Two Wrongs Do Make It A Righteous Indignation Of A Flawed Institution Though
Pandemic and Manic Interludes of Racism
The unrelenting pattern of police homicides on unarmed persons of color should be seen as unequivocally wrong, yet it is shielded by the right of police officers and confounded by the act of law enforcement. By the way law enforcement is a form of violence in and of itself. The murderous plot of white police officers which is seemingly an apparent hypervigilance by Army veteran Micah Johnson has culminated into the tragedy that unfolded in Dallas is unjustifiable and wrong, however, this too is confounded by his last statements giving a sense of righteous indignation against the overall treatment of Black lives, and of the incestuous racism and privileges promulgated by police, and their departments followed by the support of a delusionally prejudiced environment. But these two wrongs are more so indicative of what is not right about our nation and the broad consensus of the kind of mental health conditioning it portends.
It is important to ask and ponder what motivates these occurrences. The absolute act of killing in these instances is predicated on some invalidations towards the victim by the assailant conceived from a toxic environment of resentment, hate, vengeance, bias and discrimination. The repercussions of which have not been thoughtfully considered nor weighed, but churns the vicious cycle of violence. It would be implausibly partial to speak up against the killing of the alleged five white police officers while remaining silent or indifferent about the prevalence of police homicides that target unarmed Blacks which has time and again provocatively preceded it.
It’s Driving Us Crazy!
A sizable contingent of the population including some elected officials, and most notably the police union has developed a nasty habit of preemptive invalidation of what is by and large a reaction to an ongoing crisis and loss of confidence spurred by a lack of professionalism and accountability of a persistent number of police officers’ discriminating recklessness in law enforcement. While the representatives of these police unions attempt to cast President Obama as ‘not working to unify’ but stoking racial hostility, it establishes an unyielding twist of an irrational stance and for the most part distraction coming from a union that prides itself on not readily making available the statistical data on the abuses, complaints, and misconduct of its members to the federal government nor to the public they solemnly swear to protect and to serve. The misperceptions that the symbolism of a black president is one of retribution in the minds of a majoritarian white-run agency is troubling let alone contradicting and dangerous.
It is unfortunate that such statements can and will foment more distrust, more confrontations, and more violence between citizens of color, their sympathizers and the police. Police officers are not above the law, nor are they equivalent to the law. Police officers are paid public servants who bravely and dutifully perform a public good under the law and guidelines that is constitutionally agreed upon to uphold the safety and liberties of American citizenry.
The embedded psychological trauma of incidences and recurring deaths by unreasonable, unaccountable police brutality has and will continue to take its psychological toll on the nation, and it is preceded by a precedent of racial strife and racial hostilities. To ignore this is to feed the insanity. To encourage it is absolute insanity.
“Research has shown that racism has negative psychological consequences for African Americans such as increased symptoms of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress,” says Erlanger Turner, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor at the University of Houston-Downtown
“While racism comes in various forms, be it through personal experience or media portrayals, black people tend to feel hopeless and give up mentally, often feeling as if they are not good enough,”
“Living in a society where there is constant portrayal of racial injustice (forms of microaggressions, ongoing discrimination, unarmed black people killed by law enforcement) can lead to chronic feelings of despair. Many, at times, will feel like racial issues will never be solved. Such negative and consistent thoughts can trigger severe depressive symptoms.”
_Lisa Jones licensed clinical social worker, New York City
There is a plethora of empirical studies that support the affect and general disposition on mental illness and poor physical health due to the environmental stresses from caustic policing and blatant discrimination in law enforcement.
Racial profiling should be considered a social determinant of health, because it exposes people to discrimination and the fear of discrimination. Race may be a social construct, but racism materializes in poor health.
The overwhelming bias, lack of attention and empathy with which these institutions operate are demoralizing, dehumanizing and unhealthy. The predisposition of certain whites that carry this inverse affect of a limited acceptance, denial, resentment or rather an attitude of reverse racism is generally considered inconsequential to American values and livelihood. This too is insanity.
