Living In Fear

One of the benefits of the evolution of society was that human beings no longer had to live a brutish and short existence. They could form relationships, acquire property and provide for themselves without having to endure an unending cycle of attacks and killings. In other words, they were free to live without fear. It appears that modern day America is recreating the conditions that prevailed in prehistoric societies in Black communities. People are preyed upon by bullies and criminals, and oppressed and brutalised by the so called agents of law and order. We now have a situation where the police's failure to protect and serve the Black people in America has now placed the lives of all people in America in peril. 

The perpetrators of the shootings in Dallas are wrong and have done more harm than they can imagine. Killing police officers under the cover of a 'Black Lives Matter' march was inexcusable. However, the police in America have created an environment where any Black person must reasonably fear for their lives if stopped by the police. The escalation of police shootings of unarmed Black men combined with increased instances of Black people dying in custody hasn't yet led to any systemic change in law enforcement in America. If the establishment continues to disregard unjust killings and abuse of authority by the police then they are setting the scene for Black people to stand their ground and start fighting back. 

I deplore the shooting of police officers in Dallas but my sympathies lie with the families of Alton Sterling, Philando Castille and the five hundred other Black people who have died at the hands of the police this year.