Last week saw the end of the March Madness tournament. Um, Hooray? Only one year until the next televised exploitation of student athletes. In the meantime, those young men and women that have been accepted into university sports programs eagerly await their shot to show their stuff, and those who wish to be considered as incoming freshman in 2015 are already being scouted — and have been for some time. You are probably aware, but in case you’re not, young black men and women are at the top of everyone’s scout list. Whether it’s athletics, or criminality, the prevailing wisdom is you can save yourself a lot of time and trouble, if you just look for the best black specimen you can find.
Last week, when he was trying to build a tree fort with his friends, eleven-year-old Omari Grant found himself staring down the barrel of a police officer’s pistol, when a “neighbor” called 911 to complain the boys were destroying the trees. Omari and his friends were not physically hurt, but from experience I can tell you, the mistrust of police has only just begun for this young clique of brothas. Don’t believe me? Look:
The most telling thing about the story is when Omari says, “I was just thinking I don’t want to be shot today, so I just listened to what the said. Immediately as they said.” The boy and his mama have had “the talk”. Black boys don’t get to age elven without being told EXACTLY how to behave and speak to cops. They know never to move. They know to always address a police officer as “sir”. They know how to stay alive.
They have to know these things because apparently the police know that eleven-year-old boys playing tree fort need to be met with the same aggression as thugs robbing a gas station. Can anyone in their wildest imaginations, dream of this occurring in a suburban cul-de-sac with little white boys playing tree fort? If it had, wouldn’t this news go viral? As it is now, it’s barely a blip. After all, it was just another public disenfranchisement of black youth, nothing to see here.
A new study revealed that Florida leads the nation in charging minors as adults. African American juveniles make up more than 50% of these cases, but only about 28% of those arrested. You’re probably thinking, “So? Sounds like Florida to me”, and you’re right, it’s totally Florida, but if that number had been in New York, given its history of racial profiling, or Texas, given its history of having a love affair with the death penalty, you’d probably have the same reaction. The point is, African Americans receiving the negative end of “accelerated” justice, is believable anywhere.
It would seem that Florida is scouting blacks in their own special way that has nothing to do with jump shots. The quicker you can note the “potential” of a criminal, the quicker you can send him or her to big people prison, instead of a juvenile detention center. The quicker you can do that, the sooner you have fewer black men and women on the voter polls. Even better, is that they’re young. Meaning, even if they get out for their crimes, they will still like have decades to be powerless, voterless, black masses. It’s like the NBA draft of oppression.
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