Al Sharpton: Improving police-community relationships starts with holding everyone — including cops — accountable for their actions
Al Sharpton: Rudy Giuliani clueless on police-community relations
Sharpton says he was troubled by Giuliani's recent remarks.
(MIKE SEGAR/REUTERS)The reality is, blacks are killed by other black people a majority of the time, just as whites are killed by whites a majority of the time.
But what his words show is an appalling lack of understanding of the notion that the issue of fighting crime in black and brown neighborhoods must include the fact that police crime embellishes the chaos in those communities and must be dealt with as well. It is that repeated and documented pattern of profiling, excessive force and shootings by police that we see in our communities and not in others. If we are to ever solve the issue of crime, we must tackle all crime — including crime committed by those who wear a badge.
My organization, National Action Network, has dedicated over 25 years toward fighting for social justice and equality across the board. That struggle includes reducing crime and uplifting our communities on every level. In addition to holding gun buyback events, we’ve coordinated programs like “Occupy The Corner” in cities like Chicago in order to help diffuse shootings. The residents of that community, and others around the nation, fully understand the challenges facing them, which includes the manner in which law enforcement sometimes interacts with them.
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We cannot have neighborhoods under siege by both those that may be doing criminal acts and by those that are supposed to be protecting citizens from danger. Society can no longer ignore the fact that policing in white communities is starkly different than it is in communities of color.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani doesn't understand the impact that police crime has on neighborhoods of color, Sharpton says.
Despite stats like this, the number of stops of young black men exceeded the entire population of young black men in the city itself. That is just outrageous. When things like profiling, pulling people over disproportionately, searching people walking down the street excessively, locking people up unreasonably and shooting people unnecessarily are all realities, then we have a severe problem in this country.
We must have a sincere commitment to address crime not only on one side (while excusing crimes on your own side), but as it takes place whether at the hands of a citizen or someone in uniform. Blacks don’t make excuses about their communities, therefore police, officials and ex-officials shouldn’t make excuses for those officers that cross the line and abuse their power.
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According to The Guardian’s data tracker, “The Counted,” 136 Black people have been killed by police in 2016 alone. Ask yourself, how many cops have gone to jail or even been remotely held accountable?
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(Lavish Reynolds via Facebook)I have never been one that justifies black-on-black crime. I’ve preached at many funerals, including that of a 4-year-old who was shot and killed by a stray bullet. I have seen the anguish and pain in a parent’s eyes firsthand after such a tragedy. But I have also seen the same pain when a parent loses a loved one at the hands of those who were supposed to serve and protect them. I have stood alongside grieving mothers, fathers and grandparents who cannot comprehend how their child was shot and killed for reaching for a wallet, for simply walking down the street, for just driving home or a slew of other unfathomable and unjustifiable reasons. Just like we arrest and charge criminals, we must arrest and charge the bad cops so that there is accountability and fairness under the law.
Anytime someone says that you shouldn’t question police or the system, then the nation loses. We fight and march when there is an anti-gay killing in Orlando, when there is a black-on-black killing, when nine Church members are shot and killed in a hate crime and when police break the law or are alleged to have broken the law.
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If we genuinely want to improve relations between law enforcement and the communities they serve, then we must have the consistency to hold everyone responsible for his or her actions in order to heal society. Otherwise, we’re simply shifting blame and that is a delay tactic none of us can afford.
Sharpton is founder of the National Action Network.
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