The Ever-Shifting Excuses for Demonizing Black People in America

Abstract

Eric Garner is choked to death in Staten Island, New York. Michael Brown is executed in the streets of Ferguson, Missouri. Another year passes and many more unarmed Black men die at the hands of law enforcement. Brutality against people of African ancestry continues to be justified by the American establishment. As citizens, how do we make sense of the police killing of unarmed young Black men? How do we make sense of the ways in which these killings continue to be justified by the White establishment? How do we talk to a new generation of children in ways that will prevent the horrors of racial profiling against Black people from being replaced by White supremacist narratives of justification? This article examines the entrenched racism in a country that started with a Declaration of Independence written by slave-owners, and how so many White people of all ages, religions, classes, and regions can claim not being prejudiced against African Americans while, under the same breath, justifying the police killing of unarmed African American men. It criticizes the colorblind movement and proposes ways to move toward more powerful narratives of solidarity and redemption for the historical violence against Black people in America.