Political Gumbo: The Social Pandemic Has Always Been Here

It’s time for the nation to deal with the real pandemic that had has plagued America forever — police brutality against Black men.

We’ve all seen the tragic video of George Floyd as he lost his life at the hands of police. The video has once again left many White Americans shocked and Black Americans screaming out that being Black should not be a death sentence during a police encounter.

Far too many times, we have seen black men die at the hands of police and then communities decimated in the aftermath — and yes many times those are black communities.

But a lot of it could be avoided if city officials in many of these communities bothered to listen and take actions against police brutality, racial profiling and mistreatment at the hands of police.

Sadly many times, these types of complaints are ignored or outright never filed leaving many people of color feeling no like no watches the watchmen.

No I do not support burning businesses and communities, but I do respect decency and respect.

But why is that many communities only promise police reforms and changes after the city is on fire and the streets are filled with mayhem and violence.

If police departments and city leaders acted swiftly, a lot of property damages, injuries and other problems could be avoided.

The four officers in the George Floyd tragedy should have been arrested immediately, just as any common citizen would have.

But no one listened, just as initially no one listened in the beating of Pasadena resident Rodney King, or the Watts Uprising, and yes that was an uprising that led my family and many other young Black families to migrate north from Los Angeles, this time to Pasadena and Altadena.

And in both cases, Los Angeles burned.

Last week, a video surfaced of a woman screaming and urging police to hurry to her location because a black man was threatening her life. In reality, the black man had told her she should leash her dog in the park.

The police saw through her charade, but would it have shocked any African American, if the police had killed that Black man?

Yes, some police officers are getting it. In Seattle, a police officer physically moved an arresting officer after the arresting officer held a protester down with his knee on the protestor’s neck.

In Pasadena, under the leadership of John Perez, Use of Force is down by 50 percent and that includes kicks and punches.

In Tennessee, Chattanooga Police Department Chief David Roddy called on law enforcement officers who don’t see a problem with what was captured in the George Floyd disturbing video to turn in their badges.

“There is no need to see more video. There’s no need to wait to see how it plays out. There is no need to put a knee on someone’s neck for nine minutes. There is a need to do something. If you wear a badge and you don’t have an issue with this, turn it in.”

For the past 90 days or so, most of have stayed home and taken the Coronavirus pandemic seriously.

Now, the social pandemic which has plagued the nation for centuries is in the face of our leaders — It’s time they take action in the face of a social pandemic?