LWB (Living While Black) in America can get you arrested or killed

A Death in Georgia

As of this writing, protesters are calling for justice for 25-year old Ahmaud Arbery, who lost his life while doing the most ordinary of activities: jogging .

In Brunswick, Georgia, two white men, Gregory McMichael and Travis McMichael, father and son, have been charged with Arbery’s murder. The senior McMichael is a retired police officer.

In a video shot by an unidentified person, Gregory McMichael calls 911:

Dispatcher: “And you said someone is breaking into (a home under construction) right now?

Caller: “No, it’s all open. It’s under construction. And he’s running right now. Here he goes right now.”

Dispatcher: “OK, what is he doing?”

Caller: “Running down the street.”

Gregory McMichael and his son grab rifles and a handgun, and chase Arbery.

They attempt to cut Arbery off, but he evades them. Then, they jump into a white pick-up truck to cut him off.

In the video, Arbery is seen running pass the truck. He gets into a struggle with an armed white man and is shot twice in the chest.

The stated reason for stopping Arbery: He looked like he could be a burglar.

Without a description, what does a burglar look like? Arbery did not have any property in his hands that might have caused suspicion.

Unfortunately for black Americans, too often white Americans view us as criminals for showing up in places that they deem off-limits—a college dorm, a fast food chain, a park, a backyard, or a tree-lined neighborhood in Brunswick, Georgia.

In many circumstances, some see it as their duty to act as judge and jury; white privilege taken to the extreme.

Yesterday, in Sandford, Florida, an “unidentified homeowner” shot and killed 17-year old Adrein Green for allegedly trying to break into his car. The homeowner, according to news reports “feared for his life and the lives of his baby.”

Go inside your house and call 911. Instead, he fired a warning shot and then called 911. Suppose Green had returned fire and killed the homeowner? How safe is that?

Such “Stand Your Ground” shootings of black men by white Americans promote the misguided belief that it is justifiable (and in some states legal) to use deadly force against any black person perceived as a threat.

Even when, in fact, we might be doctors, college students, soldiers, property owners, or lawyers.

A simple solution would have been for the father-son duo to restrain Arbery for law enforcement; instead, their actions ended a young man’s life prematurely and violently.

The irony is that the Travises’ rush to judgement and vigilantism could end up costing them their freedom.

Update: A 2nd CCTV video was released yesterday that shows Arbery browsing through a house under construction. According to Fox 6 Now.com, The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is “reviewing additional footage and photographs as part of an active investigation.”

Interestingly, the article quotes the homeowners’ attorney describing Arbery’s action as an “unauthorized entry onto (the) property.” In addition, Fox 6 Now states “CCTV had captured a trespasser on the property a number of times before” the February 23 shooting.

Language matters. Could the terms “unauthorized entry” and “trespasser” imply guilt, or at least, plant the seed that Arbery was breaking the law? Hence, he is complicit in his own death.

Likewise, Fox 6 Now reports that CCTV footage had captured “a trespasser”several times before. However, no one ended up dead but Ahmaud Arbery.

LWB in Miami

It seems that standing outside your house in front of an open van filled with medical supplies is enough to get you in handcuffs.

Despite, doing something as innocuous as loading a vehicle, Dr. Armen Henderson, 34, an internal medicine specialist with the University of Miami Health System, was viewed with suspicion by a Miami police officer. Henderson regularly distributes protective supplies to the homeless in the Overtown neighborhood in Miami.

In a soundless video, the (unidentified) officer approaches Henderson and asks if he is littering.

In an interview with the New York Times, Dr. Henderson said, “He asked me if I lived there and if I was littering. And I said, ‘No, this is where the city picks up our bulky trash every week,’ and then I just left it at that."

The officer asks Dr. Henderson for identification but handcuffs him before the doctor is allowed to go into his residence for ID.

Eventually, Dr. Henderson's wife provides identification for him.

Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina explained the officer’s actions in aNYT's article, “There is a cargo van that is parked in front of that home where there appears to be trash that is being offloaded.”

“That is the genesis of the stop. Now, what happens after that, what’s being discussed, the actions taken, etc., all that needs to be investigated, and it will be investigated.”

Despite his mistake, the officer has not apologized to Dr. Henderson. No surprise there.

Police officers have made more serious errors in judgement that have led to the deaths of innocent black people.

Seldom, however, is an apology forthcoming.

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