuff like this: .
Food Stamps = Black people
Welfare = Black people
Ghetto = Black people
47% = Black people
Robbery = Black people
Shoplifting = White people
We've also got situational realities like the following:
White Open Carry = White people
Black Open Carry = Dead black people
17 year old white teenager = boy
17 year old black teenager = man and/or thug
70 year old white man = man
70 year old black man = boy
Black boy walking down the street = guilty of … something
White boy walking down the street = (nothing)
All this has been drilled into our collective consciences throughout our lifetimes, and it is because of this, that I submit that we've all been brainwashed.
AND THIS IS WHY MICHAEL BROWN IS DEAD.
To FPD, cable media, and right wing noise machines, you can find just about anything using google. So tell me, would you call any of these "people" thugs?