Racism is as deadly as AIDS, as contagious as influenza, and as contemptible as human sacrifice—which indeed is what it is.
It has reached epidemic proportions in the US, and not for the first time.
As with most diseases, some groups appear to be particularly vulnerable both to becoming infected and to spreading their infections to others; these groups include, in frightening proportions, people responsible for the public welfare such as the police.
Even in the corporate media, and especially in the alternative media, evidence of brutal police harassment of people of color seems nearly ubitquitous:
Episcopal priest on road trip with interracial family shares harrowing story of police harassment
Police Harassment and Violence Against the Transgender Community
Undoubtedly, you are already aware of the rash of recent incidents wherein police attacked unarmed people of color and beat and/or murdered them by one means or another—in public places or paddy wagons or jail cells.
Here are a few recent cases you may have missed:
And here is a broad sampling of people of color killed in police custody between 2005 and 2014.
Virulent diseases can evolve into a number of different forms, and in the case of racism, forcible invasions of the vaginas of women of color are among the loathsome manifestations of the disease.
Imagine such things happening to you or someone you love.
But also recognize that while pernicious, the disease is not irradicable.
Sometimes a single person speaking out against injustice can make a difference:
A White Woman Confronts Police Harassing a Black Man, and the Result Is Stunning
And it took just one person to start a petition that gained thousands of signatures asking the United States Department of Justice to take over the investigation of the death in police custody of Sandra Bland :
Moreover, in the wake of the long overdue and desperately needed media attention to police lethality, major group initiatives have emerged, such as Black Lives Matter. Read this article about the significance of this movement
Climb aboard and be part of the solution.
Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology