THE CLAPPROOD AFFAIR
Springfield Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood seems to think Black folks don’t know that – as the old saying goes – “If you are not at the table, then you are on the menu.” Folks in the Black community know they were not invited to the table when decisions were being made to reinstate five indicted officers and place them on street duty. Trust me; folks will be watching her much more closely.
THE CLAPPROOD AFFAIR
I hope Springfield Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood is watching the news regarding events in Minneapolis to gain a better understanding of Black community frustrations. What happened in Springfield with Herman Cumby and what is happening in Minneapolis now is so absolutely consistent with what has been happening to Black men across the country for decades. The beatings and killings by cops are absolutely unacceptable but, when the cover-ups are added, the outrage is magnified. It goes like this: Rogue cop mauls or kills a Black man in plain sight; cop claims reasonable cause; Black man (if he lives) is accused of a crime against the cop (resisting arrest, etc.) whether or not there were credible witnesses to the cop misbehavior; the entire local system converges to protect the cop; cop goes free one way or another; Black man is jailed (if he survives); if there are no underlying crimes, authorities tarnish the Black man’s reputation; seeking justice, Black folks make enough noise to attract outside attention and just maybe some outside authority comes to do the job that local authorities should have done instantly. “Instantly” is the key or a Minneapolis might result as a variation on the Rodney King debacle that set Los Angeles on fire. Rather than whine about being properly and peacefully called to task by responsible Black folks, Commissioner Clapprood should consider herself very lucky and learn from her mistakes and take her officers to task when they deserve it or she might one day find a Minneapolis or Los Angeles in Springfield.
THE CLAPPROOD AFFAIR
I wonder who in the Black community Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno is taking his advice from. At one time it was Raymond Jordan. But I know Ray well enough to know that he would never advise the mayor to sanction Clapprood’s actions. He is too sophisticated to advise such foolishness. That amateur level of advice might be expected from, maybe, a Malo Brown, who has done some weird things in his short time on the council but not from a pro like Ray Jordan. Or maybe Sarno has received so much past cover from Black sycophants that he feels he can do whatever he wants to do regarding the Black community. Let’s hope he’s not taking his advice from the city solicitor (his own top lawyer) because, if he is, the solicitor should be fired for the Clapprood debacle. And whoever is running his human relations department, if he or she has gotten out from under the bus he tossed him or her under, that person should consider another job far away from Sarno.
THE CLAPPROOD AFFAIR: WHAT BOTHERED ME THE MOST
I was bothered by the fact that so few White folks spoke up in opposition to the Clapprood decision to reinstate indicted cops. White folks seem to view police misconduct against a Black person as a Black problem. They appear to think it is Black folks’ responsibility to fix a corrupt system that White folks created. Or, maybe they simply don’t care just as they didn’t care about the crack drug problem that ravaged the Black community. It would be nice to see and hear some multiracial outrage out of Springfield as we are witnessing in Minneapolis. That’s right! Watch the news coverage closely and you will see just as many White demonstrators as Black ones. It gave me hope.
COMPASSIONATE RELEASE? The White arsonist who burned down Black-owned Macedonia COGIC on the same day Barack Obama was elected president is seeking “passionate release” from federal prison. You may recall. It was a brand new church in its last stages of construction when Michael Jacques burned it down before any religious service could be conducted all because of his anger over a Black man being elected President. He was given 14 years in federal prison and now wants to get out by using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse. Lots of nerve! Some wouldn’t have minded if he got life for his most evil deed. And certainly most would not extend him any such compassion. Fortunately, his request for compassionate release was denied.
THE MAYOR HAS CHARACTER
I’m referring to the mayor of Minneapolis, of course, who called for the immediate arrest of the White cop who killed handcuffed George Floyd by holding him on the ground with his knee pressed into his neck cutting of his air flow until he died on the spot in front of witnesses who pleaded for the cop to let Floyd up as Floyd pleaded to be allowed to breath. The murder was filmed by bystanders and the films were shown all over the news for the entire world to see that the officer clearly murdered the man while three of his fellow officers first assisted and then simply stood by and watched Floyd die. All four were immediately fired but no arrests were made even though the mayor publicly said he witnessed a homicide on the tape for which arrests should be made. But, as so often happened in similar events over the decades, all except one of the cops are still walking the streets and the poor mayor’s city is on fire.
WE ARE ALL TIRED
In a Boston Globe article written days before George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis, Linda Wiggins-Chavez, in an article headlined “A Pandemic of Racism,” wrote: “And I am tired. Tired of the criminalization of brown skin. Tired of dirty looks because we wear our hair a certain way. Tired of being followed around in stores. Tired of people claiming that being against police brutality means being anti-police. Tired of people pretending that personal and systemic racism does not exist. Tired of white “victimhood…” I am tired, too, of the black community being economically and politically disenfranchised. Tired of people being complacent and complicit with racism. Tired of this country claiming “liberty and justice for all” in words rather than in actions. Tired of hearing the word n—. And I am tired of black lives not mattering.” (May 15, 2020) I think it’s fair to say that we are all tired which merely means that the fight must go on. A retired White police officer and his son recently gunned down Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was jogging in the neighborhood not far from his home. Their excuse for killing him was that they were concerned about a spate of burglaries in the neighborhood and Arbery resembled the burglar. The cops took the White guys for their word without arresting them or investigating the so-called burglaries, which later investigation proved never occurred. When a video later emerged showing Arbery slowly jogging down the street with the White guys chasing him in a pickup truck and gunning him down, the resulting outrage led to their arrest months after the murder. None of the story is new and we are all tired.
TRUSTING WHITE FOLKS
“A White friend of mine called me from across the country to ask if I thought Joe Biden should select a Black vice president. I told him I thought Biden should pick a woman vice president from the Midwest and I suggested Senator Amy Klobuchar who, of course is White. I haven’t heard from him since. I think I disappointed him but I didn’t want to tell him the entire story over the phone. My concern, I would have told him, is that I don’t trust White voters as much as I trust Black voters. Black voters want Trump out and if the best way to get him out of office is to have a White presidential candidate and a White female vice presidential candidate, then so be it. Bring it on. Black folks will come out to vote. Even if they want Trump out, a substantial enough number of White folks, if given a choice between despicable Trump and a mixed Democratic ticket of a White president and Black female vice president, might just pick Trump rather than risk having a second Black president. In fact, many folks believe, as I do, that for many White folks, the election of Trump was a White backlash against Obama as much as against Hillary Clinton. Black folks are practical. We can work on the Black president for the next election. But for this election, we’re going to focus on Trump. (Since this writing, new facts have changed my opinion on Klobuchar. My preference is either Michigan’s White Governor Gretchen Whitmer or Florida’s Black Congresswoman Val Demings.)
SPRINGFIELD AND THE CORONAVIRUS
It seems to me that Springfield is doing a good job managing the coronavirus. The mayor’s office, hospital officials, and Helen Caulton-Harris, who provided a terrific coronavirus layout in our last issue, should be given kudos for a job well done as should the frontline workers and residents who have cooperated so well. ■
